The table below lists "events at
sea" occurring after January 1, 2019, including cruise
ship accidents. It is based on media reports,
passenger reports posted at on-line boards and discussion
groups, and reports sent to Cruise Junkie.
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THE
Comprehensive list of Persons Overboard, 1995 - 2020 To go to CRUISE JUNKIE DOT COM Home page, click here |
2019
| December 31, MSC Orchestra, Pax
overboard, rescued alive Sowetan Live reports a man who jumped overboard as a cruise ship sailed between Madagascar and Mauritius on the last day of 2019 was miraculously found and rescued after spending almost an hour floating in the Indian Ocean. The incident on the MSC Orchestra passenger liner occurred early on Tuesday. Ross Volk, MD of MSC Cruises South Africa, said in a brief statement on Tuesday that the ship’s security protocols were immediately activated. He added that the man had apparently jumped of his own free will. The passenger was brought back on board and taken to the ship’s medical centre where he received further care. “Fortunately, the passenger sustained only minor injuries,” said Volk. |
| December 30, Marella Discovery,
Propulsion Problems Independent reports Britain’s biggest holiday company is refusing to offer refunds to thousands of passengers whose cruises have been drastically curtailed because of a faulty ship. TUI's Marella Discovery suffered an electrical fault on 9 December, about an hour after departure from Singapore. The company says there was “localised burning within the transformer housing”. Rather than returning to the port for repairs, the captain decided to sail for Thailand, two days away, at reduced speed. The company said that a repair will be carried out as soon as the replacement parts and equipment arrive. But meanwhile it is limited to around one-third less than its design speed of 24 knots (28mph). One passenger, Fiona Wall, was appalled at the prospect of staying aboard “a damaged ship at reduced power and less stability”. On arrival at Laem Chabang, the port for Bangkok, passengers were told the ship would continue the cruise in its damaged state, but at a reduced speed. For passengers who were aboard until the Malaysian island of Langkawi, the ship missed three ports of call: the Thai island of Koh Samui, this historic Malaysian port of Malacca and Sihanoukville in Cambodia. Passengers spent two-and-a-half days extra at sea as the ship struggled to keep up with her schedule. TUI assumes the ship will continue at reduced speed until at least February. The travel firm has decided to miss out key calls – including Malacca and Koh Samui – and sharply reduce the time spent on land in other locations. |
| December 30, MSC Grandiosa, Alision
with pier Daily Mail reports the ship pranged against the wall as it arrived in Palmero this morning.The accident left the bow of the £650million vessel damaged and a chunk was also taken out of the wall. It is understood the crash happened during high winds as it began trying to dock. |
| December 29, Norwegian Jewel, Person
overboard Cruise Law News reports a 62 year old male Australian passenger reportedly went overboard from the ship, which was on a 12-day Australia-New Zealand cruise when the passenger went overboard near the east coast off the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. The man went overboard around 7:00 P.M on Sunday (New Zealand time). The NCL ship returned to the area where the man is believed to have gone into the water and conducted what appears to be a short search for the passenger before continuing on its itinerary. A container ship, several yachts and two helicopters also reportedly searched for the passenger. |
| December 28, Carnival Vista and Dream, Delayed
by fog Cruise Hive reports due to the heavy fog, the two ships have been forced to stay away off the coast as the port of Galveston was closed to all marine traffic. The Carnival Dream finally docked at around 2:30 PM local time. The Carnival Vista arrived at 3:00 PM. |
| December 27, Regal Princess, Death on
shore excursion From a reader: My daughter and son-in-law are on the ship. A 30-year-old man died on a snorkeling excursion on Christmas day in Saint Thomas. No information was given to the passengers. Our children saw The man’s wife and two young children leave the boat in Saint Thomas. They were with no other family members. My understanding is it was a Princess Excursion |
| December 26, Carnival Ecstasy, Delayed
by fog Posters at Cruise Critic indicate the ship's arrival in Jacksonville was delayed so boarding for the next cruise has also been delayed by at least three hours. |
| December 25, Star Princess, Missed
Port (Weather) Posters at Cruise Critic indicate the ship stayed in Honolulu overnight Christmas night rather than sail to Kauai where weather would have made disembarking unlikely. |
| December 24, Nieuw Amsterdam, Propulsion
problems From a passenger: Onboard the Nieuw Amsterdam presently. Ship departed at 5:39pm on Saturday after getting sign off from Coast Guard to work only on 1 Azipod. As it turns out the maximum speed is 15.7 knots. There is still a slight vibration on the stern in the Dining room.Ship still needs to go back into Drydock to get properly fixed. |
| December 20, Carnival Glory and Legend, Ships
collide WPST reports the two ships collided at 8:50AM in Cozumel, causing significant damage above the water line. Details are still emerging. |
| December 19, Elation, Man pleads
guilty to murdering girlfriend Miami Herald reports a Kansas man pleaded guilty Thursday to murdering his girlfriend on a Carnival Cruise Line cruise from Florida to the Bahamas. On Jan. 19, 2018, Tamara Tucker, 50, and Eric Duane Newman, 55, were aboard the Carnival Elation traveling from Jacksonville to the Bahamas when Newman tried to strangle Tucker and pushed her over the balcony of their 13th floor cabin, the Department of Justice said in a statement Thursday. Tucker hit the 11th deck after the fall and died from blunt force trauma. Newman pleaded guilty to one count of murder in the second degree in federal court in Kansas. The murder happened in international waters around 30 miles from New Smyrna Beach, the Justice Department said. |
| December 15, Nieuw Amsterdam, Propulsion
problems, cruise canceled From a passenger: Onboard the Nieuw Amsterdam presently. Scheduled to set sail yesterday 12/14/19. From Fort Lauderdale. Still in port due to propulsion price problem. To be notified at noon today 12/15/19 whether itinerary will be revised cruise will be cancelled and passengers told to disembark. Update @ 3PM Eastern Time: Cruise just cancelled. Cruisers to be told within hour when they have to disembark ... As it turned they had until 10:15 AM on 16 December. Rumour has it that the ship will go to drydock for repairs before the next scheduled cruise. |
| December 9, Golden Princess, Risk of
Hepatitis E on two cruises Livingston Ledger reports passengers who boarded two recent cruises from Melbourne have been warned they may have been exposed to Hepatitis E while on board. The Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday alerted passengers who were travelling on the Golden Princess between February 8 and 15. An on-board crew member had been suffering the illness at the time. Victoria‘s Chief Health Officer Professor Charles Guest said passengers were at ‘low risk‘ of infection. He also said passengers were unlikely to become unwell as a result of the possible exposure. |
| December 9, Ovation OTS, Volcano
eruption during shore excursion, some deaths CNN reports Volcanic eruption: New Zealand authorities are conducting search and rescue operations on White Island, off the North Island coast, after a volcano erupted on Monday afternoon local time. Casualties: At least five people have been confirmed dead, but authorities warn there may be more as they assess the situation. Missing tourists: Fewer than 50 people are believed to have been on or near the volcano when it erupted, including around 30 passengers from a Royal Caribbean cruise on a ship-sponsored shore excursion. A total of 23 people were rescued from the island -- including the five who died. |
| December 9, Norwegian Epic, Delayed
debarkation From a passenger: I just got off the NCL Epic yesterday in San Juan, PR, and have seen news reports on the NCL Epic Cruisers FB page stating the reason for our delay in debarkation was the death of a 70-year-old Florida woman (some cruisers said man). Lots of other rumors on ship days prior that up to 6 people had died from unknown causes - one supposedly suicide - but cannot find anything to support those rumors. |
| December 8, Ventura, Adrift - dead in
the water Cruise Hive reports during her 12-day cruise out of Southampton, UK the ship suffered engine failure and as a result, issued a mayday. Yesterday evening after the large vessel departed her scheduled port visit at Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands she suffered a loss of propulsion. The ship was drifting towards the northeast of Tenerife island but at no time were guests in any danger and everyone has been kept updated onboard. It was announced to guests that two tug boats were on route to tow the cruise ship back to Santa Cruz de Tenerife overnight. According to the ship’s captain, the issue was due to condensation which had got into the electricals and in turn caused the main propulsion systems to be knocked out. However, the ship did still have the bow thrusters available. It occurred as the vessel was sailing from Santa Cruz de Tenerife towards the next port of call of Arrecife. With the ship now berthed back in Santa Cruz, the call to Arrecife on December 8 has been canceled. The ship remains in port after arriving at around 8:15 this morning. Investigations are set to continue along with repairs. |
| December 7, Grandeur OTS, Death on
shore excursion Cruise Hive reports a passenger who was enjoying a visit at Barbados during a vacation sadly died after drowning. A 72-year-old Ohio man drowned at the popular Pebbles Beach which is located on the southwest part of the island in the capital of Bridgetown. Local authorities have stated that the man was on a shore excursion from the cruise ship and the bus arranged to arrive at the beach just after 10:00 AM. Three people on the beach found him floating on the water and brought him back to land. |
| December 6, Independence of the Seas, Medical
emergency causes itinerary shift From a passenger: Independence of the seas en route to Cozumel Mexico on December 5 turned back to port due to a Medical emergency. She was at the port of Miami on December 6 at 10:00 am. UPDATE: The captain just advised that we will still travel to Cozumel traveling at top speed. We will arrive at noon, 5 hours late, and depart at 9 pm. We left Miami at approximately 11. This is NOT confirmed but passengers are saying someone died at dinner and their loved ones wanted to disembark with the deceased. |
| December 6, Vasco da Gama (Cruise and
Maritime Voyages), Loss of power, dead in the water 2GB reports a cruise ship is stranded at sea off the coast of Australia after breaking down early this morning. The Vasco da Gama, travelling from London, has lost all power and has been drifting in the St Vincent Gulf near Adelaide for hours. About 900 passengers are stuck on-board without food or even working toilets. The cruise company, CMV Australia, has confirmed there is a problem but is refusing to say what it is. They’ve reportedly told passengers the ship will be on its way soon. |
| December 5, Oosterdam, Propulsion
problems, changed itinerary From a passenger: Received the following regarding our upgrading cruise - While we are in port in San Diego before your cruise we will be performing maintenance on one of the ship’s Azipod propellers. To allow time for this work, some adjustments to our upcoming itinerary have been necessary. We will now remain in port overnight on Saturday, December 7 and depart San Diego on Sunday, December 8, at 6:00 PM. As a result of our late departure from San Diego we will no longer be able to call to Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico, on Wednesday, December 11, and will reverse the port order of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico and Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Each guest will receive $100.00 USD as a refundable onboard credit applied to your shipboard account (this is apparently in lieu of refund of port charges paid, which is contrary to the CLIA Passenger Bill of Rights). |
| December 2, Golden Princess, Cultural
Insensitivity New Zealand Herald reports the multinational cruise ship company behind a "pantomime pōwhiri" that has been slammed as "blatant racism" says no offence was intended. This morning guests from the Golden Princess were welcomed at the Port of Tauranga by several men in crude skirts with "scribbles" across their faces. Video shows the men appearing to be pretending to perform a pōwhiri, the traditional Māori welcoming ceremony. Māori cultural advisor Karaitiana Taiuru said there was no excuse for the cruise ship company's actions. "It is blatant racism and exploitation of Māori culture and of staff by the company. "It is derogatory and there is absolutely no excuse for an international company to operate like this in New Zealand, especially in today's age where other actions have been in the media and criticised." |
| December 2, Norwegian Joy, Illness
outbreak? CNN reports Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics treated 10 people aboard the Norwegian Joy cruise ship for minor medical complaints after the ship docked early Sunday, the LAFD said. It's the second time in a week passengers were treated for illness after returning from a trip aboard the vessel. The patients, on a Mexican Riviera cruise, had minor medical complaints and none were transported to hospitals. |
| November 29, Liberty OTS, Pax death on
shore excursion WFAA reports a Dallas woman, visiting Belize on a cruise ship vacation, was killed instantly in a single-car traffic accident in Belize City, according to local police. Carolyn Gillis, 77, was thrown through the windshield of a red Ford Freestyle van on Thursday afternoon when the driver of the vehicle lost control and flipped it several times. A local media report said she was not wearing a seatbelt. Gillis was traveling in Belize with six family members on a cruise ship shore excursion when the crash happened, her pastor told WFAA. |
| November 29, Volendam, Grounded From a passenger: we are about 50 miles from Santarem near Monte Alegre on the Amazon River. We have been grounded since 4:22am 11/29/2019 on a mud bank. It's now 8:48am local time. The first attempt to self power ourselves off the mud was unsuccessful. Another attempt will be made. If unsuccessful; tugs will be called in. All passengers are safe; per the Captain, there has been no breech of the hull. UPDATE: As of 11:24am we are free and heading upriver. No news about schedule changes. |
| November 28, Carnival Vista, Pax
deaths ashore in Belize KPRC posted the following statement from Carnival: Carnival Cruise Line can confirm that seven guests traveling on Carnival Vista were involved in a bus accident while on an independent tour in Belize on Wednesday. along with Carnival guests, there were guests from at least one other cruise line on the bus. Sadly, two guests have died and the five others remain hospitalized, with one guest already transported back to the U.S for medical care ... Carnival Vista is on a 7-day voyage that departed Galveston on Saturday, Nov. 23 and is scheduled to return to Galveston on Saturday, Nov. 30. It is calling on Cozumel on Thursday, as planned. |
| November 26, Radiance OTS, Environmental
- fuel spill Stuff NZ reports about 100 litres of diesel spilled into Wellington Harbour while mega-cruise ship Radiance of the Seas was taking on fuel. Harbour master Grant Nalder confirmed that there were reports of penguins in the area of the spill, which happened on Monday afternoon. Initially, there were fears of up to 800 litres being spilled. The official estimate was earlier about 400 litres but this was reduced on Tuesday to fewer than 100 litres. The diesel leaked out of shore-based pipe work and ended up on the docks with "quite a bit" finding its way to the water. Nalder said the diesel broke up relatively quickly with crews using water to agitate it. The wash of the cruise ship further broke up the diesel, and tugs were also brought in to help. Environmental protection staff were at the scene on Tuesday morning and there was little sign of the diesel. People were being asked to look out for penguins affected as at least one was spotted on the outer edge of the spill area. |
| November 25, La Belle des Oceans, Grounded
- breached hull Phuket News reports all 78 French tourists and one German, as well as the 70-strong crew, aboard the cruise ship La Belle des Océans, which breached its hull on an underground rock southeast of Phi Phi Island early this morning, have been brought to Phuket safely, officials have confirmed. The 4,000-ton Belgium-flagged ship from Brussels arrived at Phuket at about 10am. The Belle was towed back to Phuket by the HTMS Sriracha, which was dispatched by the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command at Cape Panwa to render assistance this morning. The tourists will be flown to Singapore, explained Pramok Urawan of Phuket Shipping Co Ltd. Mr Pramok raised concerns that the underwater rock that the cruise liner struck, tearing a hole in the ship’s mid-port section under the waterline, was not marked on navigation charts . |
| November 24, Norwegian Joy, Illness
Outbreak Daily Mirror reports hundreds of 'acutely ill' passengers were rushed off the ship after a Norovirus outbreak onboard. Some people who had been on the Norwegian Joy were evaluated by paramedics after the 16-day cruise that left Florida stopped at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro. Peter Krajewski, who had been onboard, tweeted: "Just got off the Norwegian Joy in the port of Los Angeles. "Our ship had been dealing with a Norovirus outbreak the last couple days, but none of the passengers suspected that it was as bad as it was. "Apparently hundreds of people were acutely ill on the ship." KTLA reports four people were hospitalized and two others were evaluated by paramedics who were called to a cruise ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles following reports of multiple people falling ill Sunday morning. The company said some guests experienced a stomach-related illness during a 16-day trip and the crew "implemented stringent sanitation procedures. They took all the pillows in the rooms and they were sanitizing those and then when we got off the ship, they had their hazmat suits on and they were sanitizing all the rooms," said Judy Lukos, a passenger on the ship. Lukos said all the buffets were closed off and everyone was served meals with many extra precautionary measures. CDC reports 127 of 3603 passengers (3.53) and 6 of 1679 crew (0.34%) reported ill on the q6 day cruise ending in Los Angeles on 24 November. |
| November 24, Resolute, Detained in port CBC reports the ship has been ordered by an Argentinian federal judge to stay in the port of Buenos Aires due to a "significant debt." The RCGS Resolute has been at the port since October when the company cancelled a trip to Antarctica at the last minute, stranding up to 140 passengers. Since then, two more Antarctic voyages have been cancelled and employees allege they're owed thousands in unpaid wages. Very little information has been provided for passengers of upcoming trips, some who paid up to $30,000 USD. One Ocean Expeditions is being sued by another company for the "significant debt," said Cecilia Jones, a spokeswoman for the port of Buenos Aires. Jones could not identify the company that alleges it is owed money, nor disclose the amount. The ship cannot fuel up or leave the port until a judge rules on the case, she added. She could not say how long that may take. |
| November 19, Genting Dream, 10 year
old drowns Channel News Asia reports a 10-year-old Singaporean boy was found dead in a swimming pool on board the Genting Dream cruise ship while docked in Langkawi on Monday (Nov 18) afternoon. The victim, Alan Heng Kai Lun, was on vacation with his mother and a friend on the vessel that had just arrived from Singapore. The ship was on the three-night cruise that had departed Singapore on Sunday. |
| November 18, Anthem OTS & Grandeur
OTS, Delayed in port b/c of storm Cruise Hive reports both ships have been effected by a major storm on the East coast. Grandeur which was scheduled to begin her 7-day Bahamas cruise yesterday still remains anchored in the Chesapeake Bay to keep guests a crew safe away from the storm. With high swells and winds up to 40 MPH it would be extremely rocky indeed out at sea. The ship was scheduled to depart and begin her cruise yesterday afternoon but now as she remains in the bay the original itinerary could be impacted. The ship is scheduled to call at Port Canaveral on Nov 18, Royal Caribbean’s private island of CocoCay on Nov 19 and then finally Nassau on Nov 20 before returning back at the Port of Baltimore on November 23. Anthem OTS, which is based out of Cape Liberty, has also been forced to remain away from the storm. The large cruise ship which was scheduled to depart her homeport yesterday is still there until the storm threat passes. |
| November 18, Carnival Pride, Delayed
arrival, disembarkation; shortened cruise Cruise Hive reports the ship has been informed by the U.S. Coast Guard that Cape Henry has reopened. Due to strong winds and high swells, Carnival Pride continues to cruise at a reduced speed in order to stay safely behind the storm. The ship is expected to return to port Monday morning. It will then operate a six day cruise to Nassau and Freeport, on scheduled days (Princess Cays will be canceled). |
| November 18, Noordam, Illness
outbreak Otago Daily Times reports a cruise ship that visited Dunedin at the weekend had an outbreak of norovirus on board. Port Otago cruise manager Carolyn Bennett confirmed there had been a "minor outbreak" aboard the Noordam, which left Port Chalmers yesterday evening after arriving about 8.30am. NOTE: Two days prior to this media report I received an email from a passenger onboard alerting me to the outbreak, which was not referred to as "minor" |
| November 17, Carnival Horizon, Fall
four stories to death WInk News reports Carnival Cruise Line confirms a male passenger died recently after he fell four stories. Among other passengers on the ship was a Cape Coral family. They said a Carnival ship employee told the family he fell from the ninth floor to the fifth. “We were looking over our balcony, and we’re seeing the section of the fifth floor is all blocked off, said Cyndi Knox, whose family from Cape Coral were passengers on the ship. The family said the same worker initially told them the ship’s staff was expecting a trauma helicopter to airlift the victim for treatment, but he died before it was able to rescue him. The cruise ship docked in Miami, where Carnival told us they are cooperating with Miami Police Department’s investigation. We reached out to the police department for more information but have not yet received a response. The name of the victim has not been released by law enforcement. |
| November 15, Sun Princess, Illness
outbreak The New Paper reports the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) told The New Paper on Friday (Nov 15) that 229 passengers and crew on board the cruise ship, MV Sun Princess, had come down with gastrointestinal illness. TNP had reported earlier the cruise ship from Australia had decided to disembark all 2,000 passengers when those affected fell ill. Those affected showed symptoms such as vomiting and/or diarrhoea. MPA said of those affected, 189 have recovered. For the remaining affected passengers and crew, 16 passengers had disembarked and terminated their cruise at Singapore.The ship arrrived in Singapore 13 November and was in transit to Ho Chi Minh City. |
