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Events at Sea by Carnival Cruise Lines

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Illness outbreaks by ship:


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The events listed have been reported in the public domain or to cruisejunkie by passengers or crew members onboard.  The list is by no means comprehensive.  For that reason it is necessary to be cautious in drawing conclusions from the potentially limited data.  Keep in mind that some companies may be more transparent than others about things that go wrong; conversely, some companies may be better at concealing events and thereby project an appearance that is inaccurate.  With that said, the following list is still interesting, as are the patterns when viewed separately by ship.



dd/mm/yy
Ship
2009
Incident
21.6.09 Carnival Legend
You Tube has a video from a cruise about a month ago. It was called to my attention by the following email: A friend went on this cruise and told me about the water in her cabin, and in the cabins of several people she spoke with on the cruise. It was brown in color and smelled badly. Comments with the video include another passsenger who says they had the same problem in their cabin. Unpalatable water
18.6.09 Carnival Corporation

Seatrade Insider reports Carnival Corp. chairman Micky Arison said that 20 of 23 Caribbean governments where the company operates ships have agreed not to ban calls due to concerns about swine flu. ‘Over-reaction in some locations is a problem,’ Arison said during today’s Carnival earnings call. He told analysts the company is trying to deal with the issue on a port by port, country by country basis. He said it’s a matter of educating destinations about the facts. Cruise ships have rigorous sanitation protocols and practices that include the immediate isolation of passengers or crew who exhibit flu-like symptoms. These measures minimize the chance swine flu could spread from ship to shore. NOTE: His comments are interesting in the context of Carnival's over-reaction in stopping all port calls to Mexico when swine flu first appeared (especially given that most of those ill were not in Mexico's ports).

Corporate pressure on ports
16.6.09 Carnival Holiday CNN reports a search is underway for a passenger (50 year old woman) who apparently disappeared from a cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico. The ship, which sailed from Mobile, Alabama, was stopped about a third of the way to Cozumel, Mexico, and passengers were told to return to their cabins for a head count. A U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said the count was initiated because a crew member had heard a loud splash near the vessel. The ship appeared to be circling in Gulf waters Tuesday. Passengers were told in an audio message Tuesday that the ship would proceed to Cozumel when the Coast Guard released it, but the ship's arrival to the Mexican city would be delayed. The passenger is believed to have fallen about 10:30 p.m. CT Monday, and boats were launched from the cruise ship to search nearby waters.The FBI said its violent crimes unit is investigating Vilborg's disappearance. FBI Agent Tim White said agents are looking at every possible angle. UPDATE: See follow-up article quoting woman's husband here. Person overboard
15.6.09 Carnival Inspiration Sun Coast News reports crewmembers from a pilot vessel rescued a 46 year old man clinging to a buoy at about 6:50 a.m., about one mile southeast of Mullet Key, in Fort Desoto, in St. Petersburg. He went overboard at 4AM when he slipped after climbing up on a railing to get a better view of the pilot boat. The ship was returning from a four-day cruise. Person overboard - rescued
2.6.09 Carnival Destiny Posted at Cruise Critic: I was attacked by fellow passenger on the Destiny! Just returned from the 5-28-09 sailing and on the 1st night I had walked up to get some pizza at about 3:30 AM for my wife and myself. While I was waiting fro the pizza and bread to bake I had drink at the back pool bar after about 10 - 15 min pizza was ready and I was returning to my room and I walked up on 3 young mid 20's drunk men 1 of which was urinating on the wall outside of my room. I will not go into many details here but lets just say they where not happy that someone challenged them on what they were doing and that I was going to call security on them. That is when I was Physically assaulted, they must of thought they could scare me off before security arrived, well they were wrong I was not going anywhere! After a few mins they realized maybe they bit off more that they could chew they ran off to their room which was great for me I knew just where they went. Security finally showed up went to both rooms took statements and pictures I did end up with a good shiner but the other guy ended getting removed from the ship on his very 1st morning plus at least a $300.00 fine for not stopping at a foreign port.

Pax on Pax assault
25.5.09 Carnival Fantasy WWL News reports the Coast Guard is searching for an 18 year old man who fell overboard (some sources say he jumped) from a cruise ship Sunday at around 9:45 p.m., about 150 miles southwest of Tampa. The ship left port in New Orleans and was en-route to Key West when the incident occurred. A search-and-rescue mission was launched by the Coast Guard out of Miami, but the man has not been found. Passenger overboard
21.5.09 Holiday The ship missed its port call at Freeport (Bahamas) because of rough weather. Also, a passenger reports that on its return to Mobile the ship ran into a storm with high winds, causing the ship to roll heavily to one side which resulted in dishes and other stuff sliding off tables and furniture in staterooms. Missed port
14.5.09 Carnival Victory Safety at Sea International Newsletter reports concerns over swine flu have impeded disembarkation in Barbados Wednesday, but the cruise line disputed a report that the ship had been quarantined. Barbados Port CEO Everton Walters said the ship had been quarantined and the cruise port had been closed. Carnival said a female crew member exhibiting flu-like symptoms was recently placed in isolation and upon the ship’s arrival in Barbados this morning, this information was provided to local authorities. Carnival said, “In response to the information, local authorities in Barbados are requiring that all guests disembarking the vessel there be given a screening questionnaire. The process is somewhat delaying debarkation. The ship will extend its port call in Barbados until 1930 to provide additional time in port.” The female crew member was quarantined shortly after the ship left Roseau, Dominica. See Jamaica Observer and The Dominican. Swine flu
12.5.09 Carnival Splendor The Daily Mail reports an email identifying passengers who opted out of a pre-paid tip to staff was found pinned to a wall in crew quarters by a passenger on a behind-the-scenes tour of the ship. The company claims this is not standard procedure. Non-tippers identified
10.4.09 Carnival Valor From a passenger: I just returned from the 7-day cruise April 5-12, 2009. On the morning of April 10th, we were supposed to be docking at Progresso.  At about the time we should have been docking, the Captain made an announcement that we were not going Progresso because of excessive winds (30+ kn).  He told us that the long channel they had to navigate through would not be safe due to the winds.  He went on to say that the safety of the vessel and the passengers is most important and it wasn't worth the risk.  We were also told that we would now be spending 2 days at sea instead of the scheduled 1 day.  Although disappointing, it was nice to actually hear the Captain convey the news versus the cruise director.  We were then told that Carnival was going to give each passenger an on-board credit of $25.  Ten minutes later, we were told that the credit would only be $20 per person. About an hour later, the Captain made another announcement regarding his decision to skip Progresso.  He reiterated his safety concerns and happily informed us that we would be having an at-sea day and then we would spend Saturday, April 11th at Key West.  Eventually, a letter magically appeared in our stateroom telling us that there would not be any credits since we were now going to visit Key West and they had to pay dock fees, etc.  
Itinerary change
5.3.09 Carnival Splendor Cruise Critic reports a 63 year old male passenger was reported missing by his wife while the ship was off the coast of Chile as part of an 18-day South America voyage. The guest’s wife notified shipboard personnel at 9:30 a.m. this morning after she found a note that suggested a planned suicide. The missing guest was last seen at approximately 4:30 a.m. The ship’s command immediately began a vessel-wide search for the individual and returned the vessel back to the area where the guest was last seen. All appropriate authorities were notified. The Carnival Splendor departed Santiago (Valparaiso), Chile, March 3 on an 18-day South America cruise that ends in San Francisco March 21.
Passenger overboard?
13.2.09
Ecstasy From Cruise Critic: At 2:30am I got a wake up call that I did not request....I woke up to the fire alarms going off. I got up and immediatatley smelled smoke, I heard yelling in the hall. I opened my cabin door which was E189 on the Empress Deck and there was a lady in her undies yelling that the ship was on fire and for us to evacuatate. I got dressed, grabbed my purse, sail and sign card and my life jacket. There was NO crew members anywhere to be seen! No one telling us if the fire was up or down, foward or aft. All I knew was that the Deck was hazy with smoke and that the smell was horrible. I ended up following others up to the Atlantic Deck to our muster station. Still no crew. It was more then 15 minutes after arriving at the Starlight that the first crew member showed up. She just told us basicly to shut up and sit down. An elderly lady was injured during the movement and another had an asthma attack due to all the smoke. I called Carnival and spoke with a sup. I was told that it was a small fire (how small I dont know, it did cause quite a bit of smoke and several cabins on that deck were not available to their occupants for at least 3 hours and at least one passenger had to be moved - I was in line behind her at the pursers desk - and one couple in line to disembark were not allowed back into their cabin right away and thier carpet was soaking wet). Carnival is stating that they are trying to keep it quiet. I suppose it would be bad plubicity. So I suppose that is why there are not any reports about it. Finally the crew started showing up with medical help. I do not know for sure who or what started the fire, but I was told that some guy set towels afire in his cabin. I did see someone (a male) being arrested before debarkation and being led away in hand cuffs off the ship by Customs agents.
Fire
6.2.09
Carnival Cruise Lines WPTV reports a passenger was robbed on a Carnival cruise. She had locked up her wedding ring, her engagement ring and other gold pieces in her stateroom safe so they could go to Atlantis (Bahamas) for the day. When she returned, she couldn't open the safe, and she called security who opened it with a master key. She saw her jewelry box and thought nothing of it...until she got home and says four thousand dollars in jewelry was gone. The passenger wrote to Carnival several times, to which they responded saying their employees are honest, courteous and professional. Carnival Cruise Lines told WPTV there is little they can do because the passenger didn't realize the jewelry was missing until she got home. NOTE: The cruise industry reported to the FBI 128 robberies between April 1, 2007 and April 30, 2008.
Robbery
onboard
(Alleged)
19.1.09
Ecstasy Posters at Cruise Critic report that ship is having propulsion problems -- one person says the ship had been operating on half power since Frinday. It arrived late at Galveston today and there is speculation the problem may influence the itinerary on the cruise departing today.
Propulsion problems
16.1.09
Paradise An elderly couple (aged 90 and 79) were reported missing, and cruise officials say they likely went overboard before the ship docked in Long Beach. Carnival says the couple's cabin door was double locked from the inside with a "do not disturb" sign on the  handle. The couple's personal belongings remained inside the cabin and the door leading from the cabin to the balcony was unlocked.
Passengers overboard
15.1.09
Carnival Conquest The Southeast Texas Record reports a lawsuit has been filed alleging a 13-year-old girl was sexually assaulted during a cruise last summer. The girl was aboard the ship the afternoon of June 24 when a male employee - a waiter at the ship's Lido Deck Buffet - approached the teen as she went toward her cabin and made an inappropriate pass at her, court papers say. "During the encounter in the hallway, the Carnival employee made inappropriate and sexually suggestive comments to the minor, grabbed her arm, and forcibly attempted to pull her into an elevator," the original petition says. The plaintiffs argue the waiter also tried to kiss the girl's face and neck.
Sexual assault of minor
3.1.09
Holiday From a passenger: The ship's arrival and debarkation at Mobile (after a five night cruise) was delayed due to dense fog, preventing the pilot vessel from dropping off the pilot until 11AM.  The ship finally arrived in port at 2:45 PM.  Passengers were given food/restaurant seating at regular lunch time and Sign & Sail cards re-activated until arrival. Debarkation went very quickly after arrival.
Delayed debarkation / embarkation
1.1.09
Sensation The United States Coast Guard received a report that an employee fell overboard approximately 20 miles off the coast of Vero Beach. Friends saw the 26 year old man from California fall around 82 feet below into the water at about 12:50AM, threw him a life ring and notified the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard has launched a helicopter unit to search for the man. The ship's docking in Port Canaveral was delayed until 9:30AM while it participated in the search. Carnival said in a statement that the man, a  singer with a band that had performed on the top deck, was not on duty at the time and that six other crew members saw him fall. He was reportedly trying to take a picture when he went overboard. Crew overboard
dd/mm/yy
Ship
2008
Incident
23.12.08
Carnival Miracle From a passenger: I just returned from an 8-day cruise to the Western Caribbean (Dec. 15 to 23). We found out the morning of the cruise that due to "mechanical difficulties", Panama and Costa Rica were off the itinerary, replaced with Costa Maya, Cozumel and Roatan (Belize remained from the original itinerary, but on a different date). Two days into the cruise, I personally met with the Captain and two of his senior officers. Also attending the meeting was a guy who had collected 250 email addresses from disgruntled passengers. The meeting lasted for about 1 1/2 hours.  The Captain told us that two days prior to returning to Ft. Lauderdale (our cruise left there on Dec. 15), they had problems with the thrust bearing on one of the two main azipods, which limited their top speed to 18 knots.  This is the same problem which apparently affected the Carnival Legend when it was doing the Panama run (the Miracle took over this itinerary after the Legend was no longer able to do it).  Due to the limited top speed, the ship simply would not be able to get to Panama in time.  Both ships are expected to have the problem repaired when they go into dry dock in a couple of months (late February). The new itinerary was over 1600NM shorter than the originally scheduled cruise, but no refund of the fuel surcharge was offered. A second incident occurred on Monday afternoon, December 22.  We were informed over the PA that a passenger was gravely ill, and so the ship was going to return early to Fort Lauderdale - ETA midnight instead of 7:00 the next morning. To our amazement, our "damaged" ship made 21 knots NO PROBLEM all the way back to Fort Lauderdale. Itinerary change -- Mechanical problems
18.12.08
Ecstasy Thick fog in Galveston delayed the arrival of the ship. The Galveston-Texas City Pilots Association, whose members guide vessels to and from area ports, suspended services about 1 p.m. Wednesday because of low visibility. They did not resume services until the fog began lifting about 3 p.m. Thursday. Ecstasy, which typically docks about 7 a.m., was expected tie up about 4:30 p.m. Thursday and was not expected to board new passengers until about 9:30 p.m.; it was expected to sail around about midnight (rather than typically early evening).

