Events at Sea

Jumped overboard --
Rescued alive

A passenger aboard the cruise that sailed from Bergen on 26th.April 2007 writes that he and his wife fell victim to this most debilitating of illnesses (the symptoms indicate norovirus) on the 6th day of the voyage. They indicate that no advice whatsoever came from officers and crew members who appeared to want to keep it low key. In sum, he knew of 20 cabins affected plus four of the crew (if the number of passenger ill was in fact 40 passengers, the illness would have affected 6% of those onboard). The passengers who wrote say they curtailed the last part of our holiday because of the severity of their illness. (NOTE: Because illness outbreaks do not have to be reported on ships that don't stop at a US port, it is difficult to keep accurate track of the frequency of these outbreaks.)

From a passenger: The ship left late from Miami on January 7. RCI staff were reporting that the delay in boarding was a result of a large number of foreign nationals disembarking from the earlier cruise. Passengers waited in line both inside the terminal and outside the terminal for up to 4 hours with boarding beginning at 4:00PM. RCI did not supply water and many passengers had reactions due to the high heat. CNN reported that the actual cause for the delayed boarding was the department of Homeland Security and local police closed the cargo area of the Port of Miami to investigate an unauthorized vehicle. The same cruise missed the port of Georgetown (Grand Cayman) on January 10, due to high winds.

Date	Ship Cruise Line	Event	Type of Incident
December 31	Liberty of the Seas Royal Caribbean International	From a passenger: I was traveling with my family for the New Year holiday on the ship, departing Miami December 29. There were 10 other family members on board the ship with me. I was playing in the casino and got into an argument with some high rollers in the casino on the departing night, Saturday (12/29). There was no physical altercation just an argument. Security broke up the argument and I was asked to leave the casino and went back to my cabin around 1:30am. The high roller threatened me and a security guard was placed outside my cabin overnight. The next day I was called by Guest Relations around 9:45pm and was told to meet Security in the back room at the front desk at 7:00 am Monday, which was the first port of call. There were several gentlemen present at the meeting (head of security, guest relations) and I was told that I have 45 minutes to pack my bags and get off the ship and that I was a security risk to the ship. I packed my bags and was escorted to the dining room. In the dining room there were immigration officials who had to approve of my disembarkation. Although I objected to being thrown off the ship and although the immigration officials also didn't approve of my being thrown off the ship, officials from the cruise line handed an envelope with $1,000 cash in it to the immigration official and I was then escorted off the ship to a small boat then transferred to Labadee (private reserve on the island of Haiti). I was put in a golf cart and driven to the end of a fenced in area to a waiting jeep. Inside the jeep were machine gun armed guards and the driver. I was driven from a locked compound in Labadee, Haiti to a run down deserted landing strip where there was a turbo propeller plane waiting for me. On the ride to the landing strip I was advised to duck down for my safety. I was scared for my life and thought I was going to die. I was then escorted onto the turbo prop and was flown from Haiti to Fort Lauderdale, taking 3 hours. I then transferred onto a commercial airliner at my cost and arrived home Monday night. FYI, Haiti is listed on the US State Departments list of countries for Americans to avoid. NOTE: According to posters at Cruise Critic, a similar offloading of passengers at Labadee (from Gandeur of the Seas) occurred in November 2007. And in December (ship unknown) a couple was offloaded in the Bahamas -- the male passenger complained about cold overcooked fish and was offered a cocktail and another meal; he then received another cold piece of fish and a bill for the cocktail. He became indignant and probably boisterous and when security showed up he was manhandled and ended up being put ashore in the Bahamas along with his partner.	Passenger evicted