| November 14, Norwegian Breakaway, Assault New York Post reports a man was arrested by the FBI for assaulting a woman on a cruise liner in international waters after chasing her around the ship, authorities said. The suspect, identified by the FBI as Jeff Smiley III, chased the woman around the Norwegian Cruise Line ship on Nov. 4 then beat her so badly that her jaw and arm were broken. The assault, which happened as the cruise liner was heading toward San Juan, Puerto Rico, was captured by surveillance cameras on the ship, authorities said. Agents from the FBI boarded the ship before it reached San Juan and arrested Smiley after reviewing the footage and interviewing witnesses. Smiley was turned over to San Juan police and hit with two assault charges. |
| November 13, Norwegian Sun, Pax
overboard, rescued alive From a passenger: On the ship and watched the rescue. Happened off the coast of Freeport in very calm waters with the ship going very slowly on its way to Great Stirrup Cay. Crew did great - from my balcony it appeared that the person climbed into the rescue boat on their own. Very quick rescue. LATER: So word in the ship is that it was a young woman. Jumped off her 9th floor balcony to go swimming. Survived relatively uninjured (a bit of a miracle). Rumor has it she’s in the brig. Cabin 9030 is cautioned taped off. Someone did get full video, so eventually that will be out there. |
| November 7, Celebrity Equinox, Sexual
assault, crew on crew Cruise Law News reports the recent news of a crew member sexually assaulting a woman on an unidentified cruise ship sailing to St. Thomas reported by several newspapers in the U.S. Virgin Islands involved what the prosecutor is characterizing in court documents as a “brazen rape of his colleague.” The criminal complaint, supporting affidavit of the investigating FBI agent, and the indictment and criminal information in the federal court file in St. Thomas reveal that the “aggravated sexual abuse by force” was allegedly committed by Celebrity crew member Louie Ison Mangampat aboard the Celebrity Equinox as the cruise ship was sailing to St. Thomas on September 25, 2019. The court documents reveal that on the night in question Mangampat and several other crew members gathered in a crew cabin when he “yanked” the female crew member “into the bathroom, where he locked her inside.” The FBI affidavit indicates that he then began “groping her against her active resistance.” Despite her attempts to block him from her body, Mangampat is alleged to have inserted one or more of his fingers into the crew member’s vagina. He is accused of performing oral sex on the woman and then “inserting his penis into her vagina.” |
| November 7, Carnival Horizon, Report
on cause of accident Maritime Executive reports the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released a Marine Accident Brief about the Carnival Horizon's August 28, 2018 allision as the vessel was being maneuvered to berth no. 2 at Manhattan Cruise Terminal’s Pier 88 in New York City. The cruise ship's bow struck the southwest corner of adjacent Pier 90. Pier 90’s walkway, roof parking garage, and facilities suffered extensive structural damage, and the ship sustained minor damage above the waterline, totaling about $2.5 million in cumulative damage. The NTSB determined that the probable cause of ship's contact with Pier 90 was the ineffective interaction and communication between the master and the docking pilot who were maneuvering the vessel, and the bridge team’s ineffective oversight of the docking maneuver. Contributing was the placement of the third officer in a location without view of the bow to monitor the close approach to Pier 90. Carnival’s navigation policy requires closed-loop communication and a process called “thinking aloud;” there was little audible evidence that the thinking-aloud concept was in practice during this accident sequence. While the pilot was issuing bow thruster and tug orders, the master used the stern azipods with the intention to bring the ship closer to Pier 90, but did not verbalize his actions to the pilot or bridge team. |
| November 7, Princess Anastasia, Loss
of power, return to port Xinhua reports the ship became stranded near the island of Lidingo, east of Stockholm, around 6:00 p.m. local time. A witness saw the ship and noticed that all the lights were out aboard, and alerted maritime rescue. The ship was on its way from Stockholm to St. Petersburg via Helsinki when the blackout occurred. According to the Maritime and Air Rescue Center, no injuries have been reported and electrical power was quickly restored. Shortly after 7:30 p.m., Ingrid Hansson, press officer for Ports of Stockholm, announced that the ship was on its way back to Stockholm. |
| November 6, Celebrity Xpeditiion, Run
aground Cruise Critic reports the ship ran aground on Tuesday evening in the Galapagos Islands, with the ship’s 46 passengers evacuated to a nearby vessel. Passengers and and some of the crew have been transferred to the line's other ship in the region, Celebrity Flora, and tomorrow will depart for Quito where Celebrity Cruises will coordinate hotels and flights home. Celebrity Xpedition was in the middle of a seven-day Galapagos sailing that departed 2 November and was due to end 9 November. It has not yet been determined if the next sailing will be cancelled but booked passengers will be informed of any changes. |
| November 4, Norwegian Star, Fire,
Propulsion problems, intinerary change Cruise Law News reports the ship experienced a problem with one of its azipods over the weekend, apparently resulting in a fire of some type, resulting in a cancelled port on its last cruise. NCL then continued the next cruise without any mention to the new guests that there had been a fire or whether the ship had been inspected by appropriate authorities. NCL also altered the current cruise involving this ship, according to passengers who contacted us and those who posted information on social media. One cruise passenger stated: "NCL Star experienced loud, shuddering, rattling noise at approximately 1am on Nov. 2nd. The ship seemed to stop and we heard 3 short alarm blasts and “Bravo.” We found out from crew an engine was lost and a fire had ensued. We were told we would miss Dubrovnik (the headliner port) and heading back to Venice. We were only offered a $100 NON-REFUNDABLE credit to use or lose over less than 18 hours. NCL has mentioned only that its ship sustained unspecified “mechanical issues” in a letter to passengers on the last cruise and returned to Venice with reduced speed. There has been no official word from NCL regarding reports of a fire during the last cruise. There is also no information regarding who, if anyone, inspected the ship following the alleged fire. NCL altered the current cruise on the ship by dropping Mykonos and Santorini to the surprise of its customers. |
| November 2, Norwegian Escape,
Illness outbreak? From a passenger: 20 - 27 October 2019 - "Many of the passengers were sick with either the Norovirus or Listeria. It was a horrible disgusting mess!" |
| November 2, Amadea, Missed port call
(weather) Cornwall Live reports the ship cancelled its planned visit to Falmouth due to the bad weather. Flood and weather warnings are in effect for the county as heavy rain and strong winds are expected overnight and tomorrow. The cruise ship Amadea was due to arrive in Falmouth on Saturday. The ship was due to make its third of four visits to Falmouth this year. Within the past six weeks, the Albatross' visit on September 25 and a stop by the Viking Sky on September 29 were both cancelled due to bad weather. |
| November 1, Finnmarken, Woman
overboard Newsweek reports an unnamed Norwegian woman in her 40, fell from the MS Finnmarken at around 6 p.m. on Wednesday evening. A rescue operation was ordered but stormy weather and the failing light made her recovery difficult. A helicopter, six vessels and specialist divers were rushed to the scene. Authorities found the woman in the water around an hour after she fell. However, the woman died on Thursday afternoon. Police have said there is "no reason to believe" there was any foul play involved in the woman's death. Nonetheless, police held the ship—operated by the Hurtigruten company—in Alesund while they conducted an investigation. The ship has since been released. Local police said they were still worked to "clarify the circumstances" around the incident. Police spokesperson said officers had interviewed multiple witnesses and that "We are continuing to investigate the case and will now work on mapping the course of events." |
| October 29, Norwegian Getaway, Missed
port call (wind) From a passenger: Missed port in Azores because of wind. |
| October 25, MSC Divina, Family
quarantined after death International Business Times reports a boy died on a cruise ship at sea in Italy according to crew the reason is unknown and the condition worsened suddenly. According to cruise news, the 12-year-old boy was from Germany. The young passenger fell ill when the ship was sailing toward Cagliari in southern Sardinia from Palermo on the Sicily coast.Th e spokesperson for MSC Cruises, Robin Roothans told USA Today that a midnight request for medical care for the child came on Monday. “While the staff of our Medical Center reacted promptly, the health status of the child unexpectedly deteriorated,” said Roothans. She said attempts to resuscitate the child failed and the boy passed away. However, MSC Cruises was looking clueless on the cause of the child's death, per reports. The company person said it will be working with authorities to support any investigation or examination required in the matter. |
| October 25, Norwegian Escape, Drug
Bust Royal Gazette reports a US couple yesterday appeared in Magistrates’ Court today after cannabis was discovered in their cruise ship cabin. Maria Derenzin, from Passaic, and Ibn Muhammad, from Newark, both New Jersey, admitted importation of the drug into the island on the Norwegian Escape. The court heard that after the ship arrived in port on Wednesday, officers searched the couple’s cabin. They found two hand-rolled cigarettes and a bag that contained 22g of cannabis. Derenzin, 24, told the court that she had a New Jersey licence to use cannabis for medical purposes. Muhammad, also 24, said he was in the process of getting a similar licence. Both apologised to the court and the island. Karen King, for the prosecution, said fines of $2,000 each would be appropriate. But Bruce Swan, duty counsel, said the couple could pay $1,500 each today, which would mean they would not miss the ship’s departure. Magistrate Maxanne Anderson fined Derenzin and Muhammad $2,000 each, and ordered that the fines be paid immediately. |
| October 24, Carnival Dream, Pax
overboard NBC News reports the U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a 26-year-old man who apparently jumped from the balcony of the Carnival Dream cruise ship off the coast of Texas. The Coast Guard received a call at about 8:45 p.m. on Thursday that a passenger on the ship had gone overboard about 47 miles southeast of Galveston, the agency said in a statement. A helicopter crew and air crew were deployed to assist in the search for the man. The Carnival Dream immediately began search-and-rescue procedures and the ship returned to the area where the man went overboard. The spokesperson said the Coast Guard "released Carnival from the search overnight" and the ship continued on its scheduled four-day itinerary to Cozumel, Mexico. |
| October 24, Ovation OTS, Canceled port
call Otago Daily News reports the ship was expected to berth at Beach St wharf at 6.30am from Fiordland. A Dunedin City Council spokeswoman said the visit had been cancelled as the weather forecast for its departure time was unfavourable. The ship will now head to its next stop in Wellington. |
| October 21, Multiple Ships, Crew
not allowed leave in NYC Cruise Radio reports to try and prevent further defections, strict new rules will be put in place. The spokesperson explained that for the time being, “crewmembers must now complete five contracts [before being] eligible for shore leave.” While acknowledging that this could create a “hardship” for those who have not yet met that threshold, the agency says the rule “is necessary to address the increase of desertions at this port.” Contracts vary from one cruise line to another, but tend to run anywhere from two months to twelve months. It’s important to note that while this will prevent many crew members from enjoying shore leave in the New York City/New Jersey ports, that does not mean that they won’t be able to disembark in other ports which they ship might visit. |
| October 21, Tallink Silja Europa, Two
pax deaths New Now Finland reports police in Estonia say they’ve found two bodies on board Tallink Silja Europa cruise ship. The deceased are a 21-year old man and 25-year old woman, both Finnish citizens. According to Estonian police they don’t think the deaths are related. A spokesperson for Tallink Silja says that the ship was on a 22 hour cruise from Helsinki to Tallinn, and had docked at the Estonian port at 22:00 on Saturday night. The spokesperson says the bodies were discovered between 03:00 and 04:00 on Sunday morning. Passengers who are taking the mini-cruise stay on board the ship overnight in their cabins, and have the chance to go ashore in Tallinn between 08:00 and 12:00 on Sunday morning. |
| October 16, Allure OTS, Pax kicked off Fox News reports Peter Blosic, who snapped the photo, was recently traveling through the Caribbean on the Allure of the Seas when he spotted the unnamed woman in a blue bathing suit, after she had apparently climbed over a balcony railing on the starboard (right) side of the ocean liner. According to Blosic, the daredevil ventured out on the massive ship's narrow perch to take photos of herself. “What an absolute IDIOT. You cannot fall off of a ship unless you are acting like a moron!" he exclaimed. Blosic said he immediately contacted guest services, and that ship officials soon tracked down the woman. Later, the selfie-snapper was booted off the ship when it docked in Falmouth, Jamaica, Blosic claimed. |
| October 12, Costa Magica, Passenger
overboard World Maritime News reports Spanish authorities recovered a body of a cruise ship passenger in the Gulf of Cadiz today, NATO said. The 75 year old woman was reported missing at 10:45 PM from an Italian cruise ship sailing off the coast of Spain. Although the cruise ship has not been identified, German cruise ship website Schiffe und Kreuzfahrten reported that the vessel in question is Costa Pacifica operated by Italian Costa Cruises. The passenger reportedly fell from the ship’s deck 8 in the evening hours of October 10. After receiving a “man overboard” mayday call, NATO Maritime Forces ships rerouted to assist the search and rescue operations. NATO units included the US, Norwegian, Belgian and Dutch naval vessels. Additional units assisting in the search were the Spanish search and rescue tug Maria Zambrano, a French maritime patrol aircraft, and a Spanish search and rescue helicopter. Further details on the incident are yet to be provided. |
| October 12, Disney Magic, Molestation
of child Miami Herald reports a Disney Cruise Line “youth host” will go to trial this month on allegations he fondled a young boy aboard a ship, while authorities are appealing to the public for help finding more potential victims. Oliver Lovatt, 25, a native of England, was arrested this past spring in a case that had managed to remain off the media radar. He is charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious battery on children under the age of 16. Lovatt remains jailed while awaiting trial; his defense attorney did not respond to a request for comment. According to a police report, Lovatt was employed working with children at the “Oceaneer Kids Lab” aboard the Disney Magic. The center offers “imaginative themed activities and games” for kids between the ages of 3 and 12, according to the cruise line’s website. The incident was captured by surveillance cameras, police said, and Lovatt “confessed to fondling” the boy, the report said. |
| October 12, AIDAluna, Illness outbreak CDC reports 85 of 2166 (3.9%) passengers and 10 crew of 612 (1.6%) have reported ill on the 28 Sept - 12 October cruise ending in NYC. |
| October 12, AIDAdiva, Illness outbreak CDC reports 83 of 2251 (3.7%) passengers and 10 crew of 610 (1.6%) have reported ill on the 3-13 October cruise ending in NYC. |
| October 9, Carnival Valor, Man
falls from deck 14 to deck 10 Daily Mail reports a newlywed man was critically injured after he fell 16 feet from a balcony on a Carnival cruise ship off the coast of Louisiana. John 'JT' Holliday, 23, tumbled over a railing on the Carnival Valor just after midnight on Tuesday, his new wife Amberlee told DailyMail.com. Amberlee said she and her husband had tied the knot over the weekend and departed on the honeymoon cruise to Mexico on Monday. She said she and JT were headed back to their room from one of the ship's bars after drinking for several hours when he wandered off. She turned back to look for him and was shocked to learn that he had fallen from the 14th deck to the 10th. Speaking to DailyMail.com from her husband's hospital bedside on Wednesday, Amberlee said she still doesn't know exactly what caused him to fall because no one witnessed the accident. The newlyweds boarded the Valor on Monday morning and the ship departed from its home port in New Orleans at 3.30PM. |
| October 8, Norwegian Spirit, Near
mutiny Daily Mail reports passengers on a luxury liner staged a mutiny after their cruise turned into 'the holiday from hell'. They described the two-week cruise as 'the worst trip ever' after the ship – which set off from Southampton on September 27 – failed to dock in Le Havre or Amsterdam, apparently because of high winds. They were taken to Norway but the ship berthed in a 'deserted' town which was closed to tourists, with the famous fjords viewable only from a distance. A stop in Reykjavik was cancelled and replaced with a trip to Greenock, near Glasgow – but the 900ft-long ship was refused permission to dock there on Monday morning, and the captain decided to head to Belfast instead. By this point, passengers had endured three days at sea and the ship's sewage system was 'failing'. Many passengers said food served in the restaurants had gone stale. There was further fury when US-based operator Norwegian Cruise Line declined full refunds and offered passengers only a 25 per cent voucher towards a future cruise.Footage shows hundreds of passengers protesting in the ship's grand atrium amid chants of 'shame on you', 'we want refunds' and 'get us off this ship'. The passengers, including British, American and Chinese tourists, can be heard shouting 'take us back to London' in front of crew members and security guards. |
| October 5, Prinzessin Isabella, Collision
with cargo ship Maritime Bulletin reports cruise ship PRINZESSIN ISABELLA with 165 passengers on board collided with Panama-flagged cargo ship in Tulcea waters, Romania, Danube, at around 0500 LT Oct 5. Cargo ship was proceeding upstream en route to Galati, cruise ship was sailing downstream, to Tulcea. Cruise ship was, from the looks of her, seriously damaged starboard midship. Two passengers were injured, but luckily, not seriously. Cruise ship berthed at Tulcea, cargo ship was brought to anchor upstream from collision site. Cargo ship wasn’t identified by local sources, according to track it’s general cargo ship BLUSE START I. No information on her damages. |
| October 4, Carnival Sensation, Delayed
in port - technical issue A passenger reports the ship was stuck in port in Key West because of a technical issue -- this was 4 hours after the scheduled departure. They were waiting for technicians to arrive. The ship apparently did depart in the evening, continuing its 4-day Western Caribbean cruise. |
| October 4, Koningsdam, Loss of Power From a passenger: At noon today while on a sea day between Valleta, Malta and Naples, Italy in the straits of Messina, our ship has last power. Captain acknowledged over the p. a. system the issue after about 10 minutes, waiting to find out what happened. It seemed to me the motors stopped at the same time. Captain has said problem was due to computer issue, says one engine working, but we continue to drift sideways through the strait towards open sea -“in no danger”. 12:44 local time captain says both engines on line and power being restored. Can tell the side thrusters are turning us back to face the correct way. Lights just came on to applause in lido dining area. |
| October 2, Celebrity Eclipse, Delayed
departure from Maui From a reader: Celebrity Eclipse Cruise Notification: We would like to give you an update on the status of today's call in Lahaina. A wildfire has developed in Lahaina causing major road closures and preventing guests from easily returning to the Eclipse. Arrangements have been made for buses to transport guests from a local meeting point at the Starbucks in Queen Kaahumanu Center to a nearby port where a tender boat will then return guests to the ship. ... So far the Eclipse sailed to the north side of the island but the sea is to rough to pick up the stranded busload of passengers on the deployed tenders. Now the ship departure is 6.5 hours late. Tomorrow is the last day of the cruise so it normally docks at 5 AM to offload passengers. Hopefully conditions will improve and be conducive to boarding. If not, there may be problems transferring passengers to the airport. NOTE: The ship was ultimately loaded and on its way a couple hours after receiving the first email. |
| October 1, Celebrity Summit, Two
crew members jump overboard in port - rescued Drawing on a number of sources, Cruise Law News reports two Celebrity crew members apparently jumped from the ship earlier this week. Canadian fire-rescue and coast guard departments rescued them both from the cold Saint Lawrence River. Several newspapers reported that the crew members apparently jumped into the river in Quebec City early on Monday morning. Le Soleil newspaper reported that the fiirst crew member, a 27 year old man, jumped into the river from the ship, which had been moored at the Port of Quebec since Sunday. The incident occurred around 5:40 a.m., and the crew member was sighted by patrolmen from the Port of Quebec near the cruise terminal. A patrol officer went down the quay ladder, and rescued the ship employee. The temperature of the river was reportedly about 13 ° celsius and the crew member was hypothermic when rescued. Both men were taken to the hospital after they were rescued. According to TVA Nouvelles, the men are believed to be from Zimbabwe and the United Arab Emirates. It is believed that they may have attempted to immigrate into Canada illegally. It seems probable that these crew members were not permitted to leave the cruise ship at this port of call and made a decision to literally “jump ship” while the ship was still in port. The Summit left Quebec City later that Monday afternoon. It is unknown whether the cruise line returned the employees to the ship or whether the men remained in the hospital with the intention of flying them back to their respective counties when they were released from medical care. |
| September 29, Azura, Stranded
ashore The Sun reports more than 1,000 people dropped off by small boats in Monte Carlo were unable to return to the ship. Choppy waters meant they could not be safely picked up. The 1,170, who were mostly Brits, were stranded for 24 hours. They were taken to a basketball court, where many slept on tables. Others were put on makeshift beds outside or huddled together on the floor. The passengers had left the ship for their day out at 10am on Saturday. But they could not return until 10am today. Guests travelled from Monte Carlo to neighbouring Villefranche in the morning where the tendering operations were resumed. |
| September 29, Divina, Person