Fog delay
6.12.08
Inspiration FROM A PASSENGER: We left the pier a little delayed perhaps 30 minutes @ approx 4:30 instead of the scheduled time of 4:00. Standing in the Atrium after the 1st seating dinner approx 8:30 the ship went dark (pitch black), seemingly losing all power.  At first we thought it was some planned event.  but as it continued we knew this was not the case.  People stuck in between floors in the main glass elevators.  After about 30 seconds emergency lighting came on and flickered off & on for another couple of minutes or so.  Everyone was calm, almost in shock as if we couldn't believe this was happening.  Finally the lights came on and we were back to normal.  I understand the casino had problems as all machines lost power and when reset balances were lost, Stores were closed immediately with use of yellow tape blocking openings I guess to protect against theft.  About a hour passed when the captain made an official announcement that basically said that the ship engineers had diagnosed the problem, it was corrected and all was under control.
Power loss
4.12.08
Carnival Freedom Cruising Talk reports that the ship apparently left Grand Cayman on time but due to reports of something or someone falling overboard, the captain returned to the island and instigated a search of the area. Subsequent enquiries and a full head count revealed that what had been seen going over the side was in fact an inflatable toy monkey that had been on over ten cruises (according to its owner). The cruise has continued without further incident.
Inflatable animal overboard
22.11.08
Imagination A reader at Cruise Critic posts: Yay! Just home from the 4 night imagination cruise this week to key west and cozumel. Had a minor crash that left a huge dent and needing some paint touch up on the front side of the ship. Couldn't see it much in Cozumel but saw it clearly as possible when de-embarking today. Cruise director tania said everything was ok, no major damage to vessel (Of course they will say that if the ship runs good and no issues mechanically)... but look at the outside! I'm sure the new white paint will hide it good tho -- Click Here for pics
Collision with pier
21.11.08
Carnival Splendor From a passenger: Just got back from the special 4 day sailing on Carnivals new SPLENDOR. Awesome ship, horrible engineering. Ship is WAY TOO TOP HEAVY!!  Ship rolls WAY TOO MUCH!!! Carnival is going to have to re-think having this ship on the west coasts Pacific Ocean, as it is usually rough. Encountered 40 knot wind and rough seas, and ship rolling had me rolling out of bed.  High winds made captain cancel call on GRAND TURK  and substituted NASSAU in lieu. No compensation offered.
Changed itinerary
14.11.08
Carnival Miracle The ship's cruises scheduled for February 25, March 5, and March 13 have been cancelled because the ship will enter drydock. Repairs are reportedly releated to propulsion problems reported during the summer (see July 7 below).
Cancelation for dry dock
7.11.08
Carnival Victory
The Antiguan Sun reports two guests were robbed. They reportedly took a taxi tour to Long Bay Beach. At about 4:20 p.m., just after they finished swimming and were preparing to return to the taxi, the man who they described as a Rastafarian allegedly demanded money from them and threatened to shoot them if they did not yield to his demand. The guests reportedly started to run to their waiting taxi and the male guests reportedly jumped through the driver’s window while screaming that he was being robbed. This did not deter the man as he allegedly followed them to the taxi and again demanded that they give him all their money or he was going to shoot them. He kept on making his demands although the driver tried talking to him. At this time, the tourists had no choice but to empty their pockets and give him the money they had in their possessions. After collecting the money, the alleged robber escaped through some nearby bushes. He was later arrested.
Robbery ashore
6.11.08
Carnival Legend 7 News in Belize reports that thirteen passengers were injured (none critically) when their shore excursion tour van had a collision with another vehicle (in which five people were injured). An infant in the other vehicle is in critical condition with head injuries (see The Reporter)
Pax injured onshore
28.10.08
Carnival Liberty The company has cancelled its program of summer 2009 sailings from Dover. Instead, the ship will stay in Miami sailing to the Caribbean instead of re-positioning to Europe next summer as originally scheduled. The decision was based on "current market conditions, continued economic uncertainty and high air costs to Europe which impact US visitors wishing to cruise in Europe," a statement said. Cancelation of 2009 program
27.10.08
Fantasy A poster at Cruise Addicts writes at 9:51PM: Hi I am on carnival fantasy the ship broke down in miss. River. Severe list. We are drifting. Chairs falling over. Ship is turn we back toward New Orleans . Sorry I type bad am on my iphone. The anchor is now out and all outside lights on toward the river. He reports at 12:05AM that tugs arrived to assist the ship. The ship had just left New Orleans for a Western Caribbean cruise. UPDATE: Carnival reports there was a minor technical glitch a few hours after the Carnival Fantasy's departure as the ship was sailing down the Mississippi River.  The problem was quickly investigated and fixed. The ship resumed sailing and will arrive in Progreso on Wednesday as scheduled.
Dead in the water
15.10.08
Carnival Valor
Skipped its port call at Roatan due to riots/unrest. Over the last few months there has been a steady escalation of civil unrest by inhabitants of Roatan due to major increases in electricity charges. In the last week, at least two cruise ships have diverted scheduled port visits as a direct result of the civil unrest currently making travel potentially unsafe. The UK Foreign Office has the unrest listed in their travel aware section. The US dept of State has no mentions of the problems. However, as per instruction from the UK Foreign Office, it is adviseable to avoid all large groups of people if visiting Roatan and do not be surprised if you are diverted to another port, such as Progresso, if Roatan is on your itinerary until the civil unrest ceases being a potential danger towards visitors.
Skipped port
7.10.08
Fantasy A passenger writes: Today we got evacuated from the cabin and made to go to the Lido Deck while they put out either a fire in the crew area or something started by a welder. This ship is not ready to be on the sea y'all. Really. We had to stay up there for about four hours. At least that was better than the ones that were ashore in Cozumel and could not reboard for that time. Fun fun fun.  Another Passenger posted the following from a letter sent to pax after the incident: Our crew was performing a maintenance function on one of the lower decks. The work involved the cutting of a large pipe and during this procedure, residue within the pipe became overheated. This created a significant amount of smoke which then traveled to areas on several higher decks. There was no fire associated with this incident and the crew quickly controlled the source of the smoke. As a safety precaution, we advised all guests to report to the open deck areas and we temporarily limited access to the ship via the gangway. We then made a full assessment of the incident to be sure that there was no safety concerns. After a complete evaluation, we confirmed that this situation was under control and there were no safety issues. Guests were then advised that they no longer needed to remain on the open decks and gangway access was re-opened.
?Fire?
2.10.08
Carnival Destiny From a passenger: We have just disembarked from a Carnival cruise with a very poor taste in our mouths. On the first night of the cruise, at 11pm, we went to the pool deck to get some air. While we were out there, we noticed several incredibly drunk people hobbling around the deck. We saw that a net had been placed on top of the swimming pool and assumed that we were not allowed to swim at night. We then saw one of the drunk men make his way over to the swimming pool and take off his clothes while his friends hung around behind him. We were about to say that he shouldn't be swimming because of the net, but he jumped in. My thought was, "he will land in the net and get out." It wasn't until we realized that we had not heard a splash that we panicked! The pool was empty and all that was covering it was a flimsy net. He had fallen to the bottom of the pool and he was laying unconcious in a pool of blood.  There were not even any signs. The pool was brightly lit and looked inviting apart from the net. I was sober and I had no idea that it was empty! We all started frantically looking for someone in charge so that we could get help. I went to the bartender to let him know what had happened, he nonchalantly picked up the phone and started dialing some number. It wasn't until about 10 minutes later that we heard an announcement calling staff to the pool deck.  The staff on the curise are more interested in getting the guests to spend as much money as possible than ensuring their safety. I will never take another cruise and if you do, please be careful.
Serious and preventable injury
24.9.08
Carnival Glory A passenger died during a cave tubing excursion in Belize. The apparent cause of death is drowning. According to interviews conducted by Channel 5 Belize, the Caves Branch River in Belize was running higher than usual, causing the same tour to be canceled just a few days earlier and other tours, such as those run by Jaguar Paw Jungle Resort, to be canceled today; however, Bel-Cruise -- Carnival's shore excursion provider -- chose to run its cave tubing excursion, with over 300 cruise ship passengers participating. According to a description by the 52 year old woman's husband, toward the end of the tour, strong currents pushed the couple toward the cave walls where they were sucked beneath the water. The husband was rescued, but his wife could not be reached in time. Carnival has suspended all future sales of the excursion at this time and an investigation into the accident is underway. See Cruise Critic for more information. UPDATE: WFTV subsequently reported that another passenger had complained to Carnival two years earlier that te shore excursion was unsafe after she found herself in raging rapids and pinned under water as tubes piled on top of each other. All the while, she said the two guides responsible for a group of almost 100 tourists were nowhere in sight. "It was up to my fellow passengers to rescue me," she said.  SEE ALSO September 18.
Death on shore excursion
15.9.08
Carnival Liberty The Herald Telegram in Saint Maarten reports the ship will make a previously unscheduled port call there on September 24. The ship was originally scheduled to stop in San Juan, PR on the 24th. The best guess is that San Juan will be visited September 25th when it was scheduled to stop at Turks and Caicos where the port facilities suffered hurricane damage.
Changed itinerary
7.9.08
Carnival Victory The ship set sail yesterday from New York on a seven-night cruise to New England and Canada has skipped today's port call in Boston to avoid the remnants of Hanna.
Skipped port call
3.10.08
Carnival Miracle Cruising Talk reports that it appears there is a confrontational problem aboard Carnival Miracle. Due to the storms in the Caribbean, the ship has had her itinerary changed 4 times. The latest change will be a call to Newport Rhode Island on Friday this week. There are a few very vocal passengers who have apparently almost taken the reception area by siege demanding full refunds etc for ruined cruises. This behaviour has not gone down well with other passengers or the crew. The most vocal of the passengers have allegedly reduced their auto-gratuities to zero. Time will tell if this turns into another QM2 type mutiny. The ship departed from New York City on a cruise of the Eastern Caribbean.
?Passenger mutiny?
16.8.08
Ecstasy Passengers report the ship went to Progresso (which is closer to Galveston) today instead of Cozumel because of propulsion problems.
Propulsion problems
1.8.08
Fantasy Carnival has announced that the cruise scheduled to end Monday (August 4) will disembark/embark passengers at Mobile instead of New Orleans because of uncertainty around the Missisippi River following the opil spil two weeks ago. UPDATE August 6: Carnival announced that all sailings through August will leave from Mobile, citing fears that lingering delays from a Mississippi River oil spill would throw off sailing schedules from New Orleans, the normal port. Guests currently on the ship and those scheduled to board for sailings Saturday and Aug. 14 will be bused to Mobile and back to New Orleans for free. For the four sailings after that, only guests flying to New Orleans will get free transportation to and from Mobile. Other passengers will be told to drive to Mobile. De/Embarkation port change
30.7.08
Fantasy The ship, scheduled to return passengers to New Orleans from a five-day trip to Mexico will instead bring travelers to Mobile.  Uncertainty about whether the Mississippi River would remain open to marine traffic spurred Carnival to change its plans to arrive in New Orleans.
De/Embarkation port change
23.7.08
Fantasy Carnival is exploring contingency plans after an early morning accident between a tanker and a barge closed a 47-mile stretch of the nation's major waterway, including the Port of New Orleans.  The closure is likely to go on for days while remediation teams rush to clean the heavy slick of tar that is drifting southward. The Fantasy is scheduled to arrive/depart from New Orleans July 26. UPDATE: The current voyage of the Carnival Fantasy will end in Mobile, Ala., instead of its regular homeport of New Orleans. Disembarking guests will be provided transportation back to the Port of New Orleans or the New Orleans airport. The next voyage will also depart from Mobile.  Carnival will provide motorcoach transportation from New Orleans' Erato Street cruise terminal to Mobile.
Waterway closure
137.08
Carnival Victory From a passenger:  I was just on a five-night Canada Cruise (July 12-17, 2008). On Sunday night, July 13th we were at the 8:30 show in the Caribbean Lounge.  There were some "explosive" special effects throughout the show.  At the end...at least I THINK it was the end...a spark ignited one of the speakers in the stage floor. It was smoking! After a few seconds a crew memeber came out from back-stage with a fire extinguisher and put it out. It continued to smoke even more. Evenutally, the lounge was cleared out.  The 10:30 show was delayed and the Midnight Comedy show was re-located due to the "fire".
Fire
7.7.08
Carnival Miracle
It has been reported that the ship is running slower than normal due to propulsion problems. Tortola has been dropped as a port of call and replaced with Grand Turk. The itinerary change will reportedly remain in place until the end of the year at least.
