| dd/mm/yy |
2010 |
Incident |
| 22.4.10 | KBTX reports earlier today (April 21), at approximately 12.55 pm U.S. central time, the ship was forced to perform a maneuver to avoid an object in the water which resulted in the ship briefly listing to the port side. The object was a large buoy which was adrift and mostly submerged thereby preventing it from being detected by the ship's radar. The Carnival Ecstasy was on the final leg of a five-day cruise that departed Galveston on Saturday, April 17 with stops in Cozumel and Progreso, Mexico. According to a passenger, "The ship was shuddering. Just shake shake shake and that's when all the dishes were coming out. It was a mess, it looked like a food fight and that's when everybody jumped up screaming and running trying to get outside ... We thought we were going over. We really thought the whole ship was going to be tipped over ... They had to close down stores, all the glass went flying and it broke the glass on the outside of the liquor store." She said the ship was tilted for 10 minutes, enough to empty the pool. "People were crawled all over everybody and screaming and it was horrible and we finally got out to hang on the side of the balcony railing because it was tipped so much, if you didn't, you'd be sliding back into the restaurant." Subsequent reports indicate 60 passengers were treated for minor injuries after the ship listed 12 degrees. | Severe list |
| 11.3.10 | The Galveston Daily News reports the ship was unable to dock today because of dense fog, The four day cruise is likely to be delayed until 12:30 PM tomorrow and will become a cruise to nowhere (dropping the scheduled port call at Cozumel). | Cruise delayed by fog |
| 19.2.10 | Fox News Houston reports the FBI is investigating what they call a mysterious death on the high seas. A 32-year-old woman was found dead in her stateroom - she was on the cruise with her boyfriend. The cause of death is unknown. Her body will be turned over to the medical examiner when the ship docks in Galveston tomorrow (Saturday). UPDATE: Police News reports February 20th that the death has been ruled a homicide; that the woman was beaten to death and the prime suspect is the man she married while onboard the ship. However the Galveston Daily News reports February 22nd that here was no evidence of trauma and that the cause of death will be determined pending a toxicology report, which can take from two to three weeks. UPDATE: The Galveston Daily News reports on April 28th that the woman died of a drug overdose. A toxicology report released Wednesday revealed the woman's blood-alcohol level was .27, more than three times the driving legal limit of .08. The report also said she had cocaine, promethazine and THC in her system. | Death onboard |
| 28.1.10 | Posters at Cruise Critic indicate that as the ship was docking at Galveston it hit the elevated gangway used to embark & disembark guests. There wasn't much damage to the ship other than scraped paint, but several window panels fell out of gangway. The $1.8 million structure is out of commission for 30 days or more for repairs. The Galveston County Daily News subsequently carried a story. | Collision with pier |
| dd/mm/yy |
2009 |
Incident |
| 26.8.09 | WPTV (Florida) reports a couple with the grandchildren were involuntarily left in Cayman Islands on the second day of the cruise after the ship's physician refused their return from shore because of a health condition of the grandmother. A physician at a Cayman hospital said she'd have to spend up to a month in hospital; her physician at home wrote demanding her release because she was fine. The family lost what they paid for the cruise and had to pay their opwn way home from Cayman. | Family expelled from ship |
| 13.2.09 | From Cruise
Critic: At 2:30am I got a wake
up call that I did not request....I woke up to the fire alarms going
off. I got up and immediatatley smelled smoke, I heard yelling in the
hall. I opened my cabin door which was E189 on the Empress Deck and
there was a lady in her undies yelling that the ship was on fire and
for us to evacuatate. I got dressed, grabbed my purse, sail and sign
card and my life jacket. There
was NO crew members anywhere to be seen! No one telling us if the fire
was up or down, foward or aft. All I knew was that the Deck was hazy
with smoke and that the smell was horrible. I ended up following others
up to the Atlantic Deck to our muster station. Still no crew. It was
more then 15 minutes after arriving at the Starlight that the first
crew member showed up. She just told us basicly to shut up and sit
down. An elderly lady was injured during the movement and another had
an asthma attack due to all the smoke. I called Carnival and spoke with a sup. I
was told that it was a small fire (how small I dont know, it did cause
quite a bit of smoke and several cabins on that deck were not available
to their occupants for at least 3 hours and at least one passenger had
to be moved - I was in line behind her at the pursers desk - and one
couple in line to disembark were not allowed back into their cabin
right away and thier carpet was soaking wet). Carnival is stating that
they are trying to keep it quiet. I suppose it would be bad plubicity.