overboard, Rescued/recovered From a passenger: Last week we where on the MSC Divina and there a person went overboard. Around 6 in the morning the signal man overboard woke up the entire boat. We were on our way to Valencia. The boat turned around and about an our later the man (or woman) was found! There is no notice of this on your site (yet). We don't know what happened or How it turned out. There is a video on you tube: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PUXb2YzFIYA&feature=youtu.be |
| September 28, Norwegian Gem, Guilty
plea for assault with serious bodily injury Boston 25 News reports a New York man pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of assault resulting in substantial bodily injury. Surveillance video from April 25 aboard the Norwegian Cruise Line's Gem captured Panetta pulling a woman by her hair down a hallway. The two were then seen outside one of the cabins. When Panetta tried to open the cabin door, the woman smacked him in the face with an open hand. Panetta then punched the woman twice in the side of her head with a closed face. The woman fell to the ground and appeared to be unconscious. Panetta walked into the cabin and left the woman on the floor in the hallway. A minute later, he came out of the cabin and bent down toward the woman, who was unresponsive. Eventually, the woman started to crawl into the room. Panetta didn't help her and kicked her in the buttocks twice as she made her way into the room. He then walked into the room behind her. The pair left the room a little while later and the woman was holding a white towel over her head, which appeared to be stained with blood. They went to the ship's medical center where the woman was treated for her injuries, which included approximately eight centimeters of swelling on the right side of her head as well as a two-and-a-half centimeter laceration that required five stitches. |
| September 26, Rhapsody OTS, Crew
member overboard Cruise Law News reports a 35 year-old crew member from India reportedly died after going overboard from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship which was calling on a Croatian port four days ago. On September 22, 2019, Mansley Pereira, who was employed as a waiter by the Miami-based cruise line, went overboard while the ship was in the port of Dubrovnik. Several friends of Mr. Pereira contacted Cruise Law News inquiring into the details of his death. They supplied several photographs and videos of a rescue boat responding to the man overboard situation, as well as a photo and video of a dozen of other crew members who positioned themselves on the adjacent pier trying to rescue Mr. Pereira. A portion of a video was posted on Twitter, after other crew members pulled Mr. Pereira onto the rescue vessel. Once on the rescue boat, Mr. Pereira is shown on the video with what appears to be at least one other crew member giving him chest compressions. |
| September 25, Carnival Cruise Lines, Ordered
to pay $1.36 million judgement to injured employee Miami Herald reports five years and two legal processes later, Carnival may finally pay one of its injured crew members what the company owes him. Against all odds, 35-year-old Albanian waiter Genti Jankula won a $1,357,831.40 arbitration award from Carnival Corporation in September 2018, but the company refused to pay, arguing the arbitrator didn’t treat the company fairly. A federal judge in Miami disagreed last week and ordered the company to pay Jankula that amount plus about $186 per day in interest. The decision comes five years after the longtime Carnival Cruise Line employee broke his back aboard the Carnival Valor cruise ship and was forced to navigate the private legal system for cruise lines and their employees. Jankula began working for Carnival Cruise Line in 2007 as an assistant waiter when he was 23, according to an affidavit. He passed a health screening in July 2014 and joined the staff of the Carnival Valor ship on December 7, 2014, at the age of 30, court records show. That same day, as he was attempting to climb into his bunk, the handle on the bed ripped off the wall and Jankula fell backward, breaking his back. Carnival sent him home to Albania to receive treatment, where doctors determined he had multiple spinal fractures. |
| September 25, AIDAdiva, Illness
outbreak CDC reports 117 of 2055 (5.7%) passengers and 8 crew of 610 (1.3%) have reported ill on the 5-23 September cruise ending in NYC. |
| September 23, Elation, Changed
itinerary - Propulsion problems Cruise Radio reports the ship spent an overnight in Nassau because of "technical issues". The Nassau call replaced Amber Cove and Grand Turk as port calls on the five night cruise from Port Canaveral. |
| September 22, Norwegian Breakaway, Delayed
by suspicious package WSVN reports tempers flared and frustration set in after a suspicious package at PortMiami delayed the boarding process. City of Miami Police said the scare occurred near Terminal F when a piece of luggage was deemed suspicious, just before 2:00 p.m., Sunday. Police and fire rescue units responded and began their investigation, as K-9s sniffed out the suitcase in question. Meanwhile, aggravated passengers were forced to sit and wait for hours. After hours of waiting in the heat, authorities gave the all clear and passengers were allowed to board and begin their Caribbean voyage. The Breakaway sailed out of PortMiami just after 6 p.m. The threat ended up delaying the start of the cruise about two hours. Police have not specified whether they found anything in the piece of luggage they were investigating. |
| September 22, Carnival Legend, Fire Crew-Centre reports a fire broke out September 20, while the vessel was sailing into Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska. An announcement by the captain was made around 7:15 am via the loudspeakers all over the ship for firefighting teams to respond to the Engine room 5 vertical stack 2. |
| September 22, Carnival Conquest, Illness
Outbreak CDC reports 17 of 3241 (0.52%) passengers and 35 crew of 1158 (3.02%) have reported ill on the 7-14 September cruise. |
| September 21, Zaandam,
Breakdown; pax bussed From a passenger: Breakdown resulted in all passengers being bussed from Quebec to Montreal. Credit to crew members for way in which matter handled. |
| September 20, Carnival Fantasy, Damage
from allision in Panama Canal WKRG reports the ship was damaged in the Panama Canal on Friday. A viewer shared photos showing broken glass panels on one of the decks. Carnival Cruise Line released the following statement: During Carnival Fantasy’s passage through the Panama Canal this evening, the ship came in contact with one of the locks. There are no reports of injuries. |
| September 20, Royal Princess, Delayed
departure/arrival (fuel spill) From a passenger: First, got an email a few days before the cruise stating the cruise is leaving Vancouver an hour early from the scheduled normal departure time. The port in Vancouver was chaotic since there are 3 cruise lines trying to get their passengers cleared by customs. Princess passengers were taken to the front of the line to make the 3:30p departure, which did not happen. At 3pm, the Captain announced that our departure will be a late as scheduled due to the vessel delivering fuel spilled fuel at their vessel and there is clean-up to do. Muster drill did not happen till after 3:45p and the Captain announced that the fuel spilled in our ship. Therefore, there is clean-up to do, and we are waiting for the government representatives The other factor is since the tide is high, we can not go under the bridge (height/size of Royal we are again assuming) and have to wait till we are clear. We did not leave until midnight en route to Ketchikan. At the end of the cruise, we arrived 6.5 hours late in San Pedro – which was a total chaos. A lot of people missed their flights and a lot of people missed work – we were supposed to arrive at 8am not 2:30pm. Overall, all we received was a (not so) apology letter on Sunday at noon time explaining what happened in Vancouver. We’ve taken the same cruise every year – this was a disaster! |
| September 14, Royal Princess, Fire From a passenger: We were sailing from Ketchikan AK on 13 September and an announcement was made that I barely understood. " Emergency alarm deck 4 zone 5" was all I really could understand. It sounded like aid was needed in this area but I'm not 100%. After 15 min or so Captain Nash got on the PA and announced 1 of 4 generators had a fire and the suppression system was able to extinguish it. He kept repeating the fire is out and that there would be residual smoke. We would be without some propulsion because of the fire possibly making port at Vancouver a problem because the tide was rising. After another 15 min Captain Nash announced that the fire was still out and the crew was investigating the situation. No further information was given. |
| September 11, Westerdam, Fine
for polluting in Glacier Bay KTOO reports Holland America Line will pay the state a $17,653 after one of its cruise ship’s holding tanks leaked graywater into Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve last year. The ship was visiting the national park on Sept. 11, 2018, when an estimated 22,560 gallons overflowed into national park waters. The discharge lasted about 25 minutes and was reported to state authorities. The settlement — signed Aug. 1 by Holland America’s attorney Kelly W. Clark — says the cruise line “does not admit to any, and hereby denies all, of the factual allegations or legal claims set forth herein.” A spokesperson for Holland America, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation, said the company didn’t have any additional comment, “other than we remain committed to environmental excellence and compliance, and protecting the environment in which we live, work and sail.” Cruise Law News reminds us that in the Princess Cruise /Carnival Corporation pollution case, the U.S. government notified Judge Seitz that HAL’s Nieuw Amsterdam had been continuously discharging grey water for several years in Alaska (as of June 2017) and knowingly failed to notify the state of Alaska. The Court was also informed that an engineer falsified maintenance records involving the oil content monitoring system on the Westerdam. |
| September 5, Vision OTS, Crew
member falls overboard and drowns Maritime Bulletin reports in the morning Sep 5 a crew member, 26-year old Filipino sailor, fell in water from cruise ship VISION OF THE SEAS, berthed at Livorno, Italy, understood while working outboard. Sailor went under water and didn’t surface, his body was found and recovered by divers. |
| August 31, Grandeur OTS, Technical
problems, cruise canceled Capital Gazette reports the ship operating out of Baltimore experienced mechanical problems and had to return to port and drop off all its passengers Saturday. The ship departed on Saturday but hours later could again be seen docked in Port Covington. It experienced a technical issue with its propulsion system and was forced to discontinue the sailing and return to Baltimore for necessary repairs. |
| August 29, Marella Explorer 2, Loss
of power From a passenger: total loss of electricity including propulsion in the very early hours of Sunday 18th August on Marella Explorer 2. Lasted 1 hour ish. 3 announcements into cabins. Delayed docking in Venice. |
| August 27, Carnival Dream, Propulsion
problems Cruise Hive reports according to several passengers currently onboard the vessel, the ship has got an issue with her cruising speed. The issue has been worked on overnight but it does seem it is bad enough that the Carnival Dream has canceled her scheduled call in Progreso today and instead is sailing a sea day. |
| August 25, Multiple ships Tropical Storm Dorian Forces Cruise Ship Itinerary Changes |
| August 25, Summit, Pipe bursts, cabins
flooded Posters at Cruise Critic report pipes in the pool burst and the result was 30 cabins were flooded on decks 7, 8, & 9. |
| August 24, Norwegian Pearl, Sentenced
for Sexual Assault Fox 5 San Diego reports a Utah man who sexually assaulted a woman aboard a cruise ship last year was sentenced in San Diego federal court Friday to three years in federal custody. Saul Clemente Monago, 31, was accompanied by several other people when he entered a woman’s room aboard the Norwegian Pearl cruise ship on Oct. 11, 2018. According to federal prosecutors, the victim was asleep when everyone but Monago — a complete stranger to the victim — left the room. She later awoke to Monago sexually assaulting her and pushed the defendant away, then ran into the hallway screaming for help. A ship security officer responded and found Monago lying on a bed inside the woman’s cabin, “apparently intoxicated,” according to prosecutors. The ship docked in San Diego three days later, at which point FBI agents interviewed Monago, who admitted to the incident, and said he “was drunk and not behaving like himself,” prosecutors said. “This sentence is an important step in obtaining justice for the victim in this case,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Scott Brunner, who said sexual assaults on cruise ships were “one of the leading crimes reported to and investigated by the FBI on the high seas.” |
| August 23, Two Russian cruise ships, Fire Newsweek reports a New Zealand couple have spoken of their fear when they were woken up to be evacuated from their cruise ship in Russia after a fire broke out on the vessel next to them. John and Chris Burton from Dunedin were on board the Sergey Diaghilev docked at Oktyabrskaya Embankment in Russia's second city St. Petersburg as part of an 11-day trip sailing to the Russian capital, Moscow. A fire broke out on the neighboring four-story river cruise ship, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, around 5.30 a.m. on Thursday. Around 320 people, including 240 passengers and 80 crew members, had to be evacuated from the burning boat. Rescuers' access to the ship was made difficult because it was docked alongside the Sergey Diaghilev which firefighters had to make their way through first to get to the blaze. The fire was contained within 32 square feet and put out after about 40 minutes. Rescue workers discovered a 25-year-old man in the engineer's cabin who died on his way to hospital. |
| August 22, Genting Dream, Pax missing The New Paper reports Mr Goh Hai Peng, a 74-year-old retired electrician, is now missing. He boarded the cruise ship Genting Dream, which can accommodate 4,500 passengers, on Aug 4 before it departed Singapore. The four-day, three-night cruise included stops on the islands of Penang and Langkawi in Malaysia on Aug 5 and 6, respectively. It was only on Aug 7, when the passengers were disembarking in Singapore, that the crew discovered that Mr Goh was no longer on board. Dream Cruises, the operator of Genting Dream, has confirmed Mr Goh is missing. All his belongings were found intact in the cabin, which opens into a balcony. In an e-mail to The New Paper on Sunday, his son, Mr Adrian Goh, who is in his 30s, said employees of Dream Cruises had returned the belongings. The younger Mr Goh told Chinese newspaper Lianhe Wanbao the ship's surveillance footage showed his father entering his cabin at about 7pm on Aug 4, the first day of the trip. That was the first and last time Mr Goh was seen in the video footage, which did not show him leaving his cabin during the entire cruise. Mr Adrian Goh added that surveillance cameras had also captured a whitish figure falling into the sea at about 3am the following day. He said the family was not given access to such information as the extent of the search and rescue operation or the ship's surveillance footage until about a week later. "For all we know, our father could still be alive and adrift somewhere in the Malacca Strait, and it seems as if he had been left for dead." |
| August 19, One Ocean Expedition's
Resolute, Arrested in port CBC reports the ship spent a brief period of time under arrest earlier this month, while it was anchored in Iqaluit. The Nunavut sheriff's office received a statement of claim and warrant from the Federal Court in Halifax and was requested to carry out the Aug. 9 arrest. The statement of claim filed with the Federal Court lists the RCGS Resolute and its owners, including the B.C.-based tour company One Ocean Expeditions, as defendants. The claim states the defendants owed nearly $100,000 to a Nova Scotia-based company Atship Services Ltd. The allegations haven't been proven in court. The ship was released several hours later. |
| August 17, Hurtigruten Spitsbergen, Banned
from Russian waters Barents Observer reports 250 passengers will not get to Franz Josef Land in the Russian Arctic as Hurtigruten are forced to cannel just two weeks before the first voyage. Head of Communication in Hurtigruten, Anne Marit Bjørnflaten, says the cruise liner is “very surprised” by Russian authorities denying the expedition cruise ship “MS Spitsbergen” permission to sail to Franz Josef Land. “Despite the fact that “MS Spitsbergen” meets the requirements of the Polar Code, and has permissions to sail in these areas of the Arctic, Russian authorities in the last minute unexpectedly denied us,” Bjørnflaten says to the Barents Observer. Hurtigruten has been told there will be Russian military exercise activities in the area at the time of the planned voyages. |
| August 17, Silver Wind, Skipped port
call Bad weather blocks cruise ship from Galway |
| August 16, Fascination, Woman in
wheelchair falls off dock Newsweek reports two men have been hailed as heroes for the rescue of a young female wheelchair user who fell into the water while the cruise ship she was traveling on was docked. The unnamed girl was a passenger on board the ship which had stopped in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands on Monday. |
| August 16, MSC Musica, Bartender
steals from pax Daily Mail reports a cruise ship barman has been sacked after allegedly tricking a passenger into telling him the passcode of her husband's missing mobile phone during a game of 'Mr and Mrs'. Paul Tierney, 54, mislaid his iPhone on the first morning of a week-long, £2,600 Mediterranean cruise with his wife Janet. They believe that when crew member Suar Andika had later got his hands on it, he must have known who it belonged to because the screensaver was a photo of Mr and Mrs Tierney. After Tierney got home, they were left 'feeling sick' when Mr Tierney bought a new smartphone, synced it with his iCloud account to download the contacts and photos from his 'lost' phone – and saw a series of selfies and videos of Andika. |
| August 14, Symphony OTS, Pax
overboard (body recovered) Cruise Law News reports a man reportedly went overboard from Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas last night, according to a passenger on the cruise ship. His twitter account contains a graphic reference to the recovery of the overboard man’s body by a rescue boat. The passenger states that the person apparently went overboard around 3:00 a.m. last night, as the cruise ship was sailing from St. Kitts to St Thomas, US Virgin Islands. The company says the 37 year old man was Australian. His lifeless body was recovered. He was on the cruise celebrating his wife's birthday. |
| August 12, Sun Princess, Pax overboard
(Foul Play?) Focus Taiwan reports Coast Guard officers on Sunday boarded a cruise ship in Keelung after it returned from Okinawa to determine if foul play was involved in the death of a Taiwanese woman who fell from the 11th deck of the ship Friday. After the officers boarded the ship they checked the body of the 41-year-old Taiwanese woman, who was recovered from the sea after falling from the ship, and also asked to see video footage related to the incident. The victim, identified only by her surname Wang (王), was traveling with her mother and aunt. Their five-day cruise to Okinawa left Keelung on Wednesday. Wang was first discovered missing at 6 a.m. Friday Japanese time. The ship's crew quickly launched a full-scale search, and found camera footage of her going over the guardrail on the 11th deck of the ship and falling overboard, Princess Cruises, which operates the Sun Princess, said in a statement. The statement did not elaborate on the movements it saw the women make or disclose the exact time of the incident. The ship immediately changed course and sent out a rescue team in an attempt to locate Wang. It found the missing woman at 7:13 a.m., the statement said. Wang showed no signs of life after being recovered from the sea before the medical team on board declared her dead, and her body was then stored in a refrigerated storage area on the ship, according to the statement. The cruise continued its trip after the incident while Wang's two relatives decided to return to Taiwan from Okinawa by air. |
| August 9, Carnival Fantasy, Failed
sanitation inspection Newsweek reports the ship failed a recent inspection by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Vessel Sanitation Program after officials found, among other things, brown water in the showers and dead flies on the food. The ship received a a score of 77, well below the 85 required to pass an inspection. There were 45 items highlighted by the report, each of which outlined a problem uncovered by the inspectors during their time aboard the cruise ship. "The inspector noted brown water discharged from two shower hoses in the medical center," the report from the inspection on July 18 stated. "Medical crew reported these shower hoses were not used often. A crew member confirmed that they see brown water in their shower that is used at least twice daily." Inspectors recommended that there be a thorough investigation into the cause of the brown water and that all potable water be retested. A member of nonfood staff with "onset of acute gastroenteritis" did not report their symptoms to the medical center for more than nine hours, and continued to work during that time. There were several issues around the preparation and serving of food. "During breakfast service, three large bowls of bagels and sliced bread were out for self-service with flies on the food. There were not less than 15 small flies on the bagels and bread. These items were discarded," the inspection report said. In the fish preparation area: "Water was leaking from the deckhead between the handwashing station and the food preparation counter. In addition, there was another deckhead leak falling on the adjacent preparation counter." On the clean storage racks "at least six bowls and cups were slightly to heavily soiled with food debris. The sign above the racks stated that it was the clean utensil area. Staff stated that they check the utensils before sending to the buffet lines." In another item from the report: "A staff member was separating clean from soiled cutlery from trays. The soiled cutlery was taken out of the tray and put with the soiled. The cutlery that were not soiled were deemed clean and stored separately. The staff member took the cutlery that was not heavily soiled and wiped it with a cloth and deemed it clean. "The heavily soiled cutlery touched some other cutlery that were deemed clean. This system provided for clean utensils to be contaminated by soiled items. Management staff explained how this system is used on a daily basis." There were also issues with the ship's main swimming pool used by guests. "The water level at the main pool was not splashing into the skim gutters. There were many patrons in the pool at the time of inspection. There was a visible film on the top of the water, and there was excessive visible debris floating on the water," the report stated. "There was a crew member with a net that was manually skimming the pool, but this is not an effective method. Also, there was standing, stagnant water at the forward port side of the waterpark. There was visible debris. "The water was not being directed to a drain. Crew stated it was due to listing. However, on the starboard side, there was a drain opposite where the water was standing on the portside. On the portside, there was no similarly positioned drain." Carnival must now submit a "corrective action report" detailing how they will put right the issues uncovered by the inspection. The vessel will then face another inspection to check progress. |