Propulsion problems
19.6.08
Carnival Victory
CBS in Miami reports a woman alleges she was sexually assaulted on board the ship on  February 4, 2008. The married mother of three said she was in one of the ship's nightclubs when a man offered to buy her a drink. She declined the offer and said she was looking for her friend. A short time later, the man returned and said he saw her friend in another area of the nightclub. When the two walked to the other area, the section was closed and the man forced the woman into a room where he sexually assaulted her. The victim notified Carnival security who investigated the incident, along with the FBI. The suspect, who was a passenger, was identified in a photo line-up. The lawsuit alleges the sexual assault might have been prevented if there had been adequate security on the cruise ship.
Sexual Assault
21.5.08
Carnival Conquest
On the afternoon of May 21st, 2008, a crew member was seen arrested at the Bobsled Cafe in Montego Bay, Jamaica. He was taken away by about 20 police officers for purchasing cocaine. Later reports found that the crew member claimed to have been looking for an ATM machine and got upset with a local Jamaican for following him to one. A local Jamaican security guard apparently snuck drugs in his pocket and called police to get revenge being arrogant and voilent with the guard.  The crew member had no idea that anything was in his pocket.   He was put in jail overnight and bailed the next morning for $1000.00 USD (on his 24th birthday).  He was permanently dismissed from Carnival Cruise Lines.
Crew member Arrested - Cocaine
22.4.08
Carnival Victory
A 44 year old man was reported missing by his wife. It is believed he fell overboard 40 miles northeast of Cozumel. A rescue crew from Clearwater's (Florida) Coast Guard Station are helping in the search. While the FBI says there was no foul play, family members disagree saying that man was not suicidal. He was apparently last seen in the ship's casino. Person missing
14.4.08
Carnival Conquest
KHOU in Houston reports a Houston man needed 20 stitches after a bloody brawl aboard the ship. According to the news report, the Chapman family  say they were having a good time in the cruise ship’s nightclub when a passenger started beating three members of the family with a metal baton. “He was just watching us, leaning by the bar by himself,” Brenda Chapman said. A Carnival spokesperson said the man was removed from the ship in Jamaica as a result.  They confirmed the altercation happened and said the FBI is handling the investigation. Krystal Chapman said she wanted to fly home when they got to Jamaica but the family had to stay onboard the ship until Sunday, a full 7 days after the fight. Pax on Pax altercation
4.1.08
Inspiration
The ship appears to be having propulsion problems that are affecting port calls. Those interested my wish to check Cruise Critic.
Propulsion problems
31.3.08
Ecstasy
The ship returned to Galveston approximately 6 hours late. The reason given by Carnival was propulsion problems. Disembarkation and embarkation were both delayed.
Propulsion problems
19.3.08
Carnival Conquest The port call at Montego Bay was cancelled -- the Captain announced it was because of a medical emergency. The next scheduled destination is Grand Cayman.
Skipped port call
12.3.08
Carnival Victory The Daily Times (Knoxville) reports on a 12 year old girl who was allegedly raped by a 23-year-old male passenger and left drunk, alone and semiconscious in a hallway at 1:30 a.m. on a cruise that began November 25, 2007.The girl had disappeared and was found on a search of the ship. According to the girl's grandmother, a 14-year-old girl on the ship was approached by the same 23-year-old male passenger and offered alcohol the day before the incident involving her granddaughter occurred. In that incident, the male passenger allegedly threatened to throw the 14-year-old girl's boyfriend overboard after the girl refused the man's offer to join him for drinks. Rape of Minor
(Pax on Pax)
1.3.08
Carnival Freedom The ship left Miami for a seven day cruise to the western Caribbean but was forced to retrun to port at 3:15 AM (next day) for a medical emergency. It is unkown how the delay will impact the itinerary which includes Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Ocho Rios.
Returen to port
28.2.08
Celebration A fugitive wanted by the Atlanta Police Department on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault was arrested by U.S. Marshals just before the ship entered international waters. Derron Williams, 29, was taken into custody aboard the ship at 7 p.m. as the ship was steaming for Freeport, Bahamas. After marshals learned that Williams had flown to Jacksonville and boarded the ship, the Coast Guard ordered the ship to stop before reaching international waters, where federal agents boarded.
Passenger arrested
24.2.08
Carnival Liberty The ship's arrival in Port Everglades was delayed by more than six hours because of a medical emergency requiring a diversion to Grand Cayman for a 15 year old passenger. Instead of arriving in port between 5:30 and 6:00 AM, it arrived after 11:30 AM. The ship was on an 8 day cruise of the western Caribbean.
Delayed arrival & departure
17.2.08
Holiday According to WKRG in Mobile, a Carnival spokesperson said the ship returned briefly of a medical emergency. Holiday left Mobile yesterday afternoon on a 5-day cruise to Mexico. The ship turned around 1:30AM because of the medical emergency. Carnival says the the ship was evacuated while the passenger was taken off. Once things were cleared, the remaining passengers got back on and headed to Mexico. The port call at Progresso was cancelled; the ship will stop in Cozumel.
Strange return to port
1.2.08
Carnival Glory NBC6 in Miami and Coast Guard News report that a 46 year old Indian crew member failed to show up for work at 6:30 AM and is presumed missing at sea. The crew searched the ship and reviewed security tapes before notifying the Coast Guard around 12:30 PM. The COast Guard search was unsuccessful. The ship was en route to Nassau, the last stop on a seven day cruise embarking at Port Canaveral and that included Belize City and Cozumel.
Person missing
21.1.08
Inspiration and Imagination Both ships were prevented from making their call at Grand Cayman Island because of weather conditions. The ships had a day at sea and continued on to their next port of call.
Canceled port call (Weather)
3.1.08
Carnival Liberty and Imagination Both ships were prevented from making their call at Ocho Rios because of rough seas associated with a weather cold front. The ships had a day at sea and continued on to their next port of call. See Jamaica Observer for the story.
Canceled port call (Weather)
1.1.08
Ecstasy Port call at Progresso canceled because of high winds. Passengers were compensated with an onboard credit of $25 (roughly equivalent to port fees associated with the port call).
Canceled port call (Weather)
dd/mm/yy
Ship
2007
Incident
12.10.07
Ecstasy &
Carnival Conquest
Thick fog closed the Port of Galveston, wreaking havoc with each ship's schedule. Conquest was supposed to sail at 5PM on Sunday but didn't leave until Monday at 2PM. Ecstasy arrived 7 hours late on Monday and may be "stuck" in port overnight.
Fog delays
1.12.07
Fantasy A 77 year old man from Hattiesburg, MS was discovered missing shortly after the ship docked at New Orleans at 4AM at the end of a 5 day cruise to Cozumel and Progresso.The man's room, which included a private balcony, was reported by the cruise line to have been locked from the inside and all of his belongings were left in his cabin. He had last been seen the previous evening at around 7PM when the ship was 28 miles from shore. The Coast Guard was notified at 10AM and a search undertaken of coastal waters. UPDATE:  The Hattiesburg American  reports the search was called off after a suicide note indicating the man was in poor health was found in his room.
Person missing
21.11.07
Carnival Valor The St. Thomas Source reports that passengers from the ship were on an open-air safari vehicle invovled in an accident in which 29 people were injured and sent to hospital. One person was airlifted to Miami; another was under observation when the article was written. 15 of the injured were released from hospital by 8PM. According to the article, at about 3PM a utility truck was returning from a job when its brakes started to malfunction. The truck hit the safari bus -- loaded with 22 passengers from the cruise ship -- from the back. The truck tipped over on its side, crushing a red pickup truck and hitting a smaller white vehicle. Our thoughts go out to those who were injured.
Accident Onshore
17.11.07
Carnival Victory A passenger has written to say that a crew member (a member of the entertainment staff) fell overboard this morning around 2:45AM. The ship reversed direction and he was rescued alive. He was taken to hospital when the ship returned to Miami, but he is not seriously injured (dehydration and hypothermia). The ship was on its way back to Miami from a seven day cruise of the Eastern Caribbean. This incident  has also been picked up on Cruise Critic.
Fall overboard
--
Rescued
12.11.07
Carnival Liberty Two separate passengers reported that the ship apparently had propulsion problems off the coast Puerto Rico -- as one person said, the ship is "parked in the ocean between Florida & San Juan" and that it appears unlikely they will arrive in San Juan at 5PM as scheduled." The ship did make it to San Juan, about an hour or so late. If additiuonal details are received about the problem it will be posted. The 8-day Eastern Caribbean cruise began November 10 in Fort Lauderdale.
Engine problems
25.10.07
Ecstasy The ship's departure from Pregreso was delayed because of weather and as a result its return to Galveston was 5 hours late -- 9 PM instead of 4PM.  Embarkation of the following 4 night cruise was also delayed.  That ruise will substitute the port call at Cozumel with a stop at Progreso; passerngers will receive a $100  onboard credit. 
Delayed arrival / departure
17.9.07
Elation A San Diego grocer filed suit against a fellow passenger following an incident where the plaintiff was allegedly pushed down a flight of stairs several hours after sailing from San Diego.  The defendant was reported to have been confined to his room for the remainder of the five-day cruise to the Mexican Riviera from San Diego.
Pax on pax assault
26.8.07
Carnival Liberty A poster at Cruise Critic describes her "cruise from hell" on the eight day cruise ending today which embarked/disembarked from Fort Lauderdale.  She says there was a large group of 700-800 who over ran the ship and dominated most of the public areas either by design or intimidation by their behavior. My family never was able to use the Victoria lounge, the disco, the teen disco, the arcade, a large portion of the promenade deck. Carnival allowed this group to have private access to the Victoria Lounge every night, therefore denying use of this area to all other passengers.  The other areas mentioned were off limits to the other passengers on this trip because the behavior of the individuals who occupied it was so terrifying that all other passengers avoided these areas. My teen age daughters were so fearful of what went on this ship that after dinner they spend it in their cabin watching movies.  Some of the behaviors that I witnessed firsthand: drug sales; lying in wait in hall ways and on elevators and intimidating other passengers who wanted to use these areas; running, shoving and pushing fellow passengers on the promenade deck, and on the stair case in the lobby (I was shoved down the stairs by a group who were running down the spiral staircase -- After I fell they turned back and laughed); standing on furniture, placing chairs in front of doors in the teen disco and “locking” other youngsters in; on 2 separate evenings, a full blown riot on the promenade deck, involving at least 40-50 individuals who were fighting throwing furniture, punches, filthy language and breaking a bottle to use a weapon -- the entire security staff was called, bar tenders left their stations, officers arrived to break up the fight.; running and screaming in the corridors at all hours of the night; and a group of 10-20 individuals  doing laundry all night all while smoking and drinking, and laughing yelling so loud I could hear every word in my bed.  The staff of the Liberty was either unable or unwilling to enforce any limitations on the individuals in these groups. I spoke to a high ranking crew member who informed me that these passengers paid for their cruise and there was nothing they could do.  NOTE: Group cruises are occasionally a problem -- there was one on Carnival including swingers and one on Royal Caribbean including bears that got considerable attention last year.
Cruise from Hell
25.8.07
Celebration The Coast Guard evacuated the terminal at Jaxport Saturday afternoon at about 12:45 PM because of a bomb scare. A bomb-sniffing dog came across something suspicious and a bomb squad was brough to the scene to investigate. During that time, no one was being allowed to board and people already on the ship were not allowed off.   Shortly after 6PM, the problem wasidentified (the dogs had singled out some bags later found to contain some type of heart medication.  The ship had been scheduled to depart at 4PM, heading to Key West and Nassau, Bahamas for a five-day cruise.  A statement from Carnival said the cruise was expected to leave at 10 p.m. and passengers were given a $15 ship credit for their trouble. Bomb scare
23.8.07
Sensation A passenger on the four day cruise ending today writes that there was a group onboard and many of the lounges/discos were closed at night for the private party. The ship looked like someone used it as their own personal garbage can (half eaten apples thrown in the stairwell, drinking glasses). I watched one woman argue (VERY loudly) with a bartender that since someone spilled her drink, HE should give her a free drink. He ended up giving it to her just to get her to shut up.  We couldn't walk up the stairs with our children without these passengers CHASING each other down them at top speed, running through the halls, knocking on cabin doors. And then to top it off, someone defecated in the CHILDREN'S pool and all who saw it swear it was an ADULT who did it. Unruly group
12.8.07
Carnival Pride The ship was delayed for two hours on Sunday after a "suspicious" boat was spotted near the ship. Crew members reported a 15- to 18-foot-long metal skiff loitering near the front end of the Carnival Pride at 11:30 a.m. Witnesses said the skiff had three men and one woman aboard, and was towing a small, bright orange inflatable dingy. One of the people aboard reportedly dove into the water near the pier's pilings and was observed by a witness pulling himself back into the boat. The vessel left the area before authorities arrived. The Port Operations Dive Group searched the pier and cruise ship hull but found nothing suspicious. The cruise ship departed at 6 p.m. Sunday. Security