So I suppose that is why there are not any reports about it. Finally the crew started showing up with
medical help. I do not know for sure who or what started the fire, but
I was told that some guy set towels afire in his cabin. I did see
someone (a male) being arrested before debarkation and being led away
in hand cuffs off the ship by Customs agents. |
Fire |
| 19.1.09 | Posters at Cruise
Critic report that ship is having
propulsion problems -- one person says the ship had been operating on
half power since Frinday. It arrived late at Galveston today and there
is speculation the problem may influence the itinerary on the cruise
departing today. |
Propulsion problems |
| dd/mm/yy |
2008 |
Incident |
| 18.12.08 | Thick fog in Galveston delayed the arrival of the ship. The Galveston-Texas City Pilots Association, whose members guide vessels to and from area ports, suspended services about 1 p.m. Wednesday because of low visibility. They did not resume services until the fog began lifting about 3 p.m. Thursday. Ecstasy, which typically docks about 7 a.m., was expected tie up about 4:30 p.m. Thursday and was not expected to board new passengers until about 9:30 p.m.; it was expected to sail around about midnight (rather than typically early evening). | Fog delay |
| 16.8.08 |
Passengers report the ship went to Progresso (which is
closer to Galveston) today instead of Cozumel because of propulsion
problems. |
Propulsion problems |
| 31.3.08 |
The ship returned to Galveston approximately 6 hours late.
The reason given by Carnival was propulsion problems. Disembarkation
and embarkation were both delayed. |
Propulsion problems |
| 1.1.08 |
Port call at Progresso canceled because of high winds.
Passengers were compensated with an onboard credit of $25 (roughly
equivalent to port fees associated with the port call). |
Canceled port call (Weather) |
| dd/mm/yy |
2007 |
Incident |
| 25.10.07 |
The ship's departure from Pregreso was delayed because of
weather and as a result its return to Galveston was 5 hours late
-- 9 PM instead of 4PM. Embarkation of the following 4 night
cruise was also delayed. That ruise will
substitute the port call at Cozumel with a stop at Progreso;
passerngers will receive a $100 onboard credit. |
Delayed arrival / departure |
| 1.7.07 |
An 18-year-old man died early Sunday after he jumped into the Gulf of Mexico. The had sailed out of Galveston for a five-day round-trip cruise to Cozumel, Mexico amd om day 2 "an 18-year-old male passenger was seen jumping overboard from one of the ships upper decks" about 7:35 a.m. Officials initiated a search and notified the U.S. Coast Guard. The passenger was recovered by the crew about a half-hour later and brought on board, where he was pronounced dead. He has not been identified. The ship is en route to Cozumel and is expected to arrive Monday morning. It is scheduled to return to Galveston on Thursday. | Jump overboard |
| 24.5.07 |
Disembarkation was delayed and the cruise terminal at
Galveston evacuated after a sniffer dog located a suspicious package
during a routine sweep of the terminal at about 8:30 AM. The
package, addressed to Carnival Cruise Lines, turned out to contain a
printer -- chemicals in the printer apparently alerted the dogs.