| August 9, Marina, Port Call canceled Inverclyde Now reports the ship was due to call at Greenock Ocean Terminal today (Friday), is no longer coming to the Clyde because of poor weather conditions. It is instead heading to Dublin a day early. |
| August 9, Rotterdam, Port call
canceled Cornwall Live reports the ship was due to arrive in Falmouth Harbour at 8am this morning (Thursday), the biggest ship scheduled to dock in the town this summer. A Denholm Wilhelmsen spokesman added that he wasn’t able to give any details behind the cancellation.The vessel was meant to be in Falmouth between 8am and 5pm allowing its passengers the opportunity to visit and spend their money in the town. |
| August 8, Majestic Princess, Pax
overboard Shine reports a 45-year-old Chinese man jumped into the sea from the luxury cruise liner Majestic Princess out of Shanghai on Wednesday night. The cruise ship was about 60 nautical miles from Jeju Island, South Korea, when the incident occurred at around 7:48pm Beijing time, according to Princess Cruises. The wife of the man alerted the crew, and security camera also captured the incident. The ship changed course and carried out a search. Two lifeboats were launched and five other ships joined in the rescue efforts. Japanese and South Korean coast guards have coordinating the search. The ship has arrived in Nagasaki, Japan. It left Shanghai on Tuesday and is scheduled to return Shanghai on Saturday. |
| August 3, Star Clipper, Change
of port of embarkation From a passenger: Star Clippers has cancelled all French ports of call due to a legal dispute with the ship yard building their new vessel as they fear their ships may be impounded by French authorities. I went to board the ship in France today only find out it was a 2.5hr bus ride away in Italy. Three ports of call were changed from Corsica to Sardinia. |
| July 30, Carnival Victory, Polluting
the skies of Nassau Cruise Law News - Carnival Victory Belches Smoke in Nassau |
| July 29, Queen Mary 2, Fire
in incinerator flue - extinguished From a passenger: Cruise 7-28 July, fire in incinerator flue extinguished within 15 minutes; no major damage. |
| July 29, Allure OTS, Propulsion
problems, itinerary changes Cruise Critic reports more than 30 RCI cruise itineraries have been altered in response to a propulsion pod issue on Allure of the Seas. The problem has caused the ship to sail at reduced speeds, prompting itinerary changes. In order for ports to accommodate Allure's new schedule, tweaks were also made to voyages for some of the line's other ships. Among them is Oasis of the Seas. "The itinerary modifications were due to a technical limitation on one of the ship's propulsion pods which lowers the maximum speed," Royal Caribbean said in a statement. "As a result of the slower travel, we must modify 30+ itineraries. Since we had to change Allure's itineraries, some ports would now have more ships than originally planned. So, to ensure our guests have a wonderful time in each destination with less crowds, we've rearranged the order some of our other ships will be visiting some of our destinations." Royal Caribbean has not yet said when the propulsion issue will be fixed, but Allure of the Seas' next scheduled dry dock is set for March 2020. |
| July 28, Carnival Magic, Delayed
disembarkation From a passenger: Magic delayed debarkation due to gangway operator and malfunction. Still waiting for priority guest to leave. This will back up FLL today. Later: They had to use deck zero to get guess of due to the gangway issue. Huge arguments and yelling from passengers. Not pretty. |
| July 26, P&O Britannia, Brawl,
arrests Daily Mail reports two people have been arrested after a man dressed as a clown sparked a violent brawl on a cruise liner. A 43-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman, both from Chigwell, Essex, are in custody following the fight which saw plates and furniture thrown during a black tie event. Families ran from brawlers in the 16th floor restaurant of the P&O Britannia ship, as it was making its way back to Southampton from Norway at 2am today. Six people - three men and three women - were assaulted and a number of people suffered significant bruising and cuts. The violence came the evening after a booze-fuelled 'patriotic' event on board the cruise ship as it made its way from Norway to Southampton. A female entertainer who works on the ship said: 'There was a person dressed as a clown and this upset the other passengers. 'Things got out of hand very quickly, people had been drinking, and there was a fight. Chairs and plates were being thrown, people were very angry. It was shocking to see and some of the staff and passengers were scared and had to hide.' Another female employee, in her 20s, added: 'There was a lot of shouting, it was very scary. GMTV correspondent Richard Galsford, who was on the cruise, tweeted that there was 'blood everywhere.' He added: 'The buffet area was immediately sealed off as medical teams went to help the injured. Staff told me they'd never experienced anything like it and those behind the violence were confined to a cabin for the last day of the cruise, waiting for police here in Southampton.' The incident came on the final leg of a week long cruise to Norway's fjords that was en route back to its Southampton port. The buffet area was sealed while medical teams tended to injured staff and those who started the fight were moved to their cabins. |
| July 25, Royal Caribbean International, Knew
sexual assaults a problem and doesn't do enough Woman can sue Royal Caribbean over alleged gang rape on Oasis of the Seas, court says Appellate court: Royal Caribbean knew of serious problem of crime, including rape, on its cruise ships |
| July 22, Unknown, Shore
Excursion issue Travel Pulse reports police in Bermuda have launched a formal investigation after five tourists were abandoned at sea on their jet skis by their tour guide Saturday afternoon. Dr. Joseph Froncioni was sailing back to port on his boat when five tourists stranded on jet skis flagged him down. The travelers revealed they were on a shore excursion from their cruise and their tour guide took the keys to the crafts before returning to the beach without them. While it remains unclear which vessel the passengers arrived on, there were two cruise ships in Bermuda Saturday afternoon; Royal Caribbean International’s Anthem of the Seas and Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Sunrise. |
| July 21, Ship schedules and
Disruptions in San Juan, Puerto Rico Seatrade Cruise News writes as protests calling for Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló’s resignation wage on, two cruise ships are going to keep their Sunday turnarounds in San Juan, while two others canceled Monday transit calls.Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas and Carnival Fascination are going ahead with their turnarounds, while MSC Seaside and Celebrity Equinox are skipping San Juan on Monday when a National Day of Strike is planned. |
| July 21, Carnival Corporation, In
court again over environmental irresponsibility Miami Herald reports on Carnival's most recent appearance in Federal court after violating probation over two years. The judge said the company has made little progress on its commitment to improve its pollution problem since it pleaded guilty in 2017 to dumping oily waste into the ocean from its Princess Cruises ships and lying to investigators, Seitz said. While Carnival Corp.’s 105 ships have not engaged in the same criminal behavior that led to the conviction, they have continued to dump plastics, sewage, and other pollutants into the ocean and air during the first two years of probation. The company has committed to reducing single-use plastics by 50 percent by Dec. 31, 2021. “I’m not a happy camper as to where we are,” said Seitz. “I feel we have missed two years of opportunity. Just saying, ‘We leave the places where we have been better’...," isn’t enough, Seitz said, citing Carnival Corp.’s tagline about sustainability. “When I look at some of the pollution...I really expected the investigation process and root cause analysis to be much more robust.” |
| July 21 Cruise ship (Marella Dicovery) rescues 111 migrants in Mediterranean. |
| July 20, Celebrity Solstice, Power
Failure KIRO7 reports a cruise ship on its way to Ketchikan, Alaska, from Seattle had to make a U-turn after experiencing a power failure. The Coast Guard said the ship lost electricity, steering and propulsion but regained power after a while. The ship made its way back to port and was inspected before it left at 1AM The Coast Guard said the ship's engine had a misfire that caused the blackout. |
| July 20 Cruise Ship Worker Wanted to Smuggle Himself into Canada Cruise Ship Flooded with Sewage-Smelling Wastewater. No Refund Given |
| July 16, Empress OTS, Skipped port call
at San Juan From a passenger: 2 hours before we were supposed to port in San Juan our captain announced Royal Caribbean was cancelling our stop due to the violent protests there yesterday. |
| July 14, Fantasy, Delayed return to
disembarkation port (weather) The ship is delayed one day because the Port of Mobile is closed until Tropical Storm Barry subsides. The next cruise will be shortened by one day. See here for additional information. |
| July 8, Eastern Dream, Unruly
(drugged) passenger Newsweek reports a Japanese couple's cruise voyage was briefly disrupted last week after a Russian man burst into their cabin room while allegedly high on drugs before fighting with crew. The 46-year-old culprit broke into the cruise ship cabin shortly before 6 p.m. last Thursday while suffering from hallucinations. The news outlet reported the Russian man had tested positive after being made to take a drug test. "He was roaming and suddenly dashed into the room after seeing a person walking out of it," one coast guard investigator told The Korea Times. "Crew members caught him after a brief shoving match." It remains unclear what type of drug the man had consumed and how it was smuggled past the unnamed cruise liner's security, which should typically screen passengers prior to boarding. The ship was reportedly sailing from Vladivostok—a port city in Russia—towards South Korea at the time of the incident. According to travel website Direct Ferries there is only one main firm that is currently connecting the 25-hour route between South Korea and Russia: DBS Cruise Ferry. Its ship is called the Eastern Dream and it travels the route once a week. |
| July 7, Freedom OTS, Infant
falls to death ABC reports a 1-year-old girl apparently slipped from her grandfather's hands and fell to her death from the 11th story of a cruise ship docked in Puerto Rico, police said Monday. Police Sgt. Nelson Sotelo told The Associated Press that the family of the child will remain in the U.S. territory until the investigation is complete. He said officers have not been able to interview any relatives yet. "They're in shock," he said. Authorities said the girl was traveling with her parents, two siblings and two sets of grandparents aboard the Freedom of the Seas, which docked in Puerto Rico on Sunday after a weeklong trip through the Caribbean. The death occurred Sunday afternoon at the Panamerican dock in the capital of San Juan. Royal Caribbean Cruises called it a tragic incident and said it was helping the family. A spokeswoman said the ship departed Puerto Rico on Monday for St. Maarten on a new itinerary and declined further comment. |
| July 7, Costa Deliziosa, Near
miss collision in Venice Nine reports terrifying footage has captured the moment a giant cruise liner lost control in strong winds and almost crashed into a Venice port. In the video uploaded to YouTube on July 7, the Costa Deliziosa can be seen pulling into the shore of Sette Martiri during a brutal storm, and sounding its emergency horn as tug boats work quickly to straighten out the vessel. Rain, strong winds and possibly hail can be seen battering the ship and dock, as the mammoth out-of-control liner scrapes against smaller boats and a yacht. A spokesperson for the Costa Deliziosa stated that the close-call was the result of "violent gusts that caused a detour during the passage in the Giudecca Canal." "The Commander has always maintained control of the ship even in conditions of extreme and sudden difficulty punctuates the company. The ship has resumed its course towards the planned destination". |
| July 6, Viking Cinderella, Missed port
call - wind Famagusta Gazette reports the ship was stuck in strong winds outside Gotland for several hours on Friday, Swedish media reported. Shortly after 02:00 p.m. local time (1200 GMT), Viking Line announced that the cruise ship would be turning back to Stockholm. “We have just been told that we are returning to Stockholm,” Eleonora Hansi, Viking Line’s information manager told Swedish news Expressen. On the Baltic Sea, just west of the Swedish island of Gotland, gale-force winds were blowing at 15 meters per second throughout Friday, causing high waves and preventing the MS Cinderella from making safe entry into the port of Visby in Gotland. |
| July 5, MSC Meraviglia, Passenger
overboard, rescued alive but died VG reports rescue personnel carried out searches for a person in the Skagerrak. Just before 3 pm, a woman in her 40s was picked up in a rescue helicopter. The cruise company confirms to VG that the woman is dead. The same goes for Danish police to NRK. The accident happened in Norwegian waters, midway between Norway and Denmark. The main rescue center was notified of the accident 12.50. Just before 15:00, the Main Rescue Center reported that the person was found in the sea by a Danish rescue helicopter, and flown to Aalborg. According to a communications officer in the shipping company MSC Cruises, the woman is a passenger and is a German citizen. The main rescue center was notified of the incident 12.50, and several vessels in addition to the helicopter were sent out. Bild reports the woman was rescued alive but died en route to hospital. |
| July 4, Carnival Victory, Crew member
overboard Miami Herald reports a crew member on a Carnival Cruise Line ship sailing back to Miami fell overboard Thursday. A search and rescue operation is under way. The Carnival Victory was en route from Cozumel and 30 miles northwest of Cuba on the last leg of a four-day cruise when the 37-year-old male crew member was seen going overboard, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. “The ship’s command immediately returned to the location where the crew member was last seen and initiated search and rescue activities, which are ongoing,” according to a Carnival spokesperson. “All appropriate authorities, including the United States Coast Guard, have been notified.” |
| July 3, Carnival Vista, Loss of
power Cruise Hive reports the ships lost power briefly effecting mid-ship to forward sections of the ship, including elevators, lighting and air conditioning. |
| July 2, Norwegian Pearl, Engine
problems, cruise canceled Independent reports thousands of passengers are stuck aboard a stricken cruise ship in Barcelona, while thousands more have been given three days’ notice that their cruise has been cancelled. The ship is nearing the end of a 13-night cruise that began in Amsterdam on 22 June and arrived in Barcelona on Tuesday 2 July. Passengers were told that a planned call in Monaco has been cancelled. A stop in Palma, Mallorca, was also missed. According to NCL, the ship has a mechanical issue which requires her to travel at a slower speed. As a result of the technical difficulties, the ship must remain in Barcelona for an extra night. The vessel is due to arrive in Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, at 6am on Friday 5 July. The next cruise, due to depart on the evening of 5 July from Civitavecchia, has been cancelled. The ship was sold out, with nearly 2,400 passengers expecting to visit 10 ports, including Dubrovnik, Santorini, Mykonos, Athens, Naples and Monaco. |
| July 1, Viking Tor, Problems
effect itinerary From a passenger: I am on the Viking Tor (Danube river tour) and we have been stuck here (Roth) for 3 days never really beginning the Friday the 28th June itinerary. The Captain and personnel announced their “surprise” that “ one” of the locks is broken. They seemed to have no knowledge of the damage to the Riedenburg lock. However it appears quite clear that Viking themselves damaged the locks on June 5th, 2019 and have not only known all along that the repairs are not complete. There had been no release of known closure of the lock prior to this moment. Now it is a 3 hour bus ride (and 3 back) to the next stop (Passau). Strange indeed how little of this is on the for profit travel sites. |
| June 30, Silver Explorer, Propeller
damage - cruise shortened, one cruise canceled for
repairs Cruise Critic reports two cruise itineraries were affected after the ship ran into a fishing net in the Bering Sea mid-cruise, damaging its propeller. The ship's current 11-night itinerary has been shortened by five days, now stopping on June 26 in Adak Island, Alaska, and its next voyage -- a July 1 departure from Seward, Alaska -- has been cancelled. Passengers currently on the shortened voyage will receive a full refund of their cruise fares; reimbursement of travel costs to and from the ship; $100 per person, per day, for up to three travel days back home and any repatriation costs to get home. Cruisers booked on the cancelled voyage have been offered a full refund of their cruise fares (including Silversea air and land programs), reimbursement of travel costs to and from the ship and a 25 percent future cruise credit. |
| June 25, M/S Provence, Plumbing
problems From a passenger: Non working toilets for 2 days aboard Grand Circle Tours M/S Provence. They put us up in hotels in 2 different cities but we still ate on the boat and cruised down the river. The employees said we could use the toilet but don’t flush and limit washing our hands and no taking showers. I have a full review on yelp and Grand Circle Tours Facebook site. |
| June 24, Star Princess & Norwegian
Bliss, Missed port call (wind) Victoria News reports both ships skipped their port call at Victoria, BC on Saturday evening. They continued directly to Seattle, presumably without a foreign port call as required by U.S. law. |
| June 23, Eurodam, Failure to slow for
whales Cruise Law News reports a resident of Alaska notified him that there are videos posted on Facebook showing the< ship continuing to proceed toward a group of whales feeding in the water ahead of it as the Holland America Cruise Ship (HAL) cruise ship headed toward Juneau. A smaller vessel reportedly radioed the bridge of the Eurodam and notified the cruise ship that it was “on course to run right through a group of humpback whales feeding!” The posting states that the Eurodam decided not to take our warnings. . . ” The first video, apparently filmed by Brent Kidd Palmer, shows the Eurodam sailing toward what is described as a herd of whales in front of it. The narration states that the ship twice disregarded the radio warnings even though the cruise ship was reportedly one mile away from the whales. In the second video, you can see several whales spouting water through their blowholes as the HAL ship sailed closely by. The Captain apparently did not change coursepor slow down. There were reportedly a number of passengers at their cabin windows, as if there may have been an announcement of the presence of the humpback whales. The federal protection statutes require vessel operators to put the vessel’s engine in neutral once they become aware of the presence of whales in order to avoid injury to the mammals. |
| June 23, Carnival Ecstasy, Bus
accident on Shore Excursion Tribune 242 reports a number of tourists were airlifted to New Providence and South Florida hospitals for medical treatment following a serious traffic accident in South Eleuthera Monday morning. Several people, including 25 tourists, were injured when a tour bus they were riding in skidded off the road and flipped over into nearby bushes.The incident happened around 11am in Rock Sound. The Tribune understands the tour bus involved belongs to Eleuthera Adventure Tours Limited, who were giving guests from the Princess Cays cruise ship a tour of the southern part of the island when the accident occurred. |
| June 23, Noble Caledonian Serrinissima, Seized
in Bergen Bergens Tidende reports the ship was impounded in Bergen. Further details are unknown. It appears that the vessel was released from arrest and allowed to continue yesterday evening. It looks like it is now heading directly to Copenhagen. Apparently, the ship was impounded because a Croatian shipyard, who were building a new ship for the owners in 2013, claimed that they were owed about $10 million for breach of contract. See: www.bt.no/nyheter/lokalt/i/BR649v/Nyheter-direkte |
| June 23, Freedom OTS, Bus
Accident ashore Cruise Law News reports passengers from Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas were involved in a taxi van accident while ashore in St. Maarten yesterday, June 22, 2019. Cruceros Puerto Rico posted a video showing a bus partially submerged in the water with the rear doors open with several people lying by the side of the road. There are reports on social media that local people rescued several of the people riding in the small van. The ship was delayed leaving port. It returned to San Juan Sunday. |
| June 22, Harmony OTS, Medical
malpractice lawsuit Miami New Times reports on a medical malpractice lawsuit filed by 85 year old Lewis Masotti who after a few days of minigolf and poolside lounging, checked himself into the ship's medical bay at 8 a.m. Wednesday, May 23. He had boarded the ship with a catheter and a urinary drainage bag, which he'd been using for five months. Lewis was having trouble reinserting the catheter while on the cruise, so he followed his primary doctor's advice and went to the ship's medical staff for help. The ship physician apparently mis-inserted the catheter and there was a cascade of health effects. |
| June 20, Carnival Vista, Propulsion
problems, canceled cruises Cruise Radio reports the ship first announced issues on June 15, changing a seven-night cruise to an eight-night. On Wednesday, Carnival sent a letter to guests on the June 22, sailing, will also be changed from a seven-night to an eight-night. Early Thursday morning, Carnival Cruise Line sent a letter to guests on the July sailings, Carnival Vista has been experiencing an issue affecting its maximum cruising speed. Unfortunately, we will be unable to operate the above voyages, as it is necessary to remove the ship from service to complete the required repairs.” Carnival told Cruise Radio, “Following the July 1 sailing, Carnival Vista will be taken out of service for 17 days to reposition and complete the required repairs. It is expected to return to service on July 27.” |
| June 18, MSC Seaview, Pax overboard,
rescued alive Cruise-Centre reports a crew member rescued a woman after she went overboard from the cruise ship MSC Seaview while the vessel was docked at the port of Genoa, Italy. The incident happen on Monday, June 17, 2019, at around 10 pm when a 43-year-old Irish woman jumped from one of the decks into the sea after a fight with her husband. According to the Italian media, the passenger was drinking and after an argument, with her husband, she decided to make a striking gesture by jumping from the ship from a height of around 20 meters, or 65 feet. The initial reports say that the woman jumped from Deck 7 while the cruise ship was Genoa. Fortunately, a sailor onboard MSC Seaview saw the woman jumping and first responded to MOB before the arrival of the harbor master's officers and rescue personnel. The woman was transported to the Galliera hospital in the Ligurian capital where the doctors treated her and say that she is in stable condition. The ship has already departed Genoa last night with a limited departure delay after the Italian police Carabinieri has launched an investigation of the incident. Today onboard MSC Seaview a small ceremony will be organized by the ship’s crew in recognition of the sailor from Samoa Islands, who with extreme courage dived into the sea and save the woman. Kudos to the brave crew member. |