December 30	Queen Victoria Cunard Line	The British media reports 80 passengers (4%) onboard the ship's 16-day Christmas/New Year's cruise have contracted norovirus and are quarantined in their cabins. The ship left London December 21 and returns January 6. This is the ship's second cruise after being christened in early December. Passengers have dubbed the trip as the "cruise from hell" after complaining about poor room service, blocked toilets, a lack of Christmas decorations, cold food, and extra charges for tea and coffee.	Illness
December 28	Fram Hurtigruten	The ship had engine failure and was without power for about two hours while near Brown Bluff on the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. According to a passenger, the ship suddenly lost power and began to drift straight toward a "towering wall of ice. It bent the railing and a lifeboat was completely crushed." The engine was restarted and the ship headed for King George Island where it will be inspected for damage. A decision will be made then about whether the cruise will continue.	Collision with iceberg
December 27	Queen Mary 2 Cunard Line	The Daily Mirror reports a man was thrown off a Christmas cruise in the Caribbean after he was involved in a fight; he had to leave his daughter of nine with his parents onboard. He also had to pay for his flight back from the British Virgin Islands. But he claimed he was only defending himself from a stranger's attack. He said: "I was the victim and for that I was thrown off the ship." Cunard said: "Two guests were disembarked. The circumstances are being investigated."	Passengers offloaded
December 26	Emerald Princess Princess Cruises	The ship reported 22 of 1211 (1.82%) crew and 156 of 3209 (4.86%) passengers had reported ill on a 10 day eastern Caribbean cruise from Fort Lauderdale.	Illness
December 22	Prinsendam Holland America Line	FROM A PASSENGER: The ship was in dry dock for 21 days and they didn’t get everything done. I would say they got nothing done. The ship was late getting to Fort Lauderdale, they did not contact us to tell us it was over 12 hours late and then shoved us into the Westin near I 95. We could have delayed coming as we live in Southern FL but they assured it would just be an hour or so (we were there hours with bad, dried up, cold pasta as our “luncheon”). Lies, lies lies. We did not leave port until the next day! We got on the ship at 7 pm and there were staterooms and public areas devoid of furniture. The hallways on deck 5 and 6 were flooded for the first three days and several passengers have respiratory aliments. They still smell like indoor pools that have never been cleaned. The cabins on those decks are contaminated too. If you have to get out of the elevators on those decks, it hits you every time. They are painting pieces of the ship in the hallways (not the hallways themselves) and noxious fumes are everywhere. The ship did not pass its coast guard inspection and if it doesn’t pass it on January 3 the ship isn’t going anywhere. Every day large areas of the ship have no working plumbing. The plumbers just drilled into the wall on the second day and flooded another deck. The lido swimming pool is still not filled but they finally filled the aft one, which you have to navigate past the gym equipment to get to. Since we left so late, they change the itinerary so that the first three days were at sea, with no pool at all. The air conditioning isn’t working right in the dining room and it is over 28C/ 80 F at dinner. And people are complaining about the food and the service. The same can be said about several staterooms. They are too hot or too cold. There is dust everywhere on the ship and in the cabins. When we put our clothes in the closet, they got covered with dust because the shelves and hanging bars were not washed down. There are queues of people at the front office howling for justice and relief, and the response is, “the cruise isn’t over yet, it will get better.” I thought how could it get any worse, but it has. After all the time in dry dock you would think the ship was sanitized. But there are people coming down with Norwalk Virus. And tons of respiratory ailments. The ship has not offered a single dollar worth of credit. They have not offered to clean clothes for people who have placed them in dusty/dirty closets or sat on dirty outside chairs, nor have they offered to provide free of charge the medical care for those sickened by the moldy carpets and staterooms. The ship is on a 16 day cruise of the Eastern and Southern Caribbean.	Multiple problems -- Not ready after dry dock