The package was destroyed and things returned to normal by about 11:00
AM. |
Bomb scare |
| dd/mm/yy |
2006 |
Incident |
| 10.11.06 |
From a passenger: Departed on a five day cruise from Galveston. Early next morning the announcement came that we were diverting to Progresso, Mexico instead of continuing to Cozumel because of "propulsion problems". This upset us more as time went on and when we found out that this has been an ongoing problem with the ship and has happened at least 3 times in recent months. It made for a disappointing cruise. | Engine Problems / Itinerary change |
| 28.9.06 |
Upon embarkation, passengers were given a letter stating
that due to a problem with the propulsion system, the ship could not
attain maximum cruising speed, and would be docking in Progreso
rather than Cozumel. The four-day Western Caribbean cruise
embarked from Galveston. |
Itinerary change |
| 11.3.06 |
The ship housing Katrina refugees broke loose from its moorings in New Orleans and spun out into the Mississippi River, and narrowly avoided hitting a pair of Military Sea Lift Command ships moored nearby. The Ecstasy, with quick help from a river pilot and three tugs, came to rest about 300 feet from the Algiers riverbank, just downriver from Algiers Point. The episode began about 5:35 a.m. when a large metal bollard holding some tie-down lines at the old wharf broke off, starting a chain reaction of line breaks. | Near catastrophe |
| dd/mm/yy |
2005 |
Incident |
| 16-21.7.05 |
Like many other ships, Ecstasy changed its itinterary to
avoid the hazardous weather. However, passengers on the 5-day
July 16 cruise had a "cruise to nowhere" and report Carnival refused to
refund port charges paid by passengers. A person posting at
Cruise Critic however referes to receiving a certificate for 50% off a
future cruise. |
No Refund of port charges |
| 12.3.05 |
The ship will depart late after
its arrival is delayed by continuing engine problems. from the
previous cruise. According to the Houston Chronicle: Carnival hopes a problem the ship's engines can be fixed at the dock today by technicians flown in to do the job, but if the problem persists, passengers who choose to sail anyway face the possibility of a slow "cruise to nowhere" in the Gulf of Mexico instead of scheduled visits to the Mexican ports and beaches of Cozumel and Playa del Carmen. "If we don't get the problem fixed at the dock, It's a two-port, one-port or no-port possibility for the cruise," Carnival spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz said. |
Engine problems continue |
| 9.3.05 |
Ecstasy headed toward Mexico but the itinerary was uncertain. It was expected to arrive at Progreso, Mexico Thursday where the faulty part would be replaced but weather conditions prevented it from docking. It is now a "cruise to nowhere." Following a protest by 500 passengers on Wednesday afternoon with chants of "No Progresso, take us home." Passengers were subsequently compensated with $40 per person credit to their shipboard accounts to cover meal expenses on Monday prior to boarding when the ship was late arriving in Galveston, a 50% refund of their cruise fare and a 25% discount on a future three- to eight-day Carnival cruise. | Engine problems |
| 7.3.05 |
The ship's return to Galveston was delayed 14 or more hours
because of a malfunction of the propulsion system on its return from a
trip to Mexico. It was expected to dock no earlier than 10 PM
rather than the 8 AM scheduled disembarkation. The departure of
the following cruise was delayed until 3 AM on Tuesday morning. |
Engine problems |
| dd/mm/yy |
2004 and earlier |
Incident |
| 27 - 30.1.03 |
An
older disabled man reportedly jumped to his death from
the top of the atrium into the lobby area of the ship. (Contributed by
two readers of this page who were on that cruise.) |
Suicide |
| 14.1.03 |
The
company reported an accidental discharge of 60 gallons
of grey water while anchored at Avalon Bay (Catalina Island,
California), approximately one-half mile from land. |
Environmental |
| 20.7.98 |
Fire disables the ship, which is adrift and without power for hours. The NTSB eventually ruled the fire had been set off by a spark from a welder in the main laundry setting off lint in the ventilation system. See: Fire on Board the Liberian Passenger Ship Ecstasy Miami, Florida - July 20, 1998, NTSB Report Number: MAR-01-01 | Fire |