| June 16, Caribbean Princess, Pax
drowns Cruise Law News reports a passenger reportedly drowned during the last cruise, according to a crew member and a passenger who wish to remain anonymous. The man, believed to be in his 30’s, was found in the bottom of the Neptune pool on deck 15 around 5:00 a.m. on the morning of Friday, June 14, 2019. He reportedly had been drinking the previous night during a party on the pool deck (24K Gold Deck Party) and later at the Skywalkers Lounge on the ship. CPR was reportedly performed without success. The Princess cruise ship was sailing back to Fort Lauderdale on the evening of Thursday, June 13th after visiting Cozumel, Mexico. The guest had apparently entered the swimming pool which was closed. It is unknown whether the ship had assigned any security personnel to the pool or to patrol the pool deck during Thursday evening / night or early Friday morning. Sun Sentinel reports a 37 year old man was found unresponsive in Neptune swimming pools about 5:15 a.m. Friday as the ship was on the sixth day of a seven-day Western Caribbean voyage. The ship’s medical personnel were unable to revive him. The victim's wife told investigators that “they had a lot to drink” prior to the drowning, but she was not with him when he entered the pool, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office’s statement. A toxicology test will take at least a week. |
| June 15, Carnival Vista, Further
propulsion problems Cruise Hive reports a letter from the captain states that an assessment has been made to repair the vessels maximum cruising speed issue and as a result, the speed will need to be reduced even further. The cruise ship will now sail an 8-day cruise instead of its originally scheduled 7-day sailing. That means the next cruise will be delayed a day or canceled. |
| June 13, Breakaway, Passenger
kicked off ship NBC Miami reports in May, Robert said they were on a 7-night cruise aboard the Norwegian Breakaway that was supposed to take them to the US and British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas. But Robert's vacation was cut short. "The worst part of it – it was the beginning of our cruise," Esther said. Robert said it all happened because of an interaction he had with a crew member who denied him access to a show on the ship his family had reserved in advance. He told NBC 6 Responds the exchange got heated. "I said 'Listen you idiot, I'm telling you right now that my family is in the show. Why are you keeping me out of the show?' Robert said. The crew member, he said, told Robert he did not have a reservation and called for backup."They started calling security and I may have made a comment that said you better get more than a couple because I'm a big guy," Robert said of the interaction. "They were really scaring me." Robert said things never got physical and that he reported the incident to the concierge. He said he cooperated with security and gave a statement. But the couple said a security officer still showed up at their cabin early in the morning more than 24 hours after the exchange. "She said because of the incident the captain has reviewed everything and he's decided Robert has to disembark in Tortola," Esther said. "I gasped, I couldn't believe they were saying that." Esther added she believed it was a drastic decision. "I was like public enemy number one," Robert said, as he described how he felt when he was kicked off the ship. Robert said he had to spend hundreds of dollars to get back home and didn't have the opportunity to dispute what happened or appeal the captain's decision. "I want to see their statements," Robert said. "Prove it to me what I did." But according to Brett Rivkind, a maritime lawyer, the cruise line does not have to. "If something happens and they want to kick you off the ship, they are not only the police," Brett said. "They are the judge and the jury." He explained that when you book a cruise, your passenger ticket is essentially a contract giving the cruise line broad discretion in how they interpret and apply their rules. "The cruise ship companies draft those contracts so they don't really give passengers any rights." |
| June 12, Viking Var, Collision Travel Weekly reports Viking has gone silent about reports that one of its river ships hit a lock in Germany, shutting down part of the Main-Danube canal to all traffic. For river cruise lines, the closure mostly affected what one executive estimated are about 25 sailings a week between Amsterdam and Budapest, forcing operators to alter their itineraries, swap passengers between ships or put guests on buses. According to reports in the German media and from on-the-ground operations officials from other river cruise lines, the Viking Var was sailing upriver on June 5 when it hit the wall of a lock at Riedenburg, damaging it so badly that the lock could not be closed. The damaged lock is located between Regensburg and Nuremberg, which are stops on 14-day itineraries that most lines offer. Viking has declined repeated requests for confirmation of or comment on the incident. And on a Viking web page offering passengers updates about its cruises, the company said only that sailings between Regensburg and Nuremberg were temporarily restricted "due to repair work being performed on the lock at Riedenburg."The incident was the fifth involving one of Viking's ships since last fall and the fourth involving a European river vessel. |
| June 12, Carnival Vista, Propulsion
problems Cruise Hive reports Carnival informed guests booked on an upcoming sailing of the Carnival Vista of an itinerary change due to a technical issue. It is suffering from a technical issue which is related to the ship’s maximum cruising speed. As a result, the cruise line has sent out emails to guests booked on the upcoming June 15 sailing of an itinerary change. The ship, which departs from Galveston, was originally scheduled to call at Montego Bay, Jamaica; George Town, Grand Cayman and finally Cozumel, Mexico during its 7-day Western Caribbean cruise. The ship will now be sailing an alternative itinerary with port replacements. |
| June 12, Carnival Sunrise, Insensitivity
to medical emergency Bloomberg reports the family of Jeffrey Eisenman, a 65-year-old passenger, alleges in a lawsuit that the cruise company wouldn’t let him off of the ship after suffering a heart attack last December. Eisenman died on the way to another port. Carnival didn’t have an immediate comment. Eisenman suffered a serious heart attack while the ship was docked at Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos Islands on Dec. 3, according to a suit filed Wednesday in Miami federal court. Carnival’s doctor said Eisenman would need a stent implanted and that he should be flown to Miami because Grand Turk’s hospital wasn’t equipped with a cardiac unit. Just before the ship’s 4 p.m. departure, the Eisenman family was told he couldn’t leave and the ship set sail for San Juan. The family had purchased insurance that would cover an air ambulance, according to the suit. Eisenman died overnight on the ship, but the ordeal didn’t end there, the family said. Carnival told the Eisenmans that his corpse couldn’t be removed in Puerto Rico because the line couldn’t guarantee the body would be returned promptly from the hurricane-ravaged island. Eisenman’s wife and daughter left the ship in Puerto Rico, while his son stayed aboard, accompanying the body back to the continental U.S., according to the suit. The Eisenmans allege the cruise line was negligent in not appreciating the severity of Eisenman’s condition and evacuating him quickly. |
| June 11, Norwegian Bliss, Death of 22
year old From a passenger: we were passengers on the Norwegian bliss last week in Alaska. On Friday, we were docked in Ketchikan. When we got back from the short visit, the ship did not depart as scheduled and the names of several passengers were called out and asked to come to guest services. We were delayed for several hours and police boarded the ship. We later learned that the passengers called where the family members of a 22 Year old girl who drowned in the hot tub. Apparently she was alone in the hot tub while her family went on an excursion. There were lots of rumors that she overdosed or was inebriated, but of course the employees could not tell us anything. |
| June 11, Multiple ships, Protests
against cruise ships in Venezia DW reports around 5,000 residents of the northern Italian city of Venice on Saturday protested against the presence of cruise ships in the busy Giudecca Canal, following a ship accident earlier in the week. Many of the demonstrators carried banners with slogans such as "Keep large boats out of the lagoon." Critics say the waves the ships create are eroding the foundations of the historic lagoon city, which regularly floods, leaving iconic sites such as Saint Mark's Square underwater. Last Sunday, the 65,500-ton Opera, a 54-meter high and 275-meter long liner, was approaching a passenger terminal on the Giudecca Canal when it hit the dock and a nearby ferry after a technical problem. Footage of the incident showed passengers who had been waiting at a wharf in San Basilio-Zattere fleeing for safety as the huge ship, its horns blaring, crashed into the much smaller, moored "River Countess," which had 110 people on board. |
| June 11, Zuiderdam, Blocked from
leaving port Newsweek reports the cruise ship has been trapped in a German port by climate change protesters demanding curbs on the industry's emissions and improved working conditions aboard ships. The ship was blocked from departing Kiel in northern Germany on Sunday by around 50 activists, Deutsche Welle reported. The demonstrators belonged to a group calling itself Smash Cruises**t. They used small boats to block the departure of the Zuiderdam and also occupied a crane at the Ostseekai terminal. During Sunday's action, protesters also unfurled a large banner from the occupied crane which read, "Cruises kill climate." Police and special forces were brought in to clear the demonstration and confiscate the small ships, which took several hours. The ship was able to leave the port by 10 p.m. A spokesperson for Holland America line confirmed to that the ship was delayed in Kiel by "demonstration activities" and that the vessel was able to set sail for Copenhagen, as scheduled, before 10 p.m. The protest group released a statement explaining its actions on Sunday afternoon, as activists were already in the water. The press release lamented the "catastrophic local and global consequences of cruises" and demanded an end to "exploitative working conditions" for staff aboard. |
| June 8, Windsurf, Loss of
power, Collisions - damage unspecified From a passenger: I was on board. The ship lost all power including lights and toilets for a brief time. The ship came into contact with the dock and two other smaller sailboats. A monohull and catamaran. No deaths or injuries. The ships power was restored after 10-15 mins. It docked 15-20 mins late. However as June 9 (I got off on June 6th) the Ship has not moved. See https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/391205/uturoa-quay-in-french-polynesia-damaged-by-cruise-ship. |
| June 8, NCL Epic, Pax overboard From a reader: My daughter messengered me that a man (person) either jumped or fell off the NCL Epic today. I don't see it reported anywhere else. Reports are that it was a teen-aged passenger and that the port call at Palma de Mallorca has been cancelled as a result. The Sun subsequently reports the ship had left Cannes, France, on Friday and was due to dock in Palma, Majorca early on Saturday. But the ship turned around at about 8.30am after the captain came on the tannoy saying the ship was going back to look for the passenger after they had “good evidence” the girl had gone overboard. After about two hours of sailing, he came on the speaker again and said that we were in the area where she went overboard. He told us she had last been seen in pink pyjamas. He did not tell us her age or any other details. ABC News reports the missing passenger is a 63 year old Korean woman. |
| June 7, Marella Explorer II, Illness
outbreak (?) Daily Post reports on a couple claiming a norovirus outbreak on their recent cruise. Earlier this month the initial suspected norovirus outbreak was reported in the national press when passengers started to feel ill. Reports said the newest ship to join TUI's Marella cruises had been hit by an "outbreak of the norovirus" stomach bug only a month after launching. And since then a number of passengers have contacted Irwin Mitchell. Marella Explorer 2 was welcomed into the fleet in April |
| June 4 - Carnival
Corporation, $20 million fine for violating
probation (a tickle on their feet; not
even a slap on the wrist) Carnival Corporation was fined $20 million for violating its probation for environmental offenses that led to a $30 million fine in 2017. The company logged 800 offenses of its conditions of probation in the first year -- many of these (such as discharging plastics) is even worse than the original offenses leading to the $30 million fine. Looking at it from Carnival's perspective, the $50 million total in fines is about 0.7% of their total profit on which they pay no corporate income tax. The fine is similar to a person earning $100,000 being fined $700. Kind of tickles your feet, rather than a slap on the wrist. Carnival is laughing all the way to the bank (or, for the chief execs, all the way to their bonus checks for saving and making money). |
| June 4 - NCL Breakaway, Death and
illness Newsweek reports a man has died while onboard a cruise ship anchored off the coast of Scotland, with two fellow travelers falling ill and needing to be taken off the giant vessel for medical treatment. The unidentified 20-year-old man died on the Norwegian Getaway on June 3 just before the cruise ship docked at the Scottish port of Newhaven Harbour in the city of Edinburgh on June 4, the Daily Record reported. Police said the man's death was being treated as unexplained but not suspicious. No further indication was provided as to the potential cause. The Edinburgh News noted that a report on the incident will be submitted to the public prosecutor. Two other unidentified passengers were also taken off the ship in Edinburgh having fallen ill. Police said the two were "taken into the care of the Scottish Ambulance Service in connection with medical matters which are believed to be unrelated to the man's death." Norwegian Cruise Line, which operates the ship did not immediately respond to Newsweek's request for comment on both the death and the evacuation of the two sick passengers. Emergency crews rushed to the harbor at around 9:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday when authorities were informed that two passengers were unwell, the Daily Record explained. A spokesperson for the Scottish Ambulance Service said a special operations team and one ambulance were dispatched to Newhaven Harbour. |
| June 3 - CMV Columbus, Run
aground, cruise canceled Youtube has a report that CMV Columbus Ran Aground Leaving Amsterdam 7 Night Cruise Cancelled No Injuries The CMV Columbus cruise liner was on a 7 night cruise from London to Norway via Amsterdam when the ship ran aground just leaving Amsterdam on May 31st 2019. After divers were sent below to check for damage, the ship was brought back to port in Amsterdam and after 36 hours, the cruise was cancelled. All passengers are safe and have been allowed to enjoy all of the amenities of the ship as if they were on a floating hotel. The CMV cruise line has give each guest a full refund for the cruise along with an additional free cruise plus any necessary out of pocket expenses. The passengers will be brought back to London by the cruise line by June 4th. |
| June 2 - MSC Opera, Collision
with tour boat and dock Daily Star reports the MSC Opera blasted its horn while it ploughed into the dock, but four people have been injured when it crashed into a smaller tourist ship - the "Michelangelo". Italian media reported that the terrifying incident happened in the Giudecca canal this morning at 8.30am, at the San Basilio dock. At first, tourists on the dock merely jog away from the colossal ship, but as it becomes apparent it is not going to stop they speed up. The deafening noise of the crash lasts for 30 seconds as the hull of the ship meets concrete. Sobbing can be heard in the clip, tourists clearly in shock after the terrifying ordeal. Reportedly, MSC Opera was being pulled by two tugs through the canal when something when seriously wrong at the San Basilio dock. The Michelangelo was hit on the stern side while it was moored. Passengers on the smaller boat desperately jumped into the water as the ship came bearing down. People also fell from the gangway into the water in the incident. Four have been taken to hospital. It is reported that the hull of the ship has been damaged, but it is not currently known to what extent. |
| May 30 - Viking Sigyn, Collision,
fatalities Maritime Executive reports seven people have died and 21 are missing after a cruise ship collided with a tour boat on the Danube River in Budapest, Hungary, on Wednesday night. The Mermaid, a 27-meter (89-foot) double-decker tourist ship, collided with Viking Sigyn. The smaller tourist ship sank quickly, and the wreck was found on the bed of the river close to one of the pillars of Margaret Bridge. The 64-year-old Ukrainian captain of the Viking cruise ship has now been detained by police. Only seven of the 35 people on board, that included 33 South Koreans, have been rescued so far. The two ships collided at 21:00, and the first emergency call reached the police station 10 minutes after the accident. Search and rescue was hampered by the river's high water levels, darkness and rain. Water temperatures were about 10 to 12 degrees Celsius (50-53 degrees Fahrenheit). |
| May 28 - Celebrity Constellation, Delayed
departure From a passenger: We are on Celebrity Constellation and it’s 17h40 local time in Santorini, Greece. The ship was scheduled to depart at 17h00. The captain advised us that the delayed departure was due to a Medical Evacuation and that we were waiting for the ambulance. No revised departure time has been issued yet. Thoughts and prayer for the prompt return to health for the evacuated person and a safe return home for that person and family! The delay did not appear to effect the itinerary. |
| May 26 - Carnival Splendor, Stuck in
port... propulsion problems From a passenger: Scheduled to leave Long Beach at 4 pm today. Still at pier at 10:45 pm. Captain says technician coming tomorrow morning who can fix propulsion problem. Plan to skip Mazatlan port of call. Unsure when we might leave, but no earlier than tomorrow later morning or after. From another passenger, 10 hours later: Carnival splendor again has engine trouble and has not departed for its 7 day journey which was supposed to leave on May 25. UPDATE: The ship finally left about 24 hours later than originally scheduled. |
| May 22 - Zaandam and Saga Sapphire, Canceled
port call Cape Breton Post reports high winds will keep two cruise ships from making stops in Sydney harbour today. Both skipped their scheduled stops due to weather conditions. |
| May 20 - Carnival Fascination, Pax
overboard Cruise Hive reports video footage has started to go around of a passenger who jumped off the cruise ship while at sea. The ship also had a scheduled call in San Juan. Puerto Rico on Sunday, May 19. To the surprise of his fellow guests, he was swimming in the water and shouting out. The man was apparently 19 years old. There have been multiple conflicting reports as to why he jumped overboard It’s not known the time this occurred or exact location. We do know the crew of the Carnival cruise ship activated a rescue operation and lowered a lifeboat into the water. 45 minutes later he was brought onboard. |
| May 17 - Magellan, Environmental fine Maritime Executive reports the Norwegian Maritime Authority has fined Greek cruise ship operator Global Cruise Lines Ltd. a total of $80,000 for using 0.17 percent sulfur fuel in a 0.10 percent sulfur ECA zone. In March, new Norwegian environmental requirements for emissions in several protected fjords - the Nærøyfjord, Aurlandsfjord, Geirangerfjord, Sunnylvsfjord and Tafjord - entered into force. The fine for Global Cruise Lines is the first issued in connection with the new, stricter rules. On April 16, the NMA received reports about smoke emissions from the cruise shipMagellan, which was berthed in Flåm. NMA surveyors boarded the ship when she arrived at Geiranger the next day, and they measured the sulfur content of the ship’s fuel to be 0.17 percent, or 0.07 percentage points above the regional limit. Tracking of the vessel's AIS signal showed that the vessel made ports of call at Eidfjord and Flåm in the days preceding the port of call at Geiranger. Both of these ports are located within the North Sea ECA, where the maximum allowable fuel sulfur content is 0.10 percent. NMA said that the extent of the violation is significant because the ship sailed a long distance within the emission control area using a fuel with an excessive sulfur content. As an aggravating factor, Norway's new rules concerning the world heritage fjords were violated. |
| May 17 - Anthem OTS, Detour to Nassau;
Arrival atbPort of debarkation delayed one day From a passenger: I'm onboard the anthem of the seas & noticed her making a sharp turn around midday. The captain just now announced (4.30pm Thursday may 16th) we are being rerouted from our journey back to Cape Liberty because of a medical emergency with one of the staff I believe. We are due to dock in Nassau around 1am and are doing 23 knots. We will head back towards Cape Liberty straight away after that then & the captain will advise us over the next few hours what delays there will be. Subsequently, pax were advised the ship will arrive at Cape Liberty around 6AM on Sunday (one day later than scheduled). The following cruise will be reduced from five to four days. |
| May 13 - Royal Princess, Pax
die in Shore Excursion accident The Anchorage Daily News reports five people are dead after two floatplanes carrying passengers from the same cruise ship collided in mid-air over George Inlet near Ketchikan, according to Princess Cruises. A total of 16 people were on the two planes and 10 people were rescued, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Jon-Paul Rios said. There were 11 people in one plane and five in the other. |
| May 10 - Breakaway, Fails Sanitation
Inspection Business Insider reports the ship failed in US Inspection with a score of 84 on March 10, 2019. Violations included hot tubs with excessive pH levels; improper washing procedures for some items used in beverage service; improperly stored food; a dirty oven and grills; dirty washing machines for glass, pots, and dishes; flies in food-and-beverage areas. |
| May 8 - Amsterdam, Passenger overboard Cruise Law News reports a guest is reportedly missing from the ship.It left Glengariff, Ireland yesterday evening, heading on a transatlantic cruise to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Earlier today, the captain of the ship made an announcement for the missing passenger. A passenger on the ship is stating that a lady “either fell or jumped off the ship just off the coast of Ireland . . . the ship just got cleared from any SAR. This happened around 130am local time to the ship.” |
| May 5 - Zaandam, Fire From a passenger: I was on the Canada/New England sailing on the MS Zaandam from Ft. Lauderdale to Montreal when at 1:30am on the second sea day (April 26), we were woken up by the first stage emergency alarm followed by an announcement from the Captain that smoke had been detected in the incinerator room and crews were investigating the incident. Shortly afterwards smoke was spotted in the hallway (Deck 2 forward) and smelled on outside decks. The Captain announced that crews were going in to deal with a fire followed by an announcement that the problem had been resolved. The next day he explained that it was caused by the incinerator garbage disposal smouldering for an unknown reason. On the same cruise, final port stop at Montreal was cancelled due to high water levels making bridge clearance impossible and passengers were bussed from Quebec City. |