December 22	Aida Aura Aida Cruises	The ship has suffered a mechanical failure on a voyage from her scheduled dry-docking in Genoa, Italy to Palma de Mallorca. The problem, not yet specified, seems to involve the propulsion and a return to the shipyard in Genoa has been made necessary. She was sailing without passengers when the problem occurred but her cruise from Palma de Mallorca to Aruba has been cancelled.	Propulsion problems -- Canceled cruise
December 22	Dipolog Princess Sulpicio Lines	The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) today said they have began conducting rescue operations on the ship, carrying 825 passengers, that ran aground some 500 yards off the pier of Tagbilaran, Bohol on Friday morning. The ship hit a shallow area of the Tagbilaran Channel, which was near the Port of Tagbilaran en route to Zamboanga del Norte. The shipping company is sending sister ship Agayan Princess to fetch the passengers from the port and bring them to their destination in Zamboanga del Norte. It also sent a tugboat but it failed to pull the vessel free.	Grounded
December 22	Van Gogh Travelscope	The company has ceased operations. Passengers on the current cruise are not affected, however the cruise due to begin in Falmouth January 4th is uncertain ... indications are that arrangements have been made for the World Cruise will proceed as planned. UPDATE: The world cruise scheduled to begin January 4 will go ahead as planned.	Ceased operations
December 20	Mercury Celebrity Cruises	The ship reported 9 (1.05%) crew and 54 (3.21%) passengers had reported ill on a 17 day cruise ending in Miami today.	Illness
December 20	Norwegian Spirit Norwegian Cruise Line	From a passenger: I'm supposed to leave on the NCL Spirit on the 23rd -- the engine is still a problem and they are cutting a port (1 of 4), no refunds and customer service was very rude. Did not let us know of problem until the 20th. I'm pretty ticked -- we could have at least been notified ahead of time to get money back .. the port that was cancelled was the reason why I signed up. Another passenger, on the December 16 cruise, reports there was an illness outbreak on the cruise (at least 15 people were quarantined in their rooms) and there were problems with service and attitude.	Engine problems -- Illness
December 20	Pacific Star P&O Australia	Hundreds of passengers are demanding compensation after two of five ports were missed on the 11 night cruise to Tonga and Fiji that ended today -- ports missed were Vava’u in Tonga and Yasawa-i- Rara in Fiji for which passengers were given a A$100 onboard credit. There were apparently engine problems that contributed to the problem; the engines should be repaired sometime during the next cruise, (TV story is available here), an eight-night Christmas cruise that will also skip a port -- Ouvea in the Loyalty Islands. This is to allow for an unscheduled overnight in Noumea on Sunday where she is to undergo repairs; passengers will receive a A$50 shipboard credit.	Engine problems -- Missed ports
December 15	QE II Cunard Line	A cross-channel ferry narrowly avoided a collision with the QE2. P&O Ferries Pride of Kent had to slam on the breaks when the cruise liner failed to give way at sea off the Dover coast and sailed into the passenger ferry's path. A subsequent investigation said the QE2 was required to give way; when it became apparent that no avoiding action was being taken by the QE2, Pride of Kent reduced speed and allowed the ship to pass 0.6 mile ahead.	Near-miss of collision
December 15	Norwegian Spirit Norwegian Cruise Line	From a passenger: There was a small fire in the engine room at around 8:45PM as the ship headed back to New Orleans. The ship was about 140 nautical miles south of New Orleans. The ship was adrift for about 15 minutes as all engines were shut down. The engine shut down caused severe cavitation and “code bravo to the engine room” was announced. Smoke was seen coming from below the smoke stack which smelled like burnt oil. The emergency signal was given but was reported to be a false alarm 1-2 minutes later at which time they announced that there was a small fire and it was under control. About 5 minutes later it was announced that the fire was completely out and we would arrive in New Orleans as scheduled.	Fire
December 13	Empress of the Seas Royal Caribbean International	A passenger reports there was an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness on the second day of sailing that ended today. Per the Captain, there were 140+ effected. Very high level of cleaning and passing out of hand wipes. I have no idea what % of the pax or crew was really involved. I was in lockdown for 2 days as 2 of 3 in my cabin had it. The ship was on a 12 day cruise of the Southern Caribbean.	Illness
