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| New Carnival cruise has problems |
New Carnival cruise has problems
This time around the toilets are working and there is plenty of food. But passengers will have to fly, not cruise, home in what is likely to be an abbreviated vacation.
The news of another stranded ship rekindled memories of the Carnival's nightmare voyage home through the Gulf of Mexico a few weeks ago on the Triumph. On that ship, 3,141 passengers were stuck at sea with no power or working toilets.
The Dream has it much better. The faults with the generator were discovered while the ship was docked in St. Maarten, a beach haven in the northeastern Caribbean. The company has offered to fly passengers home and reimburse them for the three remaining days of the cruise, which began in Florida on Saturday.
“Yesterday, during regularly scheduled testing of the ship’s emergency diesel generator, a malfunction occurred,” the statement read. “At no time did the ship lose power and the ship’s propulsion systems and primary power source was not impacted. The ship is at dock in St. Maarten. All guests are safe and comfortable. There were periodic interruptions to elevators and restroom services for a few hours last night. However, all hotel systems are functioning normally and have been functional since approximately 12:30 a.m.”
The ship’s next voyage, scheduled for Saturday, has also been canceled. Guests scheduled to sail on that cruise will receive a full refund and 25 percent off a future seven-day cruise. Any non-refundable transportation related expenses will also be reimbursed.
Multiple passengers aboard the Carnival Dream of the unpleasant unfolding situation while docked in port at Philipsburg, St. Maarten.
"We are not allowed off of the boat despite the fact that we have no way to use the restrooms on board," Jonathan Evans of Reidsville, N.C., said in an email early Thursday. "The cruise director is giving passengers very limited information and tons of empty promises.
What was supposed to take an hour has turned into seven-plus hours."
What was supposed to take an hour has turned into seven-plus hours."