| May 4 - Oosterdam & Nieuw Amsterdam, Collision Global News reports cruise passengers got a rude awakening Saturday morning after two vessels collided at the berth near Canada Place. The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority said the Oosterdam was coming into berth around 6:30 a.m. when it rear-ended the Nieuw Amsterdam, which was already docked. The port authority says no one was hurt in the collision and cruise ship operations at Canada Place are running normally. Both 285-metre vessels are owned by Holland America. |
| May 3 - Allure OTS, Propulsion
problems (changed itinerary) Royal Caribbean Blog reports guests with sailings booked on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas are receiving emails from the cruise line that their itinerary has changed due to a speed restriction. Royal Caribbean has not indicated the nature of the issue exactly. Based on emails sent to guests, it appears the changes mostly affect Eastern Caribbean itineraries, with St. Thomas often being replaced with San Juan, Puerto Rico. Our readers have indicated that Western Caribbean itineraries have mostly seen some shifts in times, but no port swaps. |
| May 2 - Norwegian Pearl, Pax
masturbates in kids pool; alleged rape From a passenger: 18-28 April: A man was arrested for Masturbation in the kids pool and a young woman named Catherine was reported missing by her parents for over 24 hours upon departing Bermuda and was found drugged and raped from what i was told by a NYC police officer and his wife who’s 21 year old son had received text from her saying she was in trouble and needed help. NCL is having this occur all to frequently ... i have seen way too many young women put into wheelchairs by security guards from being too intoxicated, why are they being over served? why are they having blackouts? |
| May 1 - Freewinds, Quarantined
because of Measles Buzzfeed News reports the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia quarantined a cruise ship to prevent the spread of measles, a public health official said Tuesday. As of Wednesday, it remained docked in Castries, the country's capital. |
| May 1 - Norwegian Gem, Child
Sexual Assault lawsuit Business Insider reports a Norwegian Cruise Line employee sexually assaulted an 11-year-old passenger, a lawsuit alleges. In 2018, a steward on Norwegian's Spirit cruise ship entered Jane Doe's cabin after being told to not disturb the plaintiff's daughter, referred to in the complaint as Janie Doe, as she was resting, according to the lawsuit. The steward, who was around 27 at the time of the alleged incident, entered the room with a master key on four separate occasions, touching and ultimately sexually assaulting Janie Doe, the lawsuit alleges. Before leaving the cabin, the steward allegedly told Janie Doe to refrain from telling anyone about the sexual assault. |
| May 1 - Voyages to Antiquity, Cancellations Cruise Industry News reports Voyages to Antiquity announced it was cancelling 10 cruises on the Aegean Odyssey as the ship will need to undergo a repair to her starboard engine. Following its period in drydock, Aegean Odyssey will be back in service starting with the Rome-Venice and associated future Grand Voyage itineraries departing from 7 September 2019. |
| April 28 - Eurodam, Engine
problems, Repairs, Missed port From a reader: the ship will miss Ensenada and arrive in San Diego Sunday night (a day early) for repairs of its azipod propulsion system (after the Nieuw Amsterdam and Disney Wonder have departed). She will then not sail until Tuesday afternoon and miss Victoria, BC. in order to arrive in Vancouver on time. |
| April 26 - Norwegian Gem, Assault
with Serious Bodily Injury NECN reports a New York man is facing federal charges after his arrest in Boston for assaulting a woman aboard the ship on Thursday. Adam Damian Panetta, 45, of Farmingville, New York, is charged with one count of assault and one count of assault resulting in substantial bodily injury, according to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney's Office. He was scheduled to appear in federal court in Boston on Friday afternoon. At the time of the assault, the ship was 200 miles off the coast of New Jersey. Panetta was taken into custody when the ship arrived in port in Boston on Friday. According to court documents, Panetta was seen on surveillance video pulling a woman by her hair down the full length of a hallway while aboard the Norwegian Gem on Thursday. Officials said the two were then observed outside one of the cabins. While Panetta attempted to open the cabin door, the woman was seen hitting him in the face with an open hand. Panetta then allegedly turned toward the woman and punched her twice in the side of the head with a closed fist. The woman fell to the ground, apparently unconscious. Panetta entered the cabin, leaving the woman on the floor in the hallway. After about a minute, prosecutors said Panetta came out of the cabin and leaned down to the woman, who remained unresponsive. Eventually, the woman began to crawl into the room. Panetta did not assist her, and kicked her twice in the buttocks as she began to crawl. He then followed her into the room. The two were seen leaving the room a short time later, with the woman holding a white towel stained with blood over her head. The two later arrived at the ship's medical center, where the woman was treated for swelling on the right side of her head and a laceration that required five stitches. |
| April 24 - Eurodam, Engine
problems From a passenger: 4/23/19 the ships was in Kona, Hawaii. After boarding the ship from their day on the island they were informed of a propeller failure. They received clearance from corporate in Seattle, Washington to continue their trip between 9:00 and 9:30pm Hawaiian time. The passengers were told they would be on time for the remainder of the trip. |
| April 23 - Aegean Odyssey, Engine
failure (again) Maritime Bulletin reports the ship suffered engine failure while approaching Chania, Crete island, Greece, in the afternoon Apr 21, en route from Malta. Two tugs were deployed, the ship was safely taken to Chaina and berthed. Reported detained until completing repairs and survey. |
| April 16 - Emerald Princess, Fire Cruise Law News reports there was a fire yesterday on the Emerald Princess shortly after it was floated out of drydock in Victoria, according to a crew member who wishes to remain anonymous. The fire reportedly occurred on deck 3 aft, while the ship was loading lifeboats from drydock in Victoria. The situation was described as “very hectic because many crew members were on the lifeboat loading team and were not available to be on the fire team to fight the fire.” The crew fought the fire from deck 4. The ship just floated out of drydock in Victoria, Canada. After one hour the alarm was called off. The fire was caused from a de-humidifier inside the bulk head in the dry storage. The crew member stated that “I passed by deck 4 and there was heavy smoke in the air and fire teams cleaning up.” There apparently was no-hi fog fire suppression system at this location and the crew fought the fire with water. On March 22, there was a fire aboard Carnival Triumph when it was in drydock in Cadiz. The fire erupted on Deck 4; hundreds of workers were evacuated. Damage wasn't major (See Maritime Bulletin). |
| April 15 - MSC Divina, Sexual
assault of minor The Times reports an 18 year old Italian teenager accused of raping a 17-year-old British girl on a cruise was released without charge after a judge in Spain ruled he had no jurisdiction because the alleged attack occurred in international waters. The alleged victim told Spanish police she was forced into the man’s cabin and raped in an incident that occurred on board the MSC Divina at about 5am on Thursday as the ship sailed between Mallorca and the Spanish port of Valencia. |
| April 15 - Crystal Symphony, Missed
ports From a passenger: RE: Crystal Symphony cruise from Sydney to Cairns departing Sydney on 8 April. Friday the 13th missed 7 am call at Harvey Island to drop off passengers for an excursion to the reef due high winds. Sunday the 15th arrival in Cairns delayed by four hours to noon once again due to high winds. The captain was concerned that the ship would drift out of the narrow passage. He entered the channel on the fifth attempt Monday; the call at Port Douglas was cancelled again due to high winds. The ship spent an extra day in Cairns. |
| April 15 - Carnival Magic, Delayed
boarding Local 10 reports hundreds of passengers were delayed from boarding the Carnival Magic cruise ship Sunday at Port Miami, with many on social media complaining they were left standing in the heat for hours. In a letter to passengers, Carnival Cruise Line said the passengers from the previous cruise took longer than expected to disembark. |
| April 12 - MSC Divina, Sexual
assault of minor (lawsuit) Miami Herald reports the mother of a 14-year-old girl is suing MSC cruises after she says a crew member sexually assaulted and battered her daughter in a candy shop on a cruise ship. The alleged incident happened inside the MSC Divina’s candy shop after the ship left Miami in March 2017 and was docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico, one of the eight-day cruise’s ports of call. On Wednesday, both parties in the suit agreed to stop mediation efforts and to continue settlement negotiations. Court records say that if the case is not resolved before May 8, the two sides will reconvene mediation on May 8. A trial is scheduled for July 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. |
| April 11 - Carnival
Corporation, Violates probation for
environmental violations Miami Herald reports a federal judge Wednesday threatened to stop Carnival Corporation from docking its ships at U.S. ports temporarily as punishment for possibly violating probation but said she would make a decision at a hearing scheduled for June. Carnival has been on probation for the last two years as part of a $40 million settlement for illegally dumping oil into the ocean from its Princess Cruises ships for eight years and lying about the scheme to U.S. authorities. While on probation, according to court filings, Carnival Corp. and its subsidiary cruise lines have sought to avoid unfavorable findings by preparing ships in advance of court-ordered audits, falsified records, dumped plastic garbage into the ocean and illegally discharged gray water into Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska. The company also has tried to lobby the U.S. Coast Guard through a back channel to change the terms of the settlement, prosecutors allege. The company has acknowledged these. The government also informed the Court that the following ships violated environmental laws while Carnival Corporation was under court-supervised probation: Princess’ Sun Princess – an engineer falsified maintenance records in June 2017; HAL’s Nieuw Amsterdam had been continuously discharging gray water for several years in Alaska (as of June 2017) and knowingly failed to notify the state of Alaska; Carnival Valor – engineering team falsified an oil record book regarding the oily water separator system in October 2017; HAL’s Westerdam< – a second engineer falsified maintenance records involving the oil content monitoring system in September 2018; Carnival Conquest illegally dumped 66,000 gallons of ballast water in November 2018 (in Bahamian archipelagic waters where Carnival ships previously made other unlawful discharges); the ship’s engineer offered to falsify records to make it look like the dump happened at open sea; Holland America’s Westerdam – illegally dumped 26,000 gallons of gray water into Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska in December 2018; Princess’ Sea Princess (December 2017) and Ruby Princess (February 2018), Carnival Dream (August 2018), Carnival Elation (December 2018) dumped plastic overboard. The government informed Judge Seitz that, regarding the Carnival Elation, Carnival knowingly and deliberately discharged plastic which was a significant violation of probation. Regarding the Ruby Princess, a compliance auditor “witnessed 55-gallon containers (which) held several unauthorized items destined to go down the waste chute and overboard. These items were plastic straws, plastic corn on the cob holders, wooden stir sticks, toothpicks, wooden steak identifiers, paper, paper clips and aluminum foil wrappers.” Regarding the Carnival Dream, the auditor noted that the following items were “ready to be discharged down the chute and then overboard while at sea. These items include: aluminum bottle caps, broken plastic cups, cotton swabs (Q-tips), emery cloth, plastic straws, napkins, paper and umbrellas for drinks.” |
| April 11 - Mariner OTS & Independence
OTS, SkyPad suspended Miami Herald reports Royal Caribbean has closed the Sky Pad trampoline bungee ride on two of its ships after a passenger fractured his pelvis when the bungees snapped in February. Casey Holladay, 25, was aboard the Mariner of the Seas ship out of Miami with his girlfriend when he decided to try the ride. The bungees holding him broke off as he was about 20 feet in the air, and he landed on the deck floor next to the trampoline. Holladay is suing Royal Caribbean for $10 million. A tweet response to an inquiring guest said the Sky Pad ride was temporarily closed. |
| April 8 - Aegean Odyessy, Continuing
delays From a passenger: Aegean Odyssey arrived at port in Cape Verde Islands two days later than scheduled. Truncated tours began after 5pm and concluded well after dark! Heading north at 12 knots against strong winds and 3m seas. Becoming more unlikely that scheduled overnight journey to Marrakech will be a go as ship is scheduled to be in Malaga at 6am on the 13th. Update 11 April: Aegean Odyssey has, once more, lost an engine and is heading toward Casablanca. We have been experiencing a Force 9 gale for over 24 hours. Good news, though, Voyages to Antiquity have promised passengers a 100% refund for the voyage. |
| April 6 - Norwegian Epic, Delayed
6 hours by medical emergency From a passenger: While docked in port canaveral on day 1 of cruise a gentleman took seriously ill. Ship was delayed leaving port for about 6 hours and continued on as normal later that evening. |
| April 6 - Norwegian Epic, Man
charged with rape of 13 year old girl WESH reports an Oregon man has been brought to Brevard County to stand trial for the alleged rape of a 13-year old girl on a cruise ship. Justin Dolson, 27, is charged with lewd and lascivious on a victim under the age of 16. Prosecutors say Dolson took a cruise on the Norwegian Epic out of Port Canaveral a year ago. During the cruise, and in international waters, investigators said he lured a 13-year old girl into a hot tub and committed a sex crime. |
| April 5 - Silver Spirit, Failed
Sanitation Inspection The ship failed its most recent inspection with a failing score of 81 (a passing score is 86 or above). (Cruise Law News has details) |
| April 5 - Celebrity Constellation, Loss
of propulsion From a reader: Captain announced 1 hour ago that the Celebrity Constellation has lost propulsion and is dead in the water. The hotel functions are all working so no loss of comfort. We are about 500 miles west of Phuket enroute to Colombo. Full power was restored less than 90 minutes later. |
| April 4 - Astoria, ?Aground? Daily Echo reports residents contacted the Daily Echo on Wednesday after the ship appeared to struggle while leaving the port on that evening. Yesterday, the ship's owners, Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV), said: "The Astoria did not run aground, touch bottom or have any contact whatsoever with any foreign object in the Poole channel, contrary to the belief of some observers who viewed the ship’s departure." Instead the company says the ships captain decided to drop anchor at 6.06pm due to the "strong current and high water in the Poole channel at the time of her departure." A statement from CMV said: "By 6.30pm the anchor was no longer in use and Astoria proceeded on her way again without assistance. There was no contact between Astoria and the sea bed and no damage was sustained by the vessel, the port or any third parties. |
| April 4 - Carnival Inspiration, Pax
banned for life after getting stuck in an elevator for 1
- 1.5 hours Newsweek, USA Today, Fox News and Cruise Law News (which was the first to post the story) report that five passengers have been banned for life after getting stuck in an elevator for 1 - 1.5 hours. One person fainted, and assistance from the cruise ship appeared to be less than adequate. This is classic "blaming the victim." |
| April 4 - Aegean Odyessy, Engine
failure, delays From a passenger: Ship left Cape Town after 2 days in port with passengers kept on board without access to passports. Starboard engine down. Engine on again for some miles and then off again off the coast of Namibia. Port of Luderitz missed. More engine repairs in Walvis Bay. On to Luanda. Took almost one entire day to be refueled. Lost engine again. Crossed the Gulf of Guinea and turned north along the coast of West Africa where both engines failed at 3:20am on April 4th off the coast from Freetown, Sierra Leone. A couple of hours later: Ship once again sailing on one engine. Moving slowly northward. |
| April 3 - Viking Idun, Collision
with cargo ship Business Insider reports a Viking Cruises representative confirmed to Business Insider that the Viking Idun was involved in a collision with a cargo ship and was damaged in the crash. There were 171 passengers and 51 crew members on the Idun at the time of the accident.The representative said four passengers were examined by medical personnel but were not injured. One crew member received two bruises from the incident."The [Idun] sustained some damage near the bow and is currently docked in Terneuzen with all guests," the Viking representative said. "While damage of the ship is being assessed, guests will continue with a modified version of the itinerary." The Viking representative said the company hopes to return the ship to service on Thursday. |
| April 3 - Oasis OTS, Cruises
Canceled Click Orlando reports Royal Caribbean messaged customers on Twitter on Tuesday telling them sail dates out of Port Canaveral for April 7, 14 and 21 have been canceled. The cruise line told customers anyone scheduled to go on the canceled trips will get a full refund along with a 100 percent future cruise certificate to apply toward a different sail date. |
| April 1 - Oceania Marina, Illness
Outbreak CDC reports 36 of 1066 (3.38%) passengers and 4 crew of 763 (0.52%) have reported ill on the March 18 - 5 April cruise. |
| April 1 - Oasis OTS, Crane
damages ship in drydock Cruise Hive reports a large crane has collapsed onto the ship during a routine dry dock at the Grand Bahamas Shipyard in Freeport, Bahamas. Eight people have been injured. As seen in a video posted online, the crane has caused the 220,900 gross ton ship to list towards its starboard side. The crane collapsed onto the aft of the ship where the AquaTheatre is located. The ship was set to be fully upgraded and ready for a new summer service of Mediterranean cruises out of Barcelona, Spain, starting in May 2019. |
| March 30 - Norwegian Epic, Delay,
skipped port call From a passenger: We went out on the Norwegian Epic on March 23... we didn’t leave Port Canaveral until around 1 AM due to “a medical evacuation”... we were supposed to leave at 4. Then we skipped the private island port the next day (great stirrup cay) due to “wind”. Something weird was going on. |
| March 30 - Unknown, Arrest in
Cayman for handgun St. Lucia Times reports a passenger arrived in the Cayman Islands last month, the first stop on a nine-night Caribbean cruise that departed from Florida. Once in port on Feb. 3, the 68-year-old Madison woman got a notice that her third piece of luggage, which hadn’t arrived with her flight from Wisconsin to Fort Lauderdale, had been found and flown down to the George Town airport. But when she went to pick it up, her vacation turned into an expensive lesson in how American gun rights don’t always travel well, and that could land her in a foreign prison. Inside that third bag, X-rays showed, was a .25 caliber handgun and six rounds of ammunition. Despite her claim of a Wisconsin concealed carry permit, in the Caymans, it was considered illegal possession of an unlicensed firearm. Conviction carries a mandatory seven-year prison term upon a guilty plea, 10 years if convicted at trial — unless the court finds “exceptional circumstances." |
| March 30 - Carnival Spirit, Person
overboard Cruise Law News reports several guests report that a young man went overboard from the cruise ship as it headed toward Noumea, New Caledonia. A guest sent the following information via email: “Person reported overboard near coast of Noumea 1 AM cruise ship had to return to middle of the ocean to search at 4 AM. no-one found. 25 year old middle eastern man. Surveillance of man falling.” The man was reported overboard on the early morning on March 29, 2019. The ship departed from Sydney, Australia on March 27th and was scheduled to arrive in Noumea, New Caledonia on March 30th at 8:00 AM local time. The ship was scheduled to call on ports in Vanuatu and New Caledonia before returning to Sydney on April 7th. |
| March 29 - Astor, Delayed
arrival (fog) From a reader: Astor currently outside port of Cape Town as the port is fogbound. Ship arrived this morning from Mossel Bay. She is planned to overnight in Cape Town and sail tomorrow 30th March pm for Namibia. |
| March 28, Costa Flavolosa, Drug
Bust Cruise Law News reports newspapers in Brazil are reporting that yesterday the federal police arrested sixteen passengers aboard the cruise ship who were reportedly carrying 300 kilos of cocaine. in their luggage. The Costa cruise ship was in the port in Santos, Brazil, on the coast of São Paulo, en route to Europe. The newspapers reported that ten Brazilians, three Belgians and three French (eight women and eight men) all under the age of 30 years of age, were arrested and taken into custody. The Costa ship security personnel reportedly discovered the drugs during an electronic inspection of the baggage. Each piece of luggage also contained around $1,000, which was believe to be an an advance for the transportation of the cocaine.The cruise ship was given permission to sail following the arrests. |
| March 28 - MSC Opera, Drug Bust The Telegraph reports two British nationals have been arrested on the holiday island of Madeira on suspicion of smuggling £2 million pounds worth of cocaine aboard a luxury cruise liner. The pair, were amongst 12 people, who were detained when the cruise ship, the MSC Opera, docked at Funchal en route from the Caribbean on March 24. Local police assisted by members of Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) recovered around 18 kilograms of cocaine, with an estimated street value of £2 million. The cocaine had been hidden in crisp packets and ceramic bowls which had been stashed in suitcases. Six of those arrested had been passengers on board the vessel when it travelled from the West Indies to Madeira. The other six, including the two Britons, and a Dutch national who lives in London, had recently travelled to Madeira, where it is suspected they were due to meet the ship when it docked. Those arrested were aged between 20 and 52 and included six men and six women. All twelve have been detained pending prosecution in the Portuguese courts. |
| March 27 - Norwegian Pearl, Sexual