December 10	Norwegian Dream Norwegian Cruise Line	The ship collided with a barge being pulled by a tug in Uruguay's main port, sending several cars and containers off the barge and shutting the port down. The ship received damages above the water line which do not appear serious. It will remain in port for repairs. Passengers on the current cruise, a 14 day around the southern tip of South America, will miss two ports miss three ports(Port Stanley, Puerto Madryn and Ushuaia) of call before repairs are complete; they're being offered alternate shore excursions before leaving for Ushuaia. There were no injuries. The harbour remained closed for more than 24 hours, trapping Celebrity Cruises' Infinity in port and blocking Marco Polo out of port. Passengers were offered a 50% refund of cruise fare paid in addition to $150 per passenger ($300 per room) onboard credit. A group of passengers are demanding greater compensation -- see Merco Press for more info. See here for photos.	Collision
December 10	Ecstasy & Carnival Conquest Carnival Cruise Lines	Thick fog closed the Port of Galveston, wreaking havoc with each ship's schedule. Conquest was supposed to sail at 5PM on Sunday but didn't leave until Monday at 2PM. Ecstasy arrived 7 hours late on Monday and may be "stuck" in port overnight.	Fog delays
December 10	Clipper Adventurer Clipper Cruise Line	The December 18 departure to Antarctica has been cancelled due to mechanical failure. Passengers on that cruise were not given any further information. They were offered a full refund or could rebook for December 2008.	Cancellation
December 8	Carnival Freedom Carnival Cruise Lines	The Sun Sentinel reports an equipment failure while the VSL was moored on ST Maarten. Observed crack in # 3 Stern Thruster tunnel casing, and blade on Thruster # 2 fractured. The VSL reported temporary repaired of the crack in well connection between foundation and thruster tunnel. Thruster is not going to be used. Class authorized them to sail with conditions that the VSL completed. Equipment failure.	Propulsion problems
December 8	Star Princess Princess Cruises	Passengers that there is an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness on the current cruise. The ship went from orange alert to red alert on December 7 and the conditions remain the same today. The ship is on an 18 day cruise from Civitavecchia to Fort Lauderdale (Dec 3 - 20).	Illness
December 7	Boudaccia Fred Olsen	The cruise that began today had been branded by some as a cruise from hell -- the ship set sail for the two-week trip despite gale force winds. As it headed off to Cadiz in Spain, the Canary Islands and Casablanca in Morocco, the cruise floundered as storms lashed the ship and it was forced to head for Cherbourg. It was moored at the French harbour for three days as torrential rain lashed down. While in port a boat collided with the ship and made a massive hole just above the water line. Temporary repairs were made in Cherbourg and permanent repairs completed when the ship was in the Canary Islands.	Cruise from Hell
December 7	Norwegian Pearl Norwegian Cruise Line	The ship reported 24 of 1097 (2.19%) crew and 335 of 2377 (14.09%) passengers had reported ill on a 8 day eastern Caribbean cruise from Miami.	Illness
December 5	Lycianda Blue Lagoon Cruises	The ship was on its way back to Lautoka when it was run aground in Rotuma by cyclone Daman. The ship suffered no damage to its hull, only minor damage to its rudders and propellers. Only crew was onboard at the time; there were no injuries. (Source: Fiji Times)	Aground
December 5	Empress of the Seas Royal Caribbean International	During a routine patrol of the K9 unit at Port Zante (St. Kitts), a passenger was searched and a quantity vegetable material suspected to be cannabis and quantity of a white powdery substance suspected to be cocaine was found on his person. He was arrested, and investigations are ongoing.	Drug Arrest onshore
December 4	Veendam Holland America Line	The ship is continuing to have engine problems (see November 25) and according to a passenger missed San Juan on its current 14 day southern Caribbean cruise. In addition, the passenger writes: On this current cruise, a man collapsed in the Ocean Bar, and several calls were made to 911, including the bar staff, who went down to the front desk to plead for help. It took over 20 minutes for the paramedics to arrive. One of the bar staff then went down and yelled at the front desk and said “Thank you very much – the man has died!”	Engine problems -- Missed port