4.8.07
Carnival Glory Passengers on the seven day cruise ending today at Port Canaveral indicate the ship was forced to return to Port Canaveral, less than six hours after departure, to med-evac a 16-year-old passenger who had been injured diving headfirst into one of the pools.  A passenger also wrote that during the day at sea on the way back (3rd of August) the ship came awfully close to Cuba- so close that you could make out the shoreline in the distance and they sent out 3 boats to patrol the border.  Also on the way back the ship appeared to be sailing at reduced speed and there was shaking and it was very rough despite the seas being calm. The ship skipped Nassau (the last port of call -- August 3).  Missed port
--
?Engine problems?
2.8.07
Carnival Victory The ship struck a pier overhang while docking on the west side of Manhattan, closing down 12th Avenue near 56th Street and causing backups on the Henry Hudson Parkway.  There were no reported injuries.  The ship was completing a 4-day round-trip cruise to Saint John, New Brunswick and was supposed to disembark passengers at 8 a.m. It was unclear which pier the ship was actually docking at when the accident occured. Struck pier
5.7.07
Carnival Pride A 56-year-old man  went missing from the Mexican Riviera cruise, July 1-8 (port calls at Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas).  He was apparently last seen by his cabin mate at 1AM on July 4.  His body was found off Puerto Vallarta on July 10.  The FBI was notified and is investigating.  The incident was made public July 16 after family members contacted Cruise Bruise.  Carnival Cruise Lines says it is not normal practice for it to disclose such events to media unless specifically asked by a media source. Missing
2.7.07
Carnival Liberty The Coast Guard was alerted around 11:45 p.m. that a 29 year old man, appearing intoxicated, had fallen overboard.  The ship was 50 miles off the coast of Boca Raton, Florida. A helicopter and rescue boats were sent out and a Coast Guard boat pulled the man from the water alive around 12:30 a.m. Subsequent reports say the man had been drinking with his three buddies since the ship had left Fort Lauderdale at about 4 PM.  The group left the casino area after 11 PM. to go outside, where the man climbed into a lifeboat -- "He took the ax and started to chop at the ropes."  The ship's assistant chief of security came out to get him to stop. He started climbing toward the man and told him to get down. "Then he jumped into the water." He was rescued within an hour.
Jumped overboard --
Rescued alive
1.7.07
Ecstasy An 18-year-old man died early Sunday after he jumped into the Gulf of Mexico. The had sailed out of Galveston for a five-day round-trip cruise to Cozumel, Mexico amd om day 2  "an 18-year-old male passenger was seen jumping overboard from one of the ships upper decks" about 7:35 a.m. Officials initiated a search and notified the U.S. Coast Guard. The passenger was recovered by the crew about a half-hour later and brought on board, where he was pronounced dead. He has not been identified. The ship is en route to Cozumel and is expected to arrive Monday morning. It is scheduled to return to Galveston on Thursday. Jump overboard
28.6.07
Fascination A 16 year old male was med-evaced when the ship was 120 mile off Key West.  He had lost his pinky finger when he tried to stop an elevator door from closing with his right hand but when the door closed and he pulled his hand from the door his pinky finger was severed.
Pax injury
23.6.07
Carnival Valor A passenger apparently fell overboard and was rescued alive.  According to passenger accounts, sometime around 19:30 ET there were a couple of blasts from the ships horn. "Around 19:50 I noticed the ship leaning to one side and people were asking why. I walked up to the 10th deck and was asked by a crew member to go to the other side of the ship. People were gathering on that deck and there were at least 20 crew members with radios. I asked what was going on and someone said they thought it was a man overboard. I went and got my husband and we went to the 11th deck just as the cruise director announced there was a passenger overboard and we were in search and rescue mode. She also said the coast guard was en route. We also saw a freight liner in the distance with a search light.  The ship had turned around and was almost stopped. From what we observed, around 9:00 pm, the Valor spotted the passenger and sent a life boat from the ship to retrieve him/her.  We saw the person swim toward the boat, a preserver being thrown to him/her and then the person was pulled on board the lifeboat. About 5 minutes later the announcement was made that the passenger was rescued by the Valor staff."  Some observed the man to have been intoxicated.
Fall overboard
--
Rescued
20.6.07
Imagination
A crew member went missing on this five day from Miami to Cayman Islands and Jamaica.  The 57 year old was last seen on June 19; he didn't show up for work today.  An onboard search was undertaken, but he wasn't found.  Because the man is an Italian national, the cruise ship was not required to notify US authorities of the disappearance. Missing
15.6.07
Carnival Valor From a passenger:  I just got back from sailing on the Carnival Valor.  The cruise set out on June 10th.  On Friday, June 15th we were in Costa Maya, Mexico.  We found out later that night we were making an emergency stop in Cozomel.  A 4 year old girl had a near drowning in Costa Maya and progressively got worse.  The boat stopped and a smaller boat came to pick her up on a stretcher.  I just want to remind parents to keep a closer eye on their kids while on vacations. Reminder to parents
13.6.07
Carnival Conquest The Jamaica Observer reports that two men held up 17 tourists from the ship who were visiting the Lethe Estate as part of a shore excursion.  "Police say that approximately 11:15 am, the visitors were on a tour of the property when they were pounced upon by the gunmen who proceeded to rob them of their valuables. No one was, however, physically harmed during the incident. Hours later, the police - who were assisted by citizens in a search of the area for the armed men - said they recovered handbags, credit cards and other items believed to be discarded by the bandits in the bushes." Robbery onshore
3.6.07
Carnival Liberty A group of passengers who had just disembarked and were waiting to board a bus to the airport were slammed into by a Greyhound bus that lurched toward them, hitting a concrete post first.  Six people were transported to hospital with injuries that were not life threatening.  See the Sun -Sentinel for more details, and here too.
Accident onshore
24.5.07
Ecstasy Disembarkation was delayed and the cruise terminal at Galveston evacuated after a sniffer dog located a suspicious package during a routine sweep of the terminal at about 8:30 AM.  The package, addressed to Carnival Cruise Lines, turned out to contain a printer -- chemicals in the printer apparently alerted the dogs.  The package was destroyed and things returned to normal by about 11:00 AM.
Bomb scare
21.4.07
Carnival Glory A passenger on the 14 - 21 April cruise writes that there was an outbreak of illness of unknown size -- In my family alone five us came down sick.  This happened within hours of the first person getting sick ... I tried to find out info and was offered nothing but a "politician's answers."  They would say things such as rough seas, etc.  We all had to fill out CDC forms and were quarantined to our cabin the rest of the  trip.  We also came across about 6 others that had this same experience.  The passenger also writes: It also bothered me that the female dancers came out with nothing but a GO-string going up their backsides.  We were so offended that we got up an left the show.  The really crazy thing is that during "Camp Carnival" that particular night, they were going to take our children to this show. We felt this was very inappropriate on the ships behalf considering we had 7 and 9 year old boys, and and 7 year old girls.  We obviously chose to pick our children up early that night. In Poor Taste?
20.4.07
Paradise The ship's departure from Long Beach was delayed because the company had received an anonymous bomb threat at the reservation desk in Colorado Springs, CO.  The US Coast Guard was notified at 2:20 PM and a full sweep of the ship and reinspection of passenger luggage was undertaken.  Nothing was found and the ship departed at about 6PM.
Bomb threat
3.4.07
Imagination From a passenger:  I just returned from a trip that was supposed to include a stop at the Cayman Islands, but almost halfway there we had to return to near the Florida Keys to drop off a 'seriously ill' passenger with the Coast Guard. As a result, no Cayman Island port of call was possible on April 02. (We were able to see Ocho Rios, Jamaica as planned on April 3.)  A secondary hardship of this misadventure was that we seemed to be sailing at top speed causing extremely strong winds on the upper decks. These winds did not abate until we reached Ocho Rios and returned to our normal time schedule. I never realized how dicey was a ship's itinerary.  It is certainly something to consider, risking one of your precious vacations from work on a cruise ship that may trap you at sea for a week with cafeteria quality food in a cabin that is way too small and really very little to do. The few things I did enjoy (trivia contest and dance groups) were over in 30 minutes, or less - almost as soon as they began. My wife made the best of it - she is far less grumpy and more forgiving than I - but I suspect if she takes another Cruise vacation, it will either be solo or with her next husband. Interesting commentary
30.3.07
Carnival Glory The Baltimore Sun reports that Naval Academy midshipmen aboard the 10 - 17 March cruise demonstrated behaviour that was misguided/immature, but not criminal.  According to a passenger, "eight to 10 male midshipmen groped women, offered to buy alcohol for teenagers and displayed "lewd" behavior while wearing bikini swim trunks and cowboy boots."  The newspaper  includes the following quote:  "I was 'felt up' by one of the very drunk men and I was given the misfortune of watching them grab and disrespect every woman they could get close to as well as seeing them offer the underage [15- and 17-year-old] girls at our table alcohol ... I cannot tell you strongly enough how EMBARRASSED these "gentlemen" made me feel to be an American. I can only imagine what the foreigners on our ship and in port thought of us."
Sexual misconduct
29.3.07
Sensation Departures was delayed several hours after the US Coast Guard received an anonymous phone call about a bomb on board.  Passengers and crew were evacuated  during a two hour search of the ship.  The call was determined to be a hoax.
Bomb Threat
16.3.07
Carnival Glory A 35 year old man was rescued approximately eight hours after jumping or falling overboard from the ship when it was 30 miles east of Fort Lauderdale.  A witness said that the man, who was intoxicated, ran through a window and then fell 60 feet into the ocean -- it is not clear whether the window was open at the time.  The ship was en route to Nassau and will arrive slightly behind schedule.
Person Overboard
 --
Rescued Alive
4.3.07
Carnival Miracle From a passenger on the 7 day sailing (25 Feb - 4 Mar): We had a wonderful cruise for the first four days, but the night of Wednesday Feb. 28th brought gale force winds and high seas as we passed Costa Maya on our way to Belize.  On Thursday the winds diminished enough to allow passengers to partake in excursions, but the Turneffe Atoll snorkel I was scheduled for had to be redirected to a more protected location because of the rough seas.  The next morning the ship was unable to dock at Costa Maya due to rough seas -- I later learned that the same thing had happened the week before..  As the ship made its way back to the US along the Mexican coastline and passed outside of Cozumel the winds and seas began to diminish. 
Missed port
2.3.07
Carnival Valor A passenger getting off yesterday in St. Maarten never returned to the ship and wasn't seen until after a newspaper article appeared on March 7.  The 50-year-old woman had last been seen by her mother after they arrived in Phillipsburg and there was fear that something had happened.  As it turns out, she'd simply missed the boat.
Missing ashore?
1.3.07
Celebration
Embarkation was delayed about an hour after a disembarking passenger had found onboard and turned in at the Purser's Desk 2 rounds of .22 caliber ammunition.Coast Guard and Border Patrol inspectors insured that X-ray machines and metal detectors were oparting properlyt and conducted an expanded security inspection of the vessal.
Security
22.2.07
Carnival Liberty Three muggers attempting to rob a dozen seniors on a tour bus (a privately arranged tour) in Limon (Costa Rica) were foiled.  A man, about 70 years of age, put one suspect into a head lock and broke his clavicle -- he died of asphixiation; the other two men armed with a knife and a gun fled after the other senior citizens began defending themselves.  In December, a passenger was shot (not critically) in a robbery attempt while on a walk along a boardwalk in a Limon city park.
Pax Foil Robbery
10.2.07
Fantasy A barge struck the ship on the Mississippi River near New Orleans, leaving a 30 foot gash (about 5 feet above the waterline) in its hull and forcing cancellation of the five day cruise that followed.  There were no injuries and no reports of pollution.  Passengers on the cancelled cruise received a full refund and a 25% discount on a future cruise of 3, 4, or 5 days.  (See New Orleans Times-Picayune)
Collision
--
Cancelation
4.2.07
Carnival Pride
Reports from the ship state the vessel is experiencing unspecified mechanical problems and has reduced her speed from 20 to 10 knots, delaying her arrival in Long Beach by one full day.  The cruise scheduled to begin today will operate a modified 6 day schedule (cancelling Puerto Vallarta) and will leave from San Pedro instead of Long Beach, but return to Long Beach.  Passengers opting to sail received a 15% refund and a $50 shipboard credit.
Mechanical problems -
Delayed arrival & departure
30.1.07
Carnival Valor Two American tourists (brothers aged 23 and 26) arrested in Belize City with 70 grams of cocaine before reboarding the ship on January 23rd plead guilty to charges of drug trafficking and paid fines of $10,000 each.  The two had been busted at 4:30 PM at the Tourist Village.  Based on information they had received, police approached the brothers and told them a search would be conducted on them.  While being escorted to the terminal, 4 bags containing cocaine fell from one brother's pants. He was found holding another 3 bags and the other brother was six bags.
Drug Bust
14.1.07
Carnival Destiny