Assault lawsuit PRNewswire has a report that a waitress who was drugged, punched, beaten, strangled and raped while working on Norwegian Cruise Line's ship the M/V Norwegian Pearl has filed suit against the company for her damages. According to the lawsuit, Plaintiff Jane Doe was attacked by a co-worker in a dormitory-style cabin while three cabinmates and a supervisor stood outside the door listening to her screams. After the attack, she ran out of the cabin naked from the waist down screaming and crying. The cabinmates then forced her back into the same cabin where she was assaulted a second time. Claimant's attacker, Kevin Paul, was arrested by the Police Department and eventually pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual battery. NCL was served with a lawsuit this week for Ms. Doe's rape and battery that occurred March 6, 2016. The lawsuit claims that over the course of the many years preceding Ms. Doe's rape, there have been many incidents of sexual harassment and sexual battery, including rape, of female crew members and passengers on NCL'S fleet of cruise ships. The suit claims that NCL knows that date rape drugs have been involved in other shipboard rapes of female crew members and passengers. |
| March 26 - Le Lyrial, Delayed by
weather From a reader: Strong winds delayed sailing yesterday and ship finally departed shortly after 09h00 this morning from Cape Town bound for Port Elizabeth. Arrival in Port Elizabeth is delayed until 14h30 on 28th March. |
| March 25 - Viking Sky, Investigation
undertaken of Mayday call GC Captain reports Maritime authorities in Norway, Britain and the United States have started investigating the loss of power on board the ship which nearly led to its grounding along the west coast of Norway over the weekend. The 2017-built luxury cruise ship had 1,378 passengers and crew on board when its engines failed and it drifted dangerously close to shorenear the town of Hustadvika in stormy weather on Saturday afternoon. An ocean tug was eventually able to attach a tow line to the Viking Sky and tow it Molde, Norway, where the remaining passengers were disembarked on Sunday afternoon. The following cruise has been canceled. |
| March
23 - Viking Sky, Mayday, Ship evacuated BBC reports about 1,300 people are being evacuated from the ship off the coast of Norway. Police in the county of More og Romsdal say the ship has suffered engine problems, and all those aboard are being taken to shore. Norway's sea rescue agency said the MV Viking Sky sent out a distress signal and was drifting towards the shore. Helicopters and rescue boats are at the scene in high waves and strong winds. Police told the newspaper VG winds are blowing at 38 knots, and the ship is less than 2.5 nautical miles (4.6 km) from the shore. However, reports suggest the ship has managed to restart one engine and move slightly further from the coast as the evacuation continues.The vessel was en route to Stavanger from Tromso, and is drifting off the town of Farstad near Molde on the country's western coast. The area is known as the Hustadvika and is reportedly one of the most dangerous stretches of Norway's coast. |
| March 20 - MS Eledweis, Collision,
holed, evacuated NL Times reports the ship collided with a cargo ship, loaded with cars, on the Waal river near Nijmegen at around 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday. The passengers were all shaken, but unharmed, according to local safety office Veiligheidsregio Gelderland-Zuid. Public works service Rijkswaterstaat and the fire department evacuated the cruise ship, ANP reports. The collision with the cargo ship pushed the cruise ship into a pillar of the railway bridge over the river. This made a hole in the hull, which caused a fire. The fire was quickly under control. Train traffic was halted for a time as a precaution, while the structural integrity of the pillar was checked . here were 240 people on the cruise ship, the MS Edelweiss of Swiss shipping company Scylla - 160 passengers ad 80 crew members. According to the safety office, the passengers were transported ashore by ships from the fire department and Rijkswaterstaat. All crew members stayed on board. The cause of the accident is not yet known, Scylla said in a press statement. The cargo ship was able to sail to the dock on its own, and a assisting ship was deployed to help bring the cruise ship ashore. |
| March 20 - Mariner OTS, Lawsuit
for Injury on Skypad NBC Miami reports a passenger who was on the ship figured he was a natural for an adventure attraction the cruise line calls the SkyPad. "We were really excited because we had seen a commercial that Royal was promoting for this Skypad, this awesome experience in the sky," Holladay told NBC 6. The ride is promoted as a trampoline and bungee jump in one. He says he was enjoying himself until something happened that caused him to crash and drop an estimated 20 feet to the ground. "I just felt the momentum release from my body that I wasn’t being held by anything anymore," he said. "When I hit all I really remember is the hit and the noise and the fear." His girlfriend was recording on her mobile phone when it happened. After his fall, she rushed to where he was being treated on the ship’s deck. "It's kind of one of those cliché moments when your life changes in the blink of an eye," Holladay said. Royal Caribbean shortened the cruise and brought Holladay back to Miami where doctors performed several surgeries to repair his broken pelvis. He also dislocated his shoulder. He spent nine days in a South Florida hospital. A month after the fall, we saw Casey at his Sarasota home pulling himself up out of bed, using a walker, and wheelchair. "My life got changed without me having a say," he said. "I am fearful that I am not going to be able to enjoy the day-to-day like I'm used to." He is now suing RCCL. |
| March 18 - Mariner OTS, Pax
Overboard, Rescued Alive Cruise Law News reports that passengers onboard report that a passenger who went overboard from the Royal Caribbean cruise ship tonight has been located and rescued from the water. |
| March 18 - Norwegian Breakaway, Fails
Health Inspection CDC reports the ship failed its USPH inspection with a score of 84. Locate the report here. |
| March 17 - Silja Galaxy, Sexual
assault 'The Local reports a 50-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of raping a woman on a ferry between Stockholm and Finland late on Friday night. Stockholm Police seized the man after the Silja Galaxy ferry returned to Stockholm on Sunday. "A woman reported to personnel on board that she had been raped," police spokesperson Ola Österling told Sweden's TT newswire. Ferry staff then held the man throughout the return trip so that he could be handed over to Swedish police. |
| March 16 - Glory Sea (China), Ship
detained for unpaid crew wages Seatrade Cruise News reports Glory Sea, owned by Diamond Cruise International Co., Limited, was placed under arrest by Shanghai Maritime Court due to unpaid crew wages. Some 58 crew had submitted a complaint to the court. Diamond Cruise International was established in 2015, and Glory Sea debuted with a maiden voyage to Japan in July 2016. The ship has operated sailings from Shanghai, Zhoushan, Qingdao, Dalian, Tianjin, Haikou and Lianyungang to destinations in Southeast and Northeast Asia. |
| March 13 - Carnival Cruise Lines, Cancels
all port calls to Antigua Antigua Newsroom reports the cruise line has, as as of March 13 cancelled ALL scheduled calls to Antigua, President of the cruise association Nathan Dundas has announced. The announcement comes two weeks after Prime Minister Gaston Browne accused the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association of exploiting the region. The cruise line did not give a reason for its decision. |
| March 10 - Saga Pearl II & Aegean
Odyssey, Port of Cape Town closed due to winds From a reader: Port of Cape Town is closed due to high winds. Saga Pearl II and Aegean Odyssey unable to enter port. Wind not expected to abate in the next 12 to 18 hours. Update: Saga Pearl II arrived pilot station 12h39 and Aegean Odyssey 14h33. |
| March 10 - Unknown, Serious
injuries in ferry collision Aljazeera reports at least 87 passengers in a high-speed ferry have been injured in an apparent collision with a marine animal off a Japanese island, according to coastguard officers and local media reports. Thirteen people suffered serious injuries in the accident on Saturday, which occurred as the vessel was heading to Sado island. It is likely the ferry hit a whale, as both humpbacks and minkes are often found in the area, NHK quoted a marine wildlife expert as saying. There was damage to the back of the vessel, local media said. A 15cm crack was found at the ferry's stern. However, the ferry - with 121 passengers and four crew on board - reached its destination on the island, located off the west coast of Japan's main island of Honshu without outside help, local media said. |
| March 8 - Regal Princess, Rescue plane
crash victims Yahoo Lifestyle reports passengers witnessed a life-saving show on Tuesday when crew members ohelped rescue two plane crash victims in the Caribbean Sea. The cruise ship was on its way to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands for a seven-night journey when the small private plane went down 23 miles southeast of the Grand Turk Island in Turks and Caicos. The Federal Aviation Administration contacted the U.S. Coast Guard who then alerted the nearest ship — the Regal Princess. The crew deployed a lifeboat to rescue the two men and it was all captured on video. |
| March 8 - Seabourn Sojourn, Missed
port call From a reader: Ship arrived this morning 8th March in Mossel Bay after departing from Cape Town yesterday morning. Unable to tender pax ashore due to weather conditions. Ship is now steaming slowly to Port Elizabeth where she will arrive tomorrow morning as scheduled. |
| March 8 - RCI, Lawsuit outcome ($3.38
million) Channel 3000 reports a Federal jury says Royal Caribbean Cruises owes $3.38 million to the family of a passenger who died during an Alaskan cruise. The jury returned its verdict Thursday in Miami federal court. Court records show Richard Puchalski was with his family on the Explorer of the Seas in 2016. A civil complaint says the 70-year-old Wisconsin man visited the ship's infirmary with shortness of breath and later collapsed after being treated and sent back to his cabin. The complaint says the ship's medical staff made errors that led to Puchalski's heart attack being fatal. Jurors found Royal Caribbean to be 70 percent at fault for the approximately $34,000 in medical expenses and $4.8 million in loss of companionship and pain and suffering. Royal Caribbean representatives say they plan to appeal the decision. |
| March 6 - Queen Mary 2, Power loss Deadline News reports thousands of passengers were left floating in the Caribbean after their luxury vessel broke down. They floated without power or lighting for an hour. One passenger says she remains traumatised after getting stuck in a lift during the outage on December 30. Another passenger, a solicitor, is demanded a £3,000 refund of the £9,000 she spent on the luxury cruise. She reported a “massive explosion” just before the blackout and feared pirates could be attacking the ship. The 27 night cruise, from December 15 to January 10, started at Southampton and then went to the New York via the Caribbean before returning home. |
| March 4 - Norwegian Escape, Severe
List Sun Sentinel reports several people were injured after the Norwegian Escape cruise ship was blasted by what the cruise line called a “sudden, extreme gust of wind, estimated at 100 knots.” The powerful wind caused the ship to tilt on its left side, or, in nautical terms, its port side, when the wind struck just before midnight on Sunday. |
| February 28 - Carnival Victory, Power
loss, adrift Cruise Law News reports the ship lost power for several hours late this afternoon, according to passengers posting on social media. Passengers on the ship report that the at some point after 5:00 P.M., the Carnival Victory lost power and the ship went dark. (Several passengers mentioned that the ship lost power as early as 3:15 P.M.). A generator was started but the ship remained drifting without propulsion for several hours. |
| February 25 - NCL Gem, Stuck
at sea (delayed) NY Post reports the ship was stranded off New York City after strong winds prevented it from docking Monday night. Vacationers scheduled for an upcoming 10-day Caribbean cruise were left waiting for the ship’s arrival. “Due to strong gale-force winds on the Hudson River, Norwegian Gem’s scheduled arrival into New York City has been delayed until tomorrow morning, February 26,” a spokesman for Norwegian said. |
| February 25 - Regatta, Skipped port
call (weather) The Advocate reports the ship cancelled its scheduled call in Burnie on Monday, Burnie City Council said in a statement. Severe weather conditions in the Tasman Sea caused the ship to seek shelter on the New Zealand west coast before crossing to Australia. The Regatta will now go directly to Melbourne instead of stopping in Burnie Port. The ship had to abandon its call in Burnie earlier in the month due to strong winds and easterly weather. The Pacific Eden was also unable to dock in Burnie on February 12 and instead came to the port the following day. |
| February 24 - Carnival Fantasy, Delayed
(fog) Cruise Hive reports Carnival Cruise Line has issued a weather alert due to the Port of Mobile, Alabama being closed. Dense fog is impacting operations at the port and all shipping has been stopped including the Carnival Fantasy. |
| February 21 - MSC Orchestra & Poesia,
Collision From a reader: Yesterday, the MSC Orchestra was doing a maneuver at the Port of Buenos Aires Argentina for some unknown reason control was lost. The MSC Orchestra drifted further towards the MSC Poesia which was docked at the south end . With a local pilot onboard and aid of two tug boats the MSC Orchestra still managed to hit from her starboard side. No injuries from staff and or passengers. A life boat and some damage was noted on deck 7 in the incident . The incident is under review to determine what the cause was, weather conditions were near perfect so winds were not a cause in the incident. The MSC Poesia did not suffer any major damages. |
| February 21 - Island Princess, Illness CDC reports 83 of 2193 (3.78%) passengers and 8 crew of 905 (0.88%) have reported ill on the February 8 - 18 cruise |
| February 21 - Unknown, Protest in
Curacao From a passenger: Yesterday we were in Port in Curaçao when a huge protest against the United States broke out. You might be interested in this… It was crazy, and a lot of cruise passengers that were visiting were very startled. Afterward, I actually asked somebody from their parliament if they wanted to explain, on video, what had just happened. They literally snickered at us and told us, no. They said it was none of the Americans business. |
| February 15 - Grand Classica , Denied
entry to Cuba CBS 12 reports Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line’s Grand Classica was on its way to Cuba as part of its special Valentine’s Day four-day trip for families to reconnect with their loved ones. However, it was denied entry Friday morning. Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line released a statement: "Due to the Cuban government denying entry into Havana without reason and despite advance approvals in place, Viva Travel’s charter of Grand Classica is headed for Nassau, Bahamas to complete her four-day cruise. Guests’ safety and security continue to remain a top priority." |
| February 15 - Viking Star, Illness
outbreak CDC reports 36 of 904 (3.98%) passengers and 1 crew of 461 (0.22%) have reported ill on the February 7 - 14 cruise. |
| February 14 - NCL Epic, The
non-cruise From a passenger: Norwegian Epic had engine problems, cancelled two ports of call, Tortola and St. Thomas and inched their way into San Juan Puerto Rico where they destroyed a couple of moorings. Next day they reported they were leaving dock giving passengers the impression that they would see at least one port on their itinerary, Stirrup Cay in The Bahamas. But now they have announced that they are heading directly back to dock at Port Canaveral. Not one port of call was reached and they have only offered the passengers a credit on a future cruise. No refunds have been offered. |
| February 14 - Europa 2, Skipped port
call Cook Islands News reports the ship had to cancel its call at Rarotonga today. The ship is scheduled to visit Rarotonga again on February 24 followed by Costa Luminosa on February 27. "As weather conditions can be uncertain, disembarking will not be confirmed until the morning of arrivals and is totally dependent on the assessments by the captain and/or agent,” Cook Islands Tourism said. Last year the cancellation rate mainly due to the weather was around 20 per cent. |
| February 14 - Navigator OTS, First
sailing canceled Royal Caribbean Blog reports Royal Caribbean confirmed it has canceled the Sunday, February 24 sailing of Navigator of the Seas, which would have been the first sailing back for the ship. Royal Caribbean said the reason for the cancellation was due to, "poor weather conditions have affected the progress of the ship’s outer decks." The new plan is for Navigator of the Seas to return to service on the previously scheduled 9-night Southern Caribbean cruise departing from Miami, FL on Friday, March 1. |
| February 14 - MSC Divina, Illness
outbreak From a passenger: On board MSC DIVINA. At about 8pm Feb 13, captain advised that we had an unusually high incidence of gastrointestinal problems. He asked all passengers to wash hands frequently. Staff could be seen disinfecting hand rails. No further advisenents were made. |
| February 14 - Company unknown, Company
defrauded of $2.4 million NT News reports a Sydney woman has been accused of stealing more than $2.4 million from a cruise ship company while working for them over three years. The 62-year-old made numerous unauthorised electronic transfers from the company account while an employee between January 2014 and September 2017, police said. She was arrested on Wednesday and charged with eight counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and four counts of knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime with intention to conceal.The woman has been granted condition bail to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on February 27. |
| February 14 - Nieuw Statendam, Drowning Eyewitness News reports police in the capital are investigating an apparent drowning that occurred on Monday, February 11 at Half Moon Cay. According to police reports, shortly before 3:00 p.m. on Monday,an adult Canadian male tourist, who was a passenger on a cruise ship, was discovered unresponsive and floating in waters at Half Moon Cay. The tourist was removed from the water and CPR was rendered. The victim was transported to the local clinic on Eleuthera, where he was pronounced dead. |
| February 12 - Pacific Princess, Death
of passenger From a passenger: A woman has died on the world cruise on the Pacific Princes in the Pacific Ocean. There is a very moving tribute from her husband. See Live from Pacific Princess world cruise. The email attributes the death to a complication of norovirus. |
| February 12 - Norwegian Epic, Power
Loss at sea; Destroyed pier in San Juan Cruise Law News reports the ship sustained power loss yesterday during its current cruise to the Caribbean, requiring the NCL cruise ship to divert to San Juan, Puerto Rico. It left Port Canaveral, Florida on February 9th heading toward Tortola, British Virgin Islands where it was scheduled to arrive this morning around 8:00 a.m. It was then scheduled to call on St Thomas, US Virgin Islands tomorrow (February 13th) and Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas on February 15th before returning to Port Canaveral on February 16th. The cruise ship reportedly sustained power loss to one or two engines (reports via social media vary) which reduced its speed to around 11 knots. It has slowly sailed a couple hundred miles toward San Juan for the last 24 hours. It is now approaching San Juan after NCL cancelled the ports of call on Tortola and St. Thomas yesterday. Cruise Hive reports the ship collided with and destroyed the pier in San Juan. |
| February 11 - Carnival Sensation, Fire
Cruise Law News reports the ship was on the last night of a four day cruise to the Western Caribbean when the fire reportedly started around 3:00 a.m on the last night, according to a passenger who wishes to remain anonymous. She stated that the fire occurred on deck 6 aft. A producer at CNN was aboard the ship and took photographs and posted information about the fire on her Twitter page. Cruise guests donned life vests and crew members appeared wearing fire gear. Deck six reportedly smelled of smoke and fans were used to try and blow the smoke away. Carnival issued the following statement: “Carnival Sensation reported a smoke event early Monday morning while the ship was on its way back to its homeport of Miami and the conclusion of a five-day journey. Smoke was coming from a housekeeping storage area on Deck 6, but when first responders arrived, they confirmed there was no fire. Guests were alerted by public announcements and some guests near the source of the smoke were asked to evacuate their staterooms. Both the captain and the cruise director made subsequent public announcements to update guests. Some guests waited in public areas and we provided refreshments; others returned to their staterooms once they were notified that the situation was under control. Guests are now disembarking in a routine manner and the ship’s next sail, another five-day cruise, is scheduled to depart as planned Monday afternoon.” Local10 reports the smoke caused panic among passengers. |
| February 10 - Mariner OTS, Missed port
call, messed up itinerary From a passenger: Just getting off the mariner of the seas from a 2 day cruise. We missed the port yesterday as they claim it was too windy to get off the ship. Then yesterday afternoon at the sky pad a guy fell off and broke his pelvis -- the harness that holds you snapped off and he fell onto the deck. They took him to medical facility and 5 hours later they had us dock back in Miami and rescue took him off the ship. They then took us back out to sea for 7 hours. Needless to say it wasn’t a great 2 day cruise. |
| February 6 - Regatta, Missed port call The Advocate reports the ship has abandoned its plans to dock in Burnie on Wednesday morning. The Regatta attempted to enter Burnie port with the help of two tugs but aborted the docking due to poor conditions. Burnie City Council said in a statement the ship had been unable to dock “due to winds and easterly weather”. |
| February 5 - MSC ship & P&O
Brittania, Pax robbed (St. John's, Antigua) Antigua Observer reports two men who allegedly robbed two tourists and stabbed one of them last Friday, have been charged. The accused are 20-year-old Joel Richards and 19-year-old Anderson Garcia both of Hatton, and they’re jointly accused of aggravated robbery on French visitors Jacques Colbert and Christiane Marcelle Drouth. The investigation into the matter has found that at about 11 a.m. on February 1, the couple who arrived in Antigua on the MSC cruise ship, was sightseeing nearby a tower in Hatton when they were attacked and robbed by two men. The attackers allegedly wrestled a black leather handbag from the 62-year-old woman and stabbed her 70-year-old companion in the abdomen, close to his navel, before running off. The bag which they took contained an umbrella, the woman’s cruise ship receipt, a note book, and an address book. In a separate incident, another cruise ship visitor who was robbed last week is counting his losses as lawmen have not recovered his belongings. The victim is Michael Maycock, a UK national who arrived on cruise ship Brittania PNO on January 28. He was sightseeing around midday at the St John’s Cathedral in the city when a man attacked him with a piece of wood. The man beat him with the object, pushed him to the ground and took away his wallet which contained US $100. He was also robbed of his debit cards and cruise ship card. The robber, who escaped on foot, was dressed in a red T-shirt and described as “very tall in height, and dark in complexion”. |
| February 4 - Allure of the Seas, Drug