December 3	Pride of America NCL America	The ship broke several of the lines securing it to the pier while in port at Kahului (Maui). Given the wave action in the harbour, the ship cancelled its overnight stay on the island and departed to seek safety in the open ocean. December 5: Port call at Kona cancelled because of adverse weather conditions.	Broke docking lines
December 3	Port of Los Angeles	The port was closed for about an hour when it appeared that a grenade was found in a disembarking cruise passenger's bag (the Diamond Princess and Monarch of the Seas were both in port). A Coast Guard explosives detection dog focused on the bag in a security sweep at about 8:30AM and an x-ray showed something inside that appeared to be the size and shape of a grenade. The object turned out to be a piece of coral. The port reopened at 10AM.	Port closed
December 2	Sapphire Princess Princess Cruises	The Sunday Mail reports that passengers were offered compensation after the ship was battered by storms as it sailed from Bangkok (Nov. 18) to Beijing (Dec 4). Weather also caused the ship to miss several ports. The mix of rough seas, and extra days at sea and missing ports led to a near-mutiny on the part of a large group of passengers. The compensation was a gesture of goodwill, and as such it was modest.	Compensation
December 2	Enchantment of the Seas Royal Caribbean International	Passengers returning from the most recent cruises say the ship continues to have electrical problems and is cruising at reduced speeds which is causing itinerary changes. (See November 15 below)	Electrical problems
December 2	M/S Aurora Nile Cruise	Five Egyptians were killed and two wounded when a fire broke out in the engine room on the Nile cruise ship when it was anchored near the ancient Egyptian ruins of Luxor early this morning, forcing the evacuation of 43 French tourists. The five Egyptians who died were either trapped by flames as they tried to extinguish the blaze or drowned after falling into the river. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.	Fire (Riverboat)
December 1	Fantasy Carnival Cruise Lines	A 77 year old man from Hattiesburg, MS was discovered missing shortly after the ship docked at New Orleans at 4AM at the end of a 5 day cruise to Cozumel and Progresso.The man's room, which included a private balcony, was reported by the cruise line to have been locked from the inside and all of his belongings were left in his cabin. He had last been seen the previous evening at around 7PM when the ship was 28 miles from shore. The Coast Guard was notified at 10AM and a search undertaken of coastal waters. UPDATE: The Hattiesburg American reports the search was called off after a suicide note indicating the man was in poor health was found in his room.	Person missing
November 30	Norwegian Majesty Norwegian Cruise Line	Newspapers in South Florida report that a 26 year old man was med evaced from the ship just outside Miami (on it was from Key West to Charleston, SC) this morning. The man reportedly fell 50 feet (from the eight floor to a deck below) on board the ship at about 4 AM and was treated onboard until onshore medical services could be secured. Details about the fall and his condition have not been reported, however there are reports that the man was intoxicated when the accident happened. (A similar accident occurred June 20 on the same ship ... see below)	Injury onboard
November 28	Explorer of the Seas Royal Caribbean International	Federal agents arrested a 50-year-old passenger on charges of transporting into the US Virgin Islands hundreds of anabolic steroids that were stashed in his cabin. Security staff aboard the ship had reported to federal officers that they suspected their passenger was transporting contraband leading agents to search the New Jersey man's cabin where they found about 380 tablets of methandrostenolone, a steroid commonly used by body builders. The passenger was taken into custody after the ship docked in Havensight; . The crime carries a sentence of up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 maximum fine. SOURCE: Virgin Islands Daily News	Drug arrest
November 25	Veendam Holland America Line	According to passengers on the 7 day cruise to the Western Caribbean which ended today, there were engine problems that caused the ship to miss two ports: Key West and Cozumel. They did make the port calls at Belize and Guatemala. According to a passenger: Many guests are angry that the ship is experiencing so many problems, in addition to the engine problems, there was floodings, toilets did not work, and water was turned off several times.	Engine problems -- Missed ports