From a passenger:  Woke up to the Captain’s 5AM announcement of a bomb threat.  Crew did search of entire ship, while breakfast started at 6 AM for the passengers.  Some crew members downplayed incident, while others were visibly nervous.  Docking into San Juan was delayed, then passengers were held onboard until 10 AM, some missing flights, others starting excursions late.  Handled smoothly except the part of holding passengers on a ship with the potential “bomb”.   The Destiny cruises the Eastern Caribbean from San Juan as the embarkation/debarkation point.

Bomb threat / Delayed arrival
3.1.07
Fantasy An 18 year old male was rescued by a Coast Guard Helicoptor while the ship was 250 miles west of Clearwater Beach (Florida).  The teenager suffered head trauma when he fell from the ship's mast to the deck and landed on his head.  He was last reported in stable condition.  [Med Evacs are not normally reported, however this case relates to an injury suffered onboard.]
Med Evaced Injury
2.1.07
Carnival Legend Passengers were notified this afternoon that their 8-day cruise scheduled to leave tomorrow from Fort Lauderdale will depart a day late because "The ship was forced to make a significant route deviation in order to facilitate a special medical emergency evacuation" -- the deviation was apparently between Martinique and Fort Lauderdale.  The ship will drop Belize City from its itinerary; passengers will receive a 15% refund and a 20% discount on a future 3 to 8 day cruise departing prior to December 15, 2008.
Delayed Arrival / Departure
dd/mm/yy
Ship
2006
Incident
28.12.06
Carnival Valor
A 55-year-old woman died after getting "in difficulty" while snorkeling on an shore excursion at Grand Cayman.  According to the tour operator (as reported by Cay Compass News Online), "Somebody swum away from the boat and got a little too far, and they got tired before they got back to the boat."
Pax death on excursion
15.11.06
Carnival Liberty
It wasannounced to day that the cruise scheduled to depart November 19th from Port Everglades will now depart on November 21 in order to allow the company to throughly clean/sanitize the ship following the current cruise where many passengers reported ill.  The new itinerary will be a four day cruise to Key West and Cozumel.  Passengers choosing to take the new itinerary will receive a 50% refund on this cruise and a 50% discount on a future cruise.  Passengers can also choose to cancel the cruise and receive a full refund which will be processed within two weeks.
Itinerary Change
10.11.06
Ecstasy
From a passenger:  Departed on a five day cruise from Galveston.  Early next morning the announcement came that we were diverting to Progresso, Mexico instead of continuing to Cozumel because of "propulsion problems".  This upset us more as time went on and when we found out that this has been an ongoing problem with the ship and has happened at least 3 times in recent months.  It made for a disappointing cruise. Engine Problems / Itinerary change
6.11.06
Elation
Four passengers were injured when a welded piece of the gangway gave way around 12:30 while passengers were embarking at Port Canaveral for a 5 day cruise to Turks and Caicos.  Safety ropes kept the gangway from falling more than a foot, but the jolt was enought to throw four people sprwling onto the gangway.  Three were treated and released from hospital.  None of the injured proceeded with the cruise.
Gangway Slips / Injuries
4.11.06
Carnival Conquest
A 42 year old man fell/jumped from his balcony at approximately 11:00 PM.  The ship did search and rescue and then search and recovery for 4 hours and then halted operations at 3:30 AM.  Coast Guard helicoptors and several vessels (including oil rig barges) aided in the search and were later joined by a Coast Guard cutter -- they continued the search witout success.  The ship resumed its course to Galveston, likely to arrive 3 or 4 hours late.
Passenger overboard
20.10.06
Carnival Valor
The ship made an uscheduled stop at Cozumel to let off a passenger who had a medical ermergency.  It was on its return from Costa Maya to Miami. on this seven day cruise, due back in Miami on Sunday.  The delay created by the stop was minor and will easily be made up. Diversion for Medical Emergency
19.10.06
Inspiration
The five day cruise ending today had some issues around a group of 450 alternative lifestyle passengers (swingers).  There is debate about how disruptive the group was ... rather than detail the issues here, go to Cruise Critic if you'd like more information (from different perspectives). Onboard disruptive behaviour
4.10.06
Imagination
From a passenger: While in line to board (on Sept 30), passengers were informed of a propulsion problem that would prevent the ship from reaching maximum speed ... therefore an itinerary change was - 1 day in Nassau and 3 days in Freeport. The resulting "five day cruise to Cayman and Jamaica" was horrible considering Freeport had 2 major hotels closed due to prev. storm damage, and Carnivals only offer was 100$ onboard credit per pass.- cement factory was the view from the ship which stayed in port for most of the cruise. Itinerary change
30.9.06
Carnival Conquest
From Cruise CriticAround 3:00 PM we heard an announcement ... and then all of a sudden made a 90 degree turn on a dime. It was pretty scary, I called the pursers desk and they said that ... someone or something had fallen off the ship. I went out on our balcony to see what was going on and no one really knew. By this time, everyone on the ship was now hanging over the right side ... Come to find out later - (all speculation here) there was a young lady on 11 having an argument with her boyfriend. She was either sitting on the rail, or standing near the rail and was either pushed, fell over, or jumped off the backof the boat to her death. She missed the water and hit the balcony on level 6 landing on her back ... Speculation was that she jumped [but] no one really knows exactly what happened ...  Click here for an account from Events Page readers and the Associated Press. Passenger Death
28.9.06
Ecstasy
Upon embarkation, passengers were given a letter stating that due to a problem with the propulsion system, the ship could not attain maximum cruising speed, and would  be docking in Progreso rather than Cozumel.  The four-day Western Caribbean cruise embarked from Galveston.
Itinerary change
11.9.06
Imagination
A 35 year old woman was reported missing when the ship docked in Miami after a four-day cruise to Key West and Mexico.  The woman was reportedly least seen by relatives in the early morning hours of Saturday (10 Sept), several hours after leaving Calica. Pax Missing
29.8.06
Sensation At approximately 2:20 AM, a crew member was picked up by a female taxi driver to see his friend in Nassau. The taxi driver stopped for another male, who gun-pointed the crew member and demanded everything from his pockets.  The crew member gave up his cell phone, digital camera, and $60.00 cash to the suspct, who then asked the crew for more.  The crew member fought the armed man in the taxi and escaped through the side window where he ran back to Bay Street.  The crew member claims he cheated death and was lucky to get out of a situation like this.   He went to the local Bahamian police the next cruise to investigate, and the police claimed this was a regular set up in Nassau.  The crew member had a quick recovery but won't forget the experience.
Crew member robbed in Nassau
25.8.06
Celebration
After its accident August 15, the itinerary for the August 17 departure was altered (Freeport canceled) because the ship was operating at reduced speeds.  The August 21 cruise was canceled so the ship could be repaired.  Repairs took longer than anticipated and the cruise scheduled to begin August 26 was shortened 3 days and will embark August 28.
Cancelations
18.8.06
Celebration
One of the ship's propellers struck bottom while approaching the dock at Nassau spilling an estimated 200 liters of lubricating oil and affecting the operation of the engine.  The Nassau call was cancelled and the ship is en route back to its homeport, Jacksonville.
Environmental
27.7.06
Carnival Pride
From a reader: Carnival Pride is here in Vancouver today (!).  It normally only cruises Mexico, and it took me forever to figure out why it’s here. Someone posted saying there’s a tropical storm headed for the Mexican Riviera, so the sailing was forced to come to Canada instead (possibly due to the Jones Act?)  Someone has posted on Cruisecritic in a ‘live from the Pride 7/26) thread, but it keeps getting lost.  Most people thought it was some kind of joke.  No info is on Carnival’s site about the matter, so I am guessing they were told when they boarded the ship.
Itinerary change
23.7.06- 30.7.06
Carnival Destiny
A passenger reports that the ship departed San Juan one day late (because of mechanical probelms) and that Aruba was skipped as a port of call.
Mechanical Problems -
Itinerary change
21.6.06
Imagination
CBS in Miami reports that a crew member was reported missing after not reporting for duty Tuesday afternoon.  The ship was enroute from Miami to Grand Cayman on a five-day cruise.  A search was conducted but without results.
Crew Member Missing
17.6.06
Inspiration
An apparent onshore labour dispute in Cozumel delayed tendering operations for about two hours and caused some shore excursions to be shortened or cancelled.
Delayed tendering
27.5.06
Carnival Legend
A 35 year old male passenger jumped overboard in front of his wife and two young sons (5 and 3), apparently during an argument over onboard spending (gambling and alcohol).  The ship was 650 miles offshore after leaving Tortola on its return to New York.  A 12 hour search was undertaken without results.  The May 28 cruise departed late (3 AM) because of the ship's late arrival.  Embarking passengers received a $50 onboard credit. Passenger
Overboard
20.5.06
Inspiration
An 82-year old man who was traveling by himself went missing and, based on a note found, is presumed to have committed suicide.
Suicide
2.4.06
Sensation
Fantasy
Because of continuing problems with the Sensation's propulsion, it has been reported that the two ships will switch itineraries on April 6.   Both operate out of Port Canaveral.
Ship Switch
1.4.06
Holiday
The ship returned to Mobile from its first cruise since the lease to FEMA and like the Sensation passengers complained about the ship not being up to standards.  Hot water was inconsistent, repairs and maintenance were still being done while passengers were onboard (e.g., hot tubs were out of service and being welded with children nearby), and toilets were not working properly -- As stated by MSN-NBC, "...crew members work to prepare the ship for another five day cruise, a cruise so many others ... wish they had not taken. "I don't want that ship to leave today with another group of two thousand victims".  See here for more info.
Maintenance problems
28.3.06
Sensation