bust Local 10 reports two tourists from Washington, D.C., were arrested Sunday on accusations they tried to smuggle drugs onto a cruise ship at Port Miami, authorities said. According to an arrest report, a Homeland Security special agent intercepted emails from Peter Melendez, 35, who is a government contractor, and Robert Koehler, 27, discussing their strategy to smuggle the drugs onto the ship and distribute the drugs to people once they were on board. According to an arrest report, a Homeland Security special agent intercepted emails from Peter Melendez, 35, who is a government contractor, and Robert Koehler, 27, discussing their strategy to smuggle the drugs onto the ship (Atlantis Cruise) and distribute the drugs to people once they were on board. |
| February 3 - Lady Rose, Death
from toilet fumes Sydney Morning Herald reports hazardous material teams recorded "extremely hazardous" levels of hydrogen sulfide in a toilet cubicle of a luxury cruise vessel in the hours after a woman's body was found on Saturday afternoon. The woman, who can now be identified as Shalina Abdul Hussien, was found slumped in a confined toilet cubicle on the Lady Rose, a three-level vessel owned by cruising company All Occasion Cruises Pty Limited. Ms Hussien's body was found after she was reported missing by her friends and fellow passengers, who had begun complaining of an overpowering gas-like smell. The 39-year-old was attending a four-hour birthday party on the privately chartered vessel, with around 100 other guests, when her body was discovered by a deck hand. The Lady Rose is licensed to carry up to 475 passengers. |
| January 30 - MSC Divina, Drug Bust
(cocaine) Riviera Maya News reports six packets of drugs, reported to be cocaine, were found inside a storage area of the bathroom of a cruise ship docked on Cozumel Tuesday morning. The cruise ship, was sailing from the Cayman Islands bound for the United States.Prior to its arrival, information about the possibility of a suspicious package was sent to the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR), which led to the inspection. The FGR alert was provided by personnel of the Customs and Migration Department at approximately 10:55 AM |
| January 29 - Princess Private Island, Fire Eleuthra News reports sometime around 10:00pm on Monday, January 28th, 2019, Police at Rock Sound received a report of a fire at Princess Cays. SEEP (South Eleuthera Emergency Partners) was dispatched along with police officers. On arrival they met four wooden structures full ablaze. They were the generator house, reverse osmosis water plant, mechanic shop and tool shed on property. All four structures were totally destroyed. The fire was contained within several hours to the mid-section of the Cay. The cause of the blaze is unknown to authorities. |
| January 28 - Viking Sea, Illness outbreak CDC reports 38 of 925 (4.1%) passengers and 0 crew have reported ill on the January 18-28 cruise. |
| January 25 - Bahamas Paradise, Grand
Classica, Autopsy shows pax who died in fall
intoxicated WPTV reports an autopsy shows a man who died after falling on a cruise ship in October had been drinking and plummeted 45 feet (13 meters) down a stairwell. The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner released its autopsy report for 29-year-old Christopher McGrory on Thursday. McGrory was airlifted to a West Palm Beach hospital from the Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line's Grand Classica on Oct. 21. The Palm Beach Post reports a nurse told investigators McGrory had been "drinking heavily" when he attempted to jump up a stair but lost his balance and fell backward. The autopsy showed his blood alcohol level was 0.256, about three times Florida's legal limit for declaring a driver impaired. Brian McGrory of Palm City said his son had been celebrating his bachelor party on the cruise from Palm Beach to the Bahamas. |
| January 24 - Insignia (Oceania),
Failed sanitation inspection Cruise Law News reports the ship failed its last sanitation inspection conducted by United States Public Health (“USPH”) inspectors on December 17, 2018, according to a crew member who wishes to stay anonymous. The USPH reportedly gave the cruise ship a failing score of only 80, after the sanitation agency inspected the ship in Miami over a month ago. The crew member stated that the ship failed USPH on December 17 in Miami with only 80 points which is a failure on the ship sanitation, food preparation and poor galley cleansing. All crew, staff and officers was strictly told not to inform anyone since this could damage the company 5 star image.” Today. the CDC published the report indicating that the in fact received a failing score of 80. The report indicates that numerous food-contact surface areas on the ship were heavily soiled and dusty and dirty; refrigerator units were not built to food equipment standards; and there were flies and other pests found in food service areas. Potentially hazardous food items were stored and prepared at improper temperatures. Potable water bunkering was not properly tested for pH or halogen and the testing equipment was out of order. |
| January 24 - Two ferries, Allision Italian media reports an accident today in the port of Olbia (Sardinia). A Grimaldi ferry departing from the Isola Bianca port accidentally hit Tirrenia Athara, which was moored. The collision took place around 12 noon. Fortunately, no injuries were recorded. There was strong winds at the time. |
| January 24 - Carnival Corp ships, Poor
air quality on ships CNN reports cruise ships generate high levels of air pollution that could endanger the health of passengers, staff and port communities, according to a report released Thursday.On the decks of the four Carnival Corp. cruise ships studied over a two-year period, concentrations of particulate matter measured were "comparable to concentrations measured in polluted cities, including Beijing and Santiago," according to Ryan Kennedy, author of the report and an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Ship exhaust contains harmful constituents, including metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, many of which have toxic, possibly cancer-causing properties, Kennedy said: "It's dangerous it's not a healthy thing for us to be exposed to." Without the knowledge of the company or ship staff, Kennedy took measurements using a P-TRAK Ultrafine Particle Counter when the ships were docked as well as when moving at sea. Consistently, Kennedy said, the highest average readings of particulate matter (PM) concentration were found behind the smokestack at the back of the ship. The equipment he used measured particles with sizes between 0.02 and 1.0 micrometers, considered ultrafine and fine PM. |
| January 24 - MSC Musica, Skipped port
call? Times Live reports the "Cape Doctor" - the notorious southeaster which earned Cape Town the moniker Cape of Storms - showed what a powerful force of nature it is when it prevented the 93,000-ton cruise ship MSC Musica from docking on Thursday. The vessel sailed past the cruise terminal at the V&A Waterfront, made a U-turn and returned to the relative safety of the open ocean. At midday, Cape Town traffic services spokesperson Richard Coleman said the weakening wind may result in the ship being able to enter port on Thursday night or Friday morning. The ship has been based in Durban since October for the duration of the southern African summer but is taking regular cruises from Cape Town during January. From a reader "in the know:" Ship will try to berth later tonight and disembark pax and embark pax. Original schedule was 16hoo departure Cape Town today 24/01/19, at sea, Port Elizabeth, at sea and Durban. Current indications are that vessel will heave anchor and proceed to Port Elizabeth and bus pax back to Cape Town. No clue what will happen with pax supposed to embark in Cape Town. Cruise will probably be cancelled and the ship will proceed to Durban to maintain schedule sans pax. Cape Town weather this time of year! UPDATE: The ship remains at anchor with the wind still blasting the port of Cape Town. Latest update is an attempt to berth in the early hours of Saturday morning will be made with disembarkation due to commence around 08h00. Following that, new embarkation will commence immediately thereafter and the ship will endeavour to sail shortly after all pax onboard before the wind picks up. The scheduled call at Port Elizabeth will be omitted and she will head directly to Durban. Cruise duration currently halved on the upcoming cruise. FINAL UPDATE: Ship entered port of Cape Town at 06h07 Saturday 26th January. Currently sailing from Cape Town. ETA Durban Monday 12h00 28th January. One and only scheduled visit to Port Elizabeth cancelled. |
| January 24 - Majesty OTS, Crew member
overboard Cruise Law News reports a crew member has reportedly gone overboard last night according to several passengers. This morning shortly before 8:00 a.m., we received the following message from a guest on the cruise ship: “We are on the Majesty of the Seas. It was just reported that we will be late to get to port today because a crew member went overboard. No other information has been given to us. They said we assisted in the efforts last night to look, but no one was found.” Another guest contacted us on Facebook around 7:00 a.m stating: “Currently on Royal Caribbean majesty of the seas … search and rescue underway with coast guard for crew member that threw themselves overboard.” Local news stations are reporting that the crew member is 26 years old. There is an active search and rescue operation underway around 37 miles east of the Miami area. |
| January 22 - Carnival Valor, Power
loss, no A/C KHOU reports the ship had a temporary power outage while en route to Cozumel, Mexico Tuesday afternoon. Passengers on board Carnival Valor said the ship was stuck at sea for about an hour and they were not sure what was going on. Carnival sent a statement to KHOU 11 News Tuesday afternoon saying the AC is back on and the ship is back on course: "Carnival Valor is experiencing a temporary issue that is affecting the power supply to certain functions of the ship. The air conditioning is back in service and the ship has resumed its course to Cozumel. We expect the remaining functions to be restored shortly." Around 1:20 p.m., a Carnival spokeswoman said all services were up and running. |
| January 21 - Golden Princess, Person
overboard Cruise Law News reports a person (either a cruise guest or crew member) is presumed to have gone overboard, according to a passenger on the Princess cruise ship. Shortly after 6:15 p.m. EST today (10:15 a.m. Tuesday, January 22 – Australia time), a cruise passenger from Adelaide, Australia posted the following information on Twitter: Golden Princess sailing toward Melbourne, Australia at the moment. It appears that the person went overboard last night in the Tasman Sea between New Zealand and Australia. The poster explains that the Princess cruise ship searched for the missing person last night and earlier this morning. It is currently unknown whether the person is a guest or crew member, or how or exactly when the person went overboard from the cruise ship. It remains to be seen whether the ship was equipped with an automatic man overboard system which would have automatically sent a signal to the bridge if someone went over the rails via state-of-the-art motion detection / infrared and radar technology. Subsequently confirmed by Princess that a 22 year old male disappeared at 2AM; Search and rescue wasn't notified until 9AM. |
| January 20 - Norwegian Joy, Couple
check into cabin and find crew members having sex in
their bed Newsweek reports a couple from Northern Ireland claim they checked into their cabin on a cruise from Singapore to Thailand to find a crew member and a woman having sex in the bed. Bobby and Mary Jackson from Carrickfergus, County Antrim, told Scotland's Sunday Post that they had booked onto their first ever cruise in October. When the couple embarked in Singapore’s Marina Bay, they said they quickly headed to check out their cabin—and were met with an unexpected sight. I could see the back of a man on the bed who was directly facing us and it was obvious he was in the middle of having sex with a woman,” Mary told the outlet. She said that when they complained to staff, they were told there was no alternative cabin available as the ship was fully booked. “We went back to the cabin and tried to go back in there but although the woman had left, the male was still there,” Bobby said. “Two of the ship’s crew in white uniforms eventually persuaded him to leave. He looked very sheepish.” “I asked if the crew if knew him and they told me he was a worker on the boat.” The couple said they were initially offered £100 ($128) credits towards the cost of a future cruise on the line, which was then upped to £200 ($257). The couple said they rejected both offers. Norwegian Cruise Line told the Post it was investigating the incident, and was discussing compensation with the couple. |
| January 19 - Aida Perla, Pax
attacked in Castries, St. Lucia St Lucia Times reports two female visitors were attacked by two young men in Sans Souci, Castries, Saturday morning, eyewitnesses say. A report was made to the police about 10.a.m, according to reports. Speaking on condition of anonymity, an eyewitness told St Lucia Times that the incident took place near Serenity Park. The eyewitness reported hearing someone screaming and said upon investigating, saw two young men attempting to relieve a cruise ship visitor of a camera while she and her female companion put up a struggle. The eyewitness said although the visitor who had the camera fell to the ground, the young thugs continued in their attempt to rob her. The young men are reported to have fled when passersby began heading in the direction of the commotion. St Lucia Times was informed that the woman who was attacked was badly shaken and sustained bruises. She and her companion are said to have headed back to their ship which was docked in the Castries harbour after the incident. Just this week, a couple reported being accosted and robbed in Serenity Park. Persons on social media have said that there appears to be a gang of criminals operating in the area, targeting homes and passersby. |
| January 19 - Carnival Splendor, Missed
port call at Kona I watched as the ship did not arrive in Kona (as planned) this morning. The reason is unknown, but the ship has been "stopped" in Honolulu since yesterday evening (it moved from one pier to another around midnight last night). Update: Spoke to a passenger when the ship was in Hilo Jan 20. He says the Captain said the ship wouldn't go to Kona because the seas were too high for tendering so they spent the day in Honolulu. Interestingly, weather conditions in Kona on the 19th had wind conditions peaking at 10 miles per hour and the seas were calmer than when NCL stopped on Wednesday (16 January). |
| January 18 - Celebrity Summit, Technical
problems (power loss), stuck in San Juan Cruise Law News reports several guests have notified us that the cruise ship is currently unable to leave the port in San Juan, Puerto Rico due to what the guests understand to be either a “computer glitch” or “propulsion issues.” The Summit was scheduled to leave San Juan yesterday but has been unable to due to what the cruise lines often refer to euphemistically as “technical issues.”The Cruceros Puerto Rico twitter page (translated) refers to unspecified “mechanical” or “electrical problems in the bridge.” The website also states that the U.S. Coast Guard needs to inspect the ship before it is permitted to continue on its itinerary. |
| January 17 - Anthem of the Seas, No
air conditioning Cruise Law News reports a lack of functional air conditioning on much of the ship for the past week has left many guests feeling that they did not receive the cruise vacation which they paid for and which Royal Caribbean promised to them. A couple of cruise passengers contacted our office yesterday to state that the air conditioning in their cabins, as well as to others parts of the cruise ship, were not cooling adequately. Instead of blowing at a desired temperature in the high 60’s or in the 70’s, the air conditioning was leaving their cabins hot, with temperatures ranging from the low to mid-80’s with some cabins as hot as 89 degrees. The heat has interrupted the guests’ sleep and made their cruises unpleasant. It seems that the problem with the air conditioning began on or around Monday the 13th although there are comments posted on the Anthem of the Seas Facebook page dated earlier. Many guests with balconies opened their balcony doors but did not get much relief as the ship sailed in the Caribbean. The ship has been slow to advise the guests the nature of the problem (“it will be fixed shortly” type of response). And there have been sporadic updates regarding how the engineering department will try to solve the widespread problem. Not all decks seem to be affected with many complaints focusing on the cabins on decks 10 and 11 as well as public areas on the ship. |
| January 16 - Ship unnamed (RCI), Pax
jumps overboard in port to show off to friends Fox 13 reports a 27 year old Washington man says he "did not think this through" before he jumped off the side of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship docked in Nassau, Bahamas. Now, Nick Naydev is banned from the cruise line for life and says he had to find his own way home from the island. Naydev said he jumped from the eleventh floor, which he estimated was about 100 feet up from the ocean. "I am truly astonished at how this video has spread throughout the internet. I did not think this through before I jumped. My idea was this would be a good laugh for my friends and I would just swim back to shore and continue my vacation and never thought this would be this serious," Naydev said in a statement to FOX 13. In the video, Naydev's friends have gathered around as he climbs up the railing of the balcony. He looks at his friend who is holding the camera and then leaps. |
| January 16 - Carnival Sunshine, Lawsuit
over Severe List Miami Herald reports three passengers who say they were injured when the ship listed just after leaving Port Canaveral last October are suing the cruise line. According to the lawsuit, and to Carnival’s statement to passengers, the ship listed because its fin stabilizers malfunctioned. In their lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District for the Southern District of Florida, the three suing passengers said the company did not train the crew about how best to maintain the stabilizers, which are used to prevent rocky movements as the ship sails. |
| January 11 - Harmony OTS, Suicide/Fall Cruise Law News reports a passenger has reportedly died after falling from a balcony earlier today. This evening we received an email which stated that between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. today, there was a suicide/accident on Harmony of the Seas; someone fell/jumped from a balcony and died. The passenger is apparently a teenage, according to a guest on the ship. One passenger stated on Twitter that the guest was allegedly 16 years old and died after hitting the “pavement.” Another passenger posted on Twitter that the person struck the “concrete dock.”The ship is currently on a week-long cruise to the Caribbean. It left Fort Lauderdale on January 6th and was scheduled to stop in Labadee, today from 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. this evening. It is scheduled to return to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, January 13th. Pix11 reports the 16 year old apparently didn’t have his room card, attempted to enter his eighth-floor room from an adjacent balcony, but lost his footing and fell. |
| January 10 - Oasis OTS, Illness
Outbreak WESH reports officials with Royal Caribbean reported that there 167 cases of a stomach virus on board the Oasis of the Seas. The seven-night cruise departed from Port Canaveral on Sunday and returns this weekend. The 167 cases of gastrointestinal illness represent 2 percent of the 8,454 guests and crew on board. Passengers were apparently not allowed to disembark in Falmouth. Cruise Law News reports the port call at Cozumel has been canceled and the ship will return to Port Canaveral early. CDC reports the numbers ill as 266 of 6285 passengers (4.23%) and 11 of 2169 crew (0.51%). Update Jan 12: CDC reports 561 passengers and 31 crew have reported ill. |
| January 8 - Norwegian Epic, Drug
bust (pax) Fox35Orlando reports 20 people were arrested on Saturday as they were boarding the ship for an annual music festival. The event is called Holy Ship and is designed for fans of electronic dance music. Last year, when Holy Ship was about to depart, deputies arrested two dozen passengers. They were charged for possession of marijuana, cocaine, and drug paraphernalia. |
| January 8 - Nippon Maru, Master
Suspended (alcohol use) Maritime Executive reports the master has been suspended after the vessel's allision with a U.S. Navy fuel pier at Apra, Guam (see 31 December 2018). MOL's passenger division, Mitsui OSK Passenger Line, is looking into the cause of the accident. It has suspended the vessel's master until the inquiry is complete, citing the company drug and alcohol policy. |
| January 7 - Riviera (Oceania), Drug
bust (crew) Cruise Law News reports a crew member was arrested at Port of Miami for smuggling cocaine when the ship called at port in Miami on January 2, 2019. The Miami Herald reports that Wilford Thobourne was arrested for smuggling three and a half pounds of cocaine which he concealed in the soles of his sandals and in his crotch under five pair of shorts and underwear in his pants. Mr. Thobourne’s Facebook page indicates that he is from Johannesburg, South Africa. |
| January 4 - Radiance OTS, PAX death snorkeling From a reader: (CruiseMapper emailed incident) An anonymous passenger (Australian) reported that on December 27, 2018, while Radiance of the Seas, was docked at Mystery Island (Vanuatu), a male passenger drowned ashore. The man (Tim) was traveling together with his wife and 4 children."The Marine Area Command are waiting for the cause of death, so they can determine if they need to review the ship's responsibility on the day. The waters were dangerous for snorkelling that day - no "duty of care" from the cruise staff. Strong currents and undertow from ship's stabilizer contributed to this incident" The incident occurred during 12-day South Pacific Islands holiday cruise (itinerary December 21 - January 2) round trip from homeport Sydney. |
| January 3 - Viking Orion, Delayed
docking (wind) NZ Herald reports wind has been blamed for the late docking at the Port of Napier on Wednesday. It's maiden Napier berthing was on December 27, and was on time for its scheduled 10am berthing on Wednesday when according to numerous Westshore and Ahuriri shipwatchers it pulled out of its approach but returned and berthed an hour to 90 minutes later. A Napier Port spokesperson said the berthing had to be delayed because of safety issues posed by the winds. MetService reported the strongest gust at Napier Airport in the hour to 10am was 46km/h, while the maximum in the next hour was 44km/h. |
| January 3 - Viking Star, Illness
outbreak CDC reports 28 of 917 (3.05%) passengers and 5 crew of 449 (1.11%) have reported ill on the December 13 - January 3 cruise. The cause was rotavirus. |
| January 2 - Riviera (Oceania), Delayed docking
(crew death) Crew Centre reports the sudden death of Giuliano De Cicco who fell from the deck of a cruise ship docked in the Port Miami reports the Italian media. Giuliano De Cicco, age 38, was working as Assistant Destination Manager on Oceania Cruises ship Riviera. According to Italian news sources, Giuliano fell from the bridge on Deck 10 while Oceania Riviera was docked in Port Miami. A crew member working on Oceania Riviera sent us a message saying that Giuliano fell from Deck 16, Forward Starboard side where the golf field is located. “He fell on the pier and security from Miami they saw that. But he was already dead. “says the crew member. Immediately after the incident, Code Mike (medical emergency code used by Oceania Cruises) was sounded on the ship's loudspeakers. The cruise ship delayed for two hours embarkation of new passengers. |