November 24	Jewel of the Seas Royal Caribbean International	There was a small fire in the laundry room (deck 1 and 2) that was extinguished within an hour. Passengers were awakened by the 2:30 AM alert to crew, but there was no general call and passengers were not asked to leave their rooms. Some passengers report seeing thick smoke venting by the pool on deck 11. Apparently the only inconvenience, after things were brought under control, was that linens needed to be re-laundered to remove the smell of smoke.	Fire
November 23	Explorer GAP Adventures	More than 150 passengers and crew (91 passengers, 9 expedition staff, 54 crew) on an Antarctica cruise abandoned ship near the South Shetland Islands, 120 km north of the Antarctica peninsula, after the ship hit an unidentified object (likely ice) which put a 5 - 6 hole through both hulls, took on water and listed 25 - 30 degrees and started sinking. A distress call was issued at about 3:30 AM GMT and passengers boarded lifeboats 90 minutes later in the dark. After 4 or 5 hours in open lifeboats in active seas, passengers were transferred from life boats to Hurtigruten's Nordnorge which was in the area (it rescued passengers 10 months earlier when another ship went grounded in Antarctica January 30, 2007) . Air temperatures are around minus 5C; sea temperatures are minus 1C. Last word from the cruise ship's operator are that the ship has been stabilized and is not likely to sink, but this is disputed by news photos and reports. The ship left Ushuaia on November 11 for a 19 day cruise to the Drake Passage. UPDATE 19:30GMT: The Chilean Navy has dispatched an icebreaker, Contraalmirante Oscar Viel Toro, to evaluate the condition of Explorer and to see if she can be righted/toed to King George Island (presently listing 45 - 50 degrees). The passengers and crew will be spending the night at the island Chilean Navy base before flying to Punta Arenas in the morning. Chances are she could sink overnight as bad weather is forecast, but the Chilean Navy will be checking her over and maintaining a watch overnight. Ship sank overnight. PICTURES HERE. NOTE: Think about the environmental impact -- fuel oils, hydraulics, chemicals and substances in air conditioning and other systems, and arsenic and other harmful chemicals from televisions, computer screens, etc. The ship sank with 185,000 litres of fuel oil on board in addition to 1,000 litres of gasoline and 24,000 litres of lubricants. It left an oil stain five kilometers wide by eight km long.	Abandon ship near Antarctica --- Sank --- Environmental
November 21	Carnival Legend Carnival Cruise Lines	The Sun Sentinel reports the freewheel clutch failed on the #9 lifeboat davit system preventing the recovery of the launched lifeboat. It was determined that the cause of the failure was due to the failure of a tension spring located in the freewheel clutch, which is used to push the teeth of the clutch gear against the bushing during recovery operations. Without the spring, the teeth of the clutch gear cannot engage preventing the recovery of the lifeboat. The freewheel clutch is not necessary for the release of the lifeboat into the water. However, crewmembers could be injured or even killed during a lifeboat drill should a tension spring fail, releasing the manned lifeboat back into the water as it is in the process of being recovered. Material failure	Lifeboat failure
November 21	Carnival Valor Carnival Cruise Lines	The St. Thomas Source reports that passengers from the ship were on an open-air safari vehicle involved in an accident in which 29 people were injured and sent to hospital. One person was airlifted to Miami; another was under observation when the article was written. 15 of the injured were released from hospital by 8PM. According to the article, at about 3PM a utility truck was returning from a job when its brakes started to malfunction. The truck hit the safari bus -- loaded with 22 passengers from the cruise ship -- from the back. The truck tipped over on its side, crushing a red pickup truck and hitting a smaller white vehicle. Our thoughts go out to those who were injured.	Accident Onshore
November 20	Zaandam Holland America Line	The ship reported 9 of 616 (1.3%) crew and 91 of 1371 (6.64%) passengers had reported ill on a 15 day Hawaii Circle cruise from San Diego. NOTE: Reported November 29 that 24 passengers reported ill on the subsequent cruise between the mainland and Hawai'i. The numbers did not exceed the 3% threshold to be classified as an outbreak.	Illness