The ship will have to shorten its current trip to the Bahamas, missing a stop at Grand Turk, because of a problem with the ship's propulsion system.  The Sensation is not able to travel fast enough to reach Grand Turk, and instead will stop at Freeport.  The same will be the case on the next cruise.

Itinerary change
(Propulsion)
24.3.06
Imagination
The ship returned to Key West two hours after leaving because of a medical issue.  The ship then changed its next port of call from Calica (Mexico) to the Bahamas.
Itinerary change
23.3.06
Sensation
Coast Guard inspectors detained the ship at Port Canaveral until the captain and crew could fix violations related to the ship's fire-control systems.  The ship was supposed to set sail at 4 p.m. on a four-day voyage to the Bahamas, but will be delayed until late in the evening.  Inspectors found deficiencies in fire-safety systems, specifically some fire screen doors, fire station valves - which are like a fire hydrant - and watertight doors.  Repairs were made and the ship finally left more than 6 hours late.  There were apparently problems on the cruise, and 8 passengers were forcibly evicted from ship when in the Bahamas -- details can be found here and here.
Detained in Port -- Safety Violations
22.3.06
Carnival Liberty
There was a complete power failure that lasted approximately 1 hours (10 - 11PM) and it was another hour or so before everything appeared "back to normal".  Passengers report on this at Cruise Critic.
Power failure
19.3.06
Carnival Destiny
According to a message at Cruise Critic,  the ship was supposed to dock at 7 AM today in San Juan but was slowed because of a propulsion problem  (a propeller had been damaged).  It finally docked at 4PM; passengers were still disembarking at 1 AM. Many had waited for hours for Carnival to find them hotel rooms because the delayed arrival meant missed flights.  Embarking passengers were still boarding at 2 AM.  The following cruise (19-26 March) was apparently still plagued with propulsion problems.  One passenger writes:  "We arrived at all ports late and left all early. For instance we were supposed to leave Aruba at 10PM but left before 7PM. Cut down time on all our shore excursions. No on the ship would confirm anything. They knocked $25/pp off everyone's bill and gave out free drinks for 2 hours toward the end of the trip. Very disappointed." Propulsion problems
11.3.06
Imagination
Messages from two passengers indicate the ship never made it to the Port of Calica "due to weather" (i.e., high winds). "We just sat at sea and waved to Calica/Playa del Carmen from the upper deck."  The only compensation given was a $25/person credit.  The only port call on the four night cruise was a half day at Key West.
Missed port
11.3.06
Ecstasy
The ship housing Katrina refugees broke loose from its moorings in New Orleans and  spun out into the Mississippi River, and narrowly avoided hitting a pair of Military Sea Lift Command ships moored nearby. The Ecstasy, with quick help from a river pilot and three tugs, came to rest about 300 feet from the Algiers riverbank, just downriver from Algiers Point. The episode began about 5:35 a.m. when a large metal bollard holding some tie-down lines at the old wharf broke off, starting a chain reaction of line breaks. Near catastrophe
10.1.06
Carnival Legend
It was reported that a 65 year old man died while part of a snorkeling shore excursion at Shark Bay Alley in Belize.  The man, part of a group of nine toruists, experienced difficulties in the water and was rushed to the Caye Caulker Village Clinic where he was pronounced dead, apparently from a heart attack.  This is the third such case in as many months: in November a 68 year old man from the Norwegian Dream disappeared while snokeling in the same area -- his body was never found; in December a woman from the Caribbean Princess who was participating in a snorkeling expedition in Sint Maarten was found dead underwater -- it is unknown whether she had a heart attack or an accident underwater.
Death on Shore Excursion
(Snorkeling)
1-8.1.06
Carnival Conquest
and Victory
From a passenger:
Carnival Conquest's departure was delayed for over 4 hours due to fog in Galveston.  In Grand Cayman, we met up with passengers from Carnival Victory, who were told after they boarded their ship that they were not allowed to go to Cozumel.  They were infuriated when they found out that Conquest was allowed to go. 
Delay
--
Missed port
dd/mm/yy
Ship
2005
Incident
26.12.05
Imagination From a passenger, 12/24/2005 sailing w/, stops in Cayman and Ocho Rios:  Upon awakening Monday morning, December 26, we were off the coast of Grand Cayman. Our captain told us it was to rough to anchor at our spot on the island and that we are being turned away. But the ship did offload a sick child and to pick up several passengers who missed the boat in Miami. A tender came out to our vessel to accomplish this. This small tender did not roll or bob in the lake like waters surrounding our vessel(maybe the sea had an occasional one foot chop at most).  We could see three other vessels were at anchor including the Carnival Inspiration(?) and had offloaded their passengers on tenders. We weren't offered anything to make up for this; i don't buy their excuse for not stopping ... there has to be another reason.  Missed Port
14.11.05
Fascination
From a passenger:  Delayed in Key West due to technical difficulties.  As a result, cancelled Mexico Calica port and went to Nassau Bahamas instead. My group already booked to go to Nassau on same ship for the next three day cruise that week. Others reported that they lived in Nassau Bahamas and were very angry that they were going there. No compensation given. Itinerary change
21-24.10.05
Fascination
The ship was delayed returning to Miami for two days as a result of Hurrican Wilma.  The ship experienced very rough seas while "waiting" at sea and on Monday "tipped severely, injuring several passengers.  Some passengers who needed medical attention had difficulty communicating with foreign workers." (Des Moines Register)  A passenger onboard reports that there was considerable damage to the shops and displays given the severe wave action and that the zero deck was ankle deep in water. The cruise director came on the intercom after the list and announced that they had made a maneuver. 
Severe List
17.10.05
Paradise
Disembarkation was delayed 6 hours until the ship was cleared by the FBI which was investigating a woman's death during the cruise (sometime Saturday, reportedly on R deck around room 145).  Many assumed it was drug-related since there was evidence of drug use on board, but this is just conjecture.  According to news reports, "authorities do not believe foul play was involved."  The cruise, running 14 - 17 October, was the Xingolati Groove Cruise of the Pacific.  Embarkation of the next cruise was also delayed.  The death was later ruled to be caused by “the toxic effects of methadone,” Death on Board
---
Delays
11.8.05
Carnival Glory
A 30-year-old muscian was found deceased in his cabin.  There were no signs of foul play and the death is presumed to be from natural causes.  See the report in Florida Today.
Death onboard
6-11.8.05
Imagination
The cruise boarded 6 hours late because a medical emergency on the prior cruise caused a late return to Miami.  The ship was further delayed (another 5+ hours) the next day after a 20-year old woman jumped overboard at 5AM -- she was subsequently found by another ship around noon and flown (alive) to Miami.  Because of the delays, Ocho Rios was dropped from the itinerary; passengers were given a $40 onboard credit.
Delay
--
Missed Port
--
Passenger Overboard
3.8.05
Carnival Legend
FROM A PASSENGER:  Around 10PM we looked out of our balcony, on the starboard side on deck 7, and saw heavy, heavy smoke coming from the lower levels towards the front of the ship.  Although I did never actually see flames, there were extremely bright flickering lights coming from the same place.  Within minutes, there was an announcement for everyone to proceed to the upper, open decks.  The late show had to be evacuated ... and people who's room was in that area said their rooms and hallways were filled with thick white smoke.  The Cruise Director announced "there was a problem in the engine room and that something had overheated".  Later it was an "oily substance".  All  I can tell you for sure was that it was heavy smoke.  People had their life jackets on, very unsettling. This lasted over an hour.  No real explanation and of course no compensation.
?Fire?

Lots of smoke
16-21.7.05
Ecstasy
Like many other ships, Ecstasy changed its itinterary to avoid the hazardous weather.  However, passengers on the 5-day July 16 cruise had a "cruise to nowhere" and report Carnival refused to refund port charges paid by passengers.  A person posting at Cruise Critic however referes to receiving a certificate for 50% off a future cruise.
No Refund of port charges
13.7.05
Carnival Legend
From a passenger just back:  Just out of Tortola, heading for NYC on Wed July 13. 5:10 pm, "computer glitch" causes hard left turn, that combined with a strong wind offf the starboard side, results in a 14 degree list causing injuries and damage. We were on port side, on balcony, and felt like the ship was going to turn over; pool water, and debris streamed past our window. Crew members said they had NEVER experienced a list of that degree. Unexpected List
24.6.05
Elation
The Houston Chronicle reports that a 40-year old woman travelling with her husband and three teenaged children went missing off the Caribbean coast of Mexico at 11 AM.   The ship conducted a full search where she was presumed to have gone overboard but was not successful in finding her.   Though not explicitly stated, news reports imply she committed suicide.  Unrelated is that the ship lost power and was adrift for an hour around mid-day on Saturday (June 25).
?Suicide?

Loss of Power
14.6.05
Carnival Glory
Carnival Victory
Carnival was fined $65,000 and its ships were turned away from St. Thomas and San Juan because the company had not provided the US Coast Guard with documents listing names of passengers and crew. along with the ship's last five ports of call, per security requirements.  Both ships were delayed 4 hours until required documents could be provided and reviewed.  Carnival blames the problem on a computer glitch that has since been repaired.
Noncompliance with security requirements
7 - 14.6.05
Carnival Spirit
Passengers were told at 6 AM the first morning after embarkation that the ship had engine problems and would be missing three points on the itinerary: Prince William Sound. College Fjord, and Sitka; its stop in Ketchikan was cut short.  As one passenger wrote, "We were very upset about missing the glacier viewing and Sitka.  We will never be able to take this trip again, we saved for over 2 years and will not be able to come back to Alaska, their gesture of a $50.00 credit is a insult to our intelligence."  Another passenger posted the following at Cruise Critic and clarified the nature of the problem:  The ship starboard side propeller hit an iceberg or ice on the northbound trip which departed Vancouver. The damage was bad enough that it bent one of the propellers. Because of this damage, the ship could not use the engine and therefore could not reach the required speed to visit the missed ports. Also the damaged propeller caused a large amount of vibration which was noticeable when we attended dinner the second night. When we arrived in Juneau, Carnival had divers waiting to correct the problem. Propulsion problems
---
Missed ports
5 - 12.6.05
Carnival Valor
Reported by a passenger: On June 7, the ship encountered mechanical problems which brought it to a complete stop between Nassau and St Thomas. Then on June 9, after leaving St Maarten, we went back to St Thomas and docked at approx 1:30am on June 10 to deliver a heart attack patient to a waiting ambulance. This delay caused us to sail back to Miami north of the Bahamas rather than south of the islands to make up for lost time. This caused a slightly rough ride in the Atlantic both ways.

Of the 3,300 guests on board, there were 550 children, and they were running loose, falling at the pools, and there was at least one case of defecation in a pool. Kids running down the halls at midnight, yelling. Darting through the shopping areas almost tripping older guests. Just a zoo because of the kids on board.
Propulsion and other problems
10.6.05
Holiday
The ship's return to Mobile is delayed more than one day, until Sunday, because of Tropical Storm Arlene.  The ship will arrive at Sunady at 4PM rather than Saturday morning.  The next voyage, which was to have been a five-day cruise is now converted to a four day cruise to Cozumel.
Weather delays
7.6.05
Carnival Spirit
5 longshoremen were arrested after they blocked a busful of cruise passengers in Whittier, Alaska.  The union accuses Carnival of violating US law by using foreign workers to load and unload luggage from Carnival ships."  One week later it was announced that Carnival agreed to use American workers on future visits to  Whittier, per Federal regulations. Click here, here, and here for media coverage.
Labour Dispute
23.5.05
Carnival Destiny
The ship lost power and propulsion at 7AM -- it was dead in the water for 8 hours and without electricty and air conditioning for about two hours.  The engines were finally operational at 3 PM and the ship headed to St. Lucia, skipping Aruba as a port of call.  See here for detailed description.
Loss of Power and Propulsion Problems
23.5.05
Carnival Legend Several passengers report the ship altered course to rescue a man on a small vessel who became ill while traveling alone from Florida to Portugal.  The man was transferred to hospital in San Juan the next day.  No further details are known.
Rescue at Sea
16.5.05
Carnival Destiny
Two elderly passengers (aged 67 and 71) disappeared Thursday May 12th between 8:30 PM and 4 AM while the ship was going from Barbados to Aruba.  Their couple's belongings were found in a pile on one of the decks, but this was consistent with what they did every night.  The FBI investigated but the case was closed.  The couple is presumed to have died at sea, but of unknown cause.  It remains a mystery for the couple's family.  See here for more info. Missing at Sea
14.5.05
Carnival Valor
From a passenger:  In the Washington Dining Room at the 8:30 seating, after dinner during the dining staff entertainment, a supposedly drunken woman hopped on top of one of the pedestals that are used to hold trays and danced to the music, swaying.  She fell off and landed on top of a round table and everyone commented on how amazing it was that not even a glass was broken.  At that time, there were moans from a woman who had been unnoticed but was laying under the table, having been hit by the woman who fell.  The woman suffered a broken neck and has since had surgery.  (The husband of the woman who was hit has posted multiple times on Cruisemates.com begging for anyone who may have video or pictures of the incident.) Injury -- Request for witnesses
25.4.05
Carnival Victory
First Coast News in Jacksonville, FL reported a Massachusetts couple were bitten by bed bugs while on a cruise in March -- they woke in the middle of the night to find "40, 50, 60 bugs just crawling all over the top half of the bed" and that their bathrobe was covered with the adult bugs.  Carnival Cruise Line acknowledged the bed bug infestation and says a previous guest brought them onboard.
Bed Bugs
14.4.05
Carnival Valor
There were multiple reports that a passenger jumped from the bow of the ship at about 3AM, reportedly after losing $10,000 at the casino.  Crew observed the man going overboard and he was rescued about 45 minutes after the initial "man overboard" alert.  There was an ambulance on the pier when the ship arrived at St. Maarten; his party was apparently not allowed to remain on the ship. Passenger overboard
11-16.4.05
Imagination
From a passenger: "There was loss of propulsion on the first night of our cruise. The ship lost half of the propulsion system. Captain cancelled both ports: Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Instead we went to Cozumel Mexico. They gave us a $100 onboard credit and 25 percent off our next cruise. Propulsion problems
10.4.05
Paradise
Though airlifts from cruise ships are not uncommon, it is unusual that three passengers would be airlifted the same day.  That was the case in San Diego.
A 78-year-old man who fell and broke his hip and a 64-year-old woman with a tear in her esophagus (reportedly after walking through a glass door at an onboard  shop) were airlifted Saturday night from Oosterdam; the following morning a 55-year-old woman suffering "severe internal pain" was airlifted from the Paradise.  These are reminders not to travel without adequate health insurance that will cover such emergencies.
Airlift ill pax
8.4.05
Carnival Cruise Line Carnival in a regulatory filing made yesterday said it has meritorious defense against a lawsuit claiming it failed to pay overtime to as many as 15,000 cruise ship workers.  The suit was filed on behalf of a half-dozen waiters, cabin attendants and kitchen employees on various Carnival ships. It contends that they worked more than 70 hours a week and were not paid overtime as specified in an employment agreement.  See South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Labour issues
17.3.05
Inspiration
According to a report filed with Cozumel's National Marine Park office, at 15:30 hours the Inspiration passed within a meter and a half (60") of a group of 12 divers who were exploring the bottom of reef Paraíso. According to the reports of dive masters with Aqua Safari, the force of the propellers raised sediment so that it was impossible to see the palm of your hand. This situation produced panic among the divers who feared for their lives and risked being sucked up into the enormous propellers.  The incident is being investigated.  The ship's departure was delayed three hours.  (Put more simply, the dive shop explained the situation as follows: The basic theme is the Inspiration fell asleep and went broadside to the wind as the front came in. It came close to broadsiding the Grand Princess at dock, GOT INTO the national park, and put my divers into the waring blender.  It is amazing no one was killed.)
Environmental

Public Hazard
12.3.05
Ecstasy
The ship will depart late after its arrival is delayed by continuing engine problems.  from the previous cruise.  According to the Houston Chronicle:
Carnival hopes a problem the ship's engines can be fixed at the dock today by technicians flown in to do the job, but if the problem persists, passengers who choose to sail anyway face the possibility of a slow "cruise to nowhere" in the Gulf of Mexico instead of scheduled visits to the Mexican ports and beaches of Cozumel and Playa del Carmen. "If we don't get the problem fixed at the dock, It's a two-port, one-port or no-port possibility for the cruise," Carnival spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz said.
Engine problems
continue
9.3.05
Ecstasy
Ecstasy headed toward Mexico but the itinerary was uncertain. It was expected to arrive at Progreso, Mexico Thursday where the faulty part would be replaced but weather conditions prevented it from docking.  It is now a "cruise to nowhere."  Following a protest by 500 passengers on Wednesday afternoon with chants of "No Progresso, take us home."  Passengers were subsequently compensated with $40 per person credit to their shipboard accounts to cover meal expenses on Monday prior to boarding when the ship was late arriving in Galveston, a 50% refund of their cruise fare and a 25% discount on a future three- to eight-day Carnival cruise. Engine problems
7.3.05
Ecstasy
The ship's return to Galveston was delayed 14 or more hours because of a malfunction of the propulsion system on its return from a trip to Mexico.  It was expected to dock no earlier than 10 PM rather than the 8 AM scheduled disembarkation.  The departure of the following cruise was delayed until 3 AM on Tuesday morning.
Engine problems
19 - 26.2.05
Carnival Glory
From a passenger:
I was on the Carnival Glory on its 2/19 cruise to what was to be the Eastern Caribbean. When in Nassau, 2/20 the Cruise Director announced the ship had 'Engine Problems' and we couldn't make it to the Virgin Islands. So we spent the next 6 days off the coast of Florida.
Engine problems / Canceled port calls
6.2.05
Carnival Valor
A SOBER REMINDER FOR THOSE TEMPTED -- From a passenger:
This one should go under "should of known better" or "Just plain stupid"  A young honeymoon couple was escorted off the ship (they were on our tender) with officials from the ship.  They had brought drugs on and the husband had some sort of overdose incident.  They left them in Belize, not sure if they were handed over to the Belize authorities or just left to their own devices. 
Say "No" to Drugs
12.1.05
Holiday
Carnival Cruise Lines announced that the HOLIDAY has been repaired. A propulsion problem first detected December 30 had necessitated cutting out port visits on two cruises from Mobile , Alabama . "Following repair work on the cruise ship HOLIDAY last week and extensive evaluation by professional technicians, the ship now appears to be operating normally," Missed ports
dd/mm/yy
Ship
2004
Incident
30.12.04
Holiday
Cruise to Cozumel changed to a 4-night "cruise to nowhere" because mechanical problems made it impossible for the ship to make it to Cozumel and back. Passengers given a choice to cancel if the wanted.
COMPENSATION: $100 on onboard account OR cancel and full refund
Propulsion problems
25/26.12.04
Carnival Miracle From a passenger: We pitched over violently to one side, shattering 10's of thousands of dollars in kitchen ware, booze, etc.  Tossed stuff all over the cabins.  Had tugboats pull us to a temporary dock since we were coming back into Tampa and couldn't hold our own against the winds.  From what I heard, we drifted onto sand and that caused us to pitch to one side.  Didn't see anything in the news about it.
Weather
6 - 11.12.04
Celebration Received from a reader:
Our first stop to Grand Cayman was cancelled because, apparently, a crew member was struck by a forklift and broke his back (per the captain). The ship was re-routed to Cozumel (nearest port) where the injured person was disembarked. Our first port was then changed to Playa del Carmen.  The crew member is now in Miami in critical condition.
Crew injured
5.12.04
Carnival Pride A 37-year old woman disappeared from the ship late Saturday evening while 30 miles off the Mexican coast.  A search proved unsuccessful.  There is question regarding whether there foul play was involved.  See here for more info.
Person overboard
25.11.04
Celebration A 54-year-old man was reported missing, possibly at sea, after the ship arriving home from a five day cruise to the Bahamas.
Person overboard
18.11.04
Carnival Conquest Posters at Cruise Critic have reported a 60-year-old German man committed suicide by throwing himself overboard and into the water when the ship was in port at Georgetown, Cayman Islands.
Suicide
13.11.04
Holiday
The ship lost engine power and collided with some pilings along the Mobile River before dawn. As the ship made a turn to head back to its berth at the new cruise terminal, its starboard engine and bow thruster died. Despite being assisted by a tugboat, it collided bow-on with pilings. It eventually regained power and slipped into its berth. Collision
22.8.04
Holiday
The ship rescued five people, including a 10-year-old boy, after their fishing boat burned and capsized off the coast of Cancún.  A search ensued after ship employees reported hearing someone yell from the water. Rescue
11 - 19.8.04
Carnival Legend
The 8-day cruise from NYC to the Caribbean took a detour to Bermuda and passengers spent three days in port while repairs were made to an electrical component in the Azipod propulsion system.  Passengers returned to NYC from Bermuda.
Propulsion problems

Ports skipped
4.8.04
Carnival Miracle
The Baltimore Sun carried a story that Carnival had been forced to bump passengers on cruises leaving from Baltimore because the cruises were overbooked.  Hundreds of passengers have had their cruise cancelled.  See story in Baltimore Sun (August 4, 2004) Overbooking
31.7.04
Carnival Miracle
At 4 AM, just hours before docking in NYC, an announcement came over the public address system saying, "This is the Captain speaking.  All crew members abandon ship."  This was followed a few minutes later by a message from a female saying all was well and the previous message was a mistake.  The Captain followed a bit later apologizing with the explanation that teenagers had gotten hold of the public address system.
Hoax
26.7.04
Carnival Legend
There was a medical emergency on the prior cruise, requiring the ship to stop in Bermuda on its way back to NYC and causing it to arrive late in NYC. The cruise beginning today will sail approximately 8 hours later than planned, departing at midnight rather than 4 PM. Delayed departure
23.7.04
Fascination
A passenger is suspected to have fallen overbaord -- he was last seen at 3:30 AM, was reported missing at 7:00 AM, and did not disembark at the end of the cruise in Miami.  The story is on-line at: NBC 6 - Miami and at the Sun Sentinel
Man Overboard
7.7.04
Jubilee
A passenger onboard has reported that there are major engine problems on the current 5 day cruise from Jacksonville and that ports of call have been cancelled/changed.  They were to go to Key West and Nassau and instead went to Freeport today and are in Nassau tomorrow -- both are shortened port stays.  
Engine Problems
7.6.04
Carnival Destiny
A passenger reported that "the ship broke down while cruising from St.Thomas to Dominica. We were delayed 3.5 hours. Also, while docked at St.Thomas there was a fire in one of trash incinerators. Passengers were delayed 45 minutes to board. There was no cause given as to why the fire started."
Propulsion problems
5.6.04
Carnival Miracle
It was announced that the August 28, 2004 sailing would be cancelled for maintenance on the seal on the slewing bearing, a component of the steering drive in the podded propulsion unit.  Carnival says it has made a temporary fix that will suffice for now.  
Cancellation
18.5.04
Carnival Sensation
Four foreign seamen fell about 100 feet during a lifeboat drill when a winch failed while the ship was docked in Cozumel, Mexico, according to lawsuits filed May 25 in Miami.  The crew members alledgedly suffered broken legs, hips and spines when the lifeboat smashed into the water.
Crew injured
13.5.04
Carnival Victory
Passengers were delayed in disembarking the ship when it arrived at Grand Cayman and was searched for a bomb. None was found.  The threat was traced to a passenger who was allegedly inebriated. She was taken into custody by authorities in the Cayman Islands and was eventually sent back to the US.
Delay
30.3.04
Carnival Glory
Due to dredging operations in Key West, Forida the itinerary will substitute Costa Maya, Mexico for Key West in May through October.
Rescheduling
18.3.04
Holiday
The ship arrived in New Orleans 12 hours late as a result of a "technical malfunction."  Passengers on the cruise beginning today were advised not to arrive at the terminal any earlier than 8PM.  All guests were expected to be onboard by 10PM.
Technical malfunction
dd/mm/yy
Ship
2003
Incident
8.9.03
Celebration
Because of continuing propulsion problems, the itinerary on this 5 day cruise has been changed to make only one port call in Mexico rather than two.  
Engine problems
4.9.03
Celebration
Because of a malfunction in one of the two propulsion systems, the ship will arrive in Galveston 12 hours later than scheduled.  The following 4-day cruise will depart a day late and instead of the planned 4-day cruise to Cozumel will be a 3-day trip without any stops.
Engine problems
29.7.03
Carnival Conquest
A 25 year old man was charged with raping a 16 year old female fellow passenger the night before the ship docked at New Orleans on Sunday,  July 27.
Sexual Assault
(Pax on Pax)
11.5.03
Carnival Conquest
A 35 year old man fell from a 10th floor balcony between midnight and 1 AM.  Initial searches for him were unsuccessful, but the body was found the morning of May 14th.
Passenger overboard
6.5.03
Holiday
The ship left port almost 24 hours late after security breaches: an off-duty policeman reported he had a gun in his luggage (which hadn't been noticed by security), four bullets were found in the ship's passageway, and another passenger had left ammunition in his bag.  The Coast Guard ordered the ship to remain at the pier while passengers, crew, and baggage were rechecked.  The ship, scheduled to leave Monday finally departed Tuesday at 4:00 PM.
Security Breach and Delay
12/13.4.03
Celebration
A 31 year old man accidentally fell overboard in the Gulf of Mexico (8 hours after leaving Galveston) and was resuced 17 hours later by a passing cargo vessel.  
Passenger overboard
April.03
Carnival Legend
15 year old girl raped by other passenger.  Details here.
Rape
9.3.03
Carnival Conquest
The US Coast Guard plans to board the CARNIVAL CONQUEST to investigate a sharp roll made by the ship that sent passengers running for life vests, and glass crashing to decks. Many passengers believe the ship tilted abruptly from one side to the other early on the morning to avoid colliding with another vessel. Seven passengers reported to a newspaper in New Orleans that they saw the lights of another vessel silhouetted in thick fog less than 200 yards from the CONQUEST. Carnival Cruise Lines blamed the sudden list on a strong gust of wind that broadsided the ship as it turned into the shipping channel bound for Gulfport, Miss.  (Source: Maritime Matters, March 16, 2003) Near miss collision OR unexpected list
10.2.03
Carnival Victory
Ship experienced a 5 degree tilt when a stabilizer malfunctioned.  No injuries.
Unexpected list (tilt)
7.2.03
Carnival Legend
A 24 year old native of Indonesia was charged with sexual battery after a 28 year old woman identified him as the man who entered her cabin while she was sleeping around 5 AM on Thursday and raped her.  Police said he used a master key to unlawfully enter the room.  The perpetrator was detained and held by Carnival onboard security personnel until the ship reached Fort Lauderdale.
Rape
27 - 30.1.03
Ecstasy
An older disabled man reportedly jumped to his death from the top of the atrium into the lobby area of the ship. (Contributed by two readers of this page who were on that cruise.)
Suicide
26.1.03
Elation
A 35 year old woman went missing following a fight with her husband.  She was noticed missing the next morning by her husband when he woke in the morning. 
?Suicide?
14.1.03
Ecstasy
The company reported an accidental discharge of 60 gallons of grey water while anchored at Avalon Bay (Catalina Island, California), approximately one-half mile from land.
Environmental
dd/mm/yy
Ship
2002
Incident
30.11.02
Holiday
This 4 day cruise was first changed to a 2 day cruise-to-nowhere that was to embark 30 November.  It was then cancelled because the ship remained grounded at Playa del Carmen on November 29th.  December 2nd cruise is expected to leave on schedule.
Cancellation
26.11.02
Holiday
The ship became lodged on a sandy bottom of the Caribbean Sea, a quarter mile off the coast of Playa del Carmen.  There were no injuries or damage.  The ship was freed on November 29th.  
Grounded
27.10.02
Elation
Cruise cancelled because of problems with the propulsion system that limited the ship's speed (Cabo San Lucas skipped on October 20th cruise).  Sent to drydock in San Francisco and expected to return to service for next scheduled cruise.  
Problems with propulsion system
August.02
Inspiration
Strikes barge in Mississippi River -- undamaged and continues on
Collission
22.7.02
Carnival Destiny
A 55-year old man found hanging in a shower stall -- an apparent suicide.  Not reported as to crew or pax. (Reported in St. Thomas Source, 7/22/2002)
Suicide
30.6.02 Inspiration
Problem with propulsion system develops on final leg of cruise; reduced speed and late arrival (3 hours) in New Orleans. Propulsion system
27.6.02 Celebration
Cruise  canceled for repairs. Cancellation
24.6.02 Celebration
Technical problem with propulsion system; stop in Playa del Carmen canceled and stop in Cozumel shortened. Propulsion system
24.5.02 Carnival Destiny Technical malfunction caused ship to lose power for a couple of hours.  Port call at Aruba replaced by stop in St. Lucia. Power failure
3.5.02 Carnival Spirit
Cruise  canceled for repairs. Cancellation
Apr.02
Ecstasy, Fantasy, Imagination, Paradise, Sensation, Tropicale Carnival Corporation pled guilty to numerous occasions from 1996 through 2001 that it discharged oily waste into the sea from their bilges by improperly using pollution prevention equipment.  In addition, the company falsified the Oil Record Books in order to conceal its practices.  The plea agreement only  focusses on Carnival Cruise Line (and dismisses any future charges against other Carnival Corp. subsidiaries), however it only applies to the Southern District of Florida.  Other federal jurisdictions may pursue independent investigation and prosecution.  FINE = $18 million ($9 million fine and $9 million in court-ordered community service to fund environmental projects in South Florida)
Environmental Fine
28.4.02 Carnival Spirit
Cruise cut short due to air conditioning problems -- 12 day cruise shortened to 9 days. A/C problems
14.3.02 Jubilee
Sailing  canceled due to mechanical difficulties. Cancellation
13.3.02
Fantasy
A Picasso etching ("Petite Infante Accroupie et Courtisan") valued at $12,000 was cut from its frame in the early hours of the morning.  It was displayed in front of the casino.
Robbery
dd/mm/yy
Ship
Significant Events, 2001 and earlier
 Incident
14.1.01
Sensation
A 19 year old man climbed over a railing and threatened to kill himself after an argument with his girlfriend.  After his girlfriend pleaded with him to climb to safety, he complied, but slipped and fell into Hillsborough Bay (Tampa).  He did not survive.
Accidental death
24.9.00
Carnival Victory
The ship collided with a pier (her stern brushed the end of the opposite pier and crushed a portion of concrete platform) as it was leaving New York.
Collision with pier
25.8.00
Elation
Two cruises cancelled (Oct 29 and Nov 5) in order to perform preventative maintenance on the ship's Azipod propulsion systems.
Cancellation
18.8.00
Holiday A 33 year old female passenger went overboard and missing when ship was near Los Angeles.
Passenger overboard
31.7.00
Elation A 42 year old male passenger went overboard and missing when the ship was off the coast of Mexico.
Passenger overboard
19.7.00
Paradise
Two additional cruises were cancelled, after a cruise was halted as it left Miami because of problems with the propulsion system.
Propulsion porblems - Cancellaton
23.5.00
Carnival Destiny
The ship arrived in Boston a day late because of propulsion problems and its following cruise cancelled after repairs couldn't be made in a resonable time.
Engine problems / cancellation
12.1.00
Celebration
Fire broke out in the auxilliary generator while the ship was sailing 100 miules north-west of Montego Bay, knocking out air conditioning and toilets.  The fire was quickly extinguished and there were no injuries.  The ship sailed to Montego Bay and passengers were flown  home.
Fire
3.1.00
Paradise
Passengers on the millennium cruise held a protest on the dockside ain Nassau after their itinery was changed from Tortola and the Eastern Caribbean to Bahamas and Mexico because of propulsion problems.
Propulsion problems
22.10.99
Tropicale
The ship's sewage system clogged up, forcing the company to offer passengers the option of flying home from Cozumel (with a full refund and free airfare) or staying onboard and receiving a 75% refund.
Toilet problems
19.9.99
Tropicale An engine room fire left the ship adrift for two days in the Gulf of Mexico.  Power was restored and the ship was escorted back to Tampa.  Passengers complained about sewage backups and lack of water for showers and sinks.
Fire
5.7.99
Carnival Destiny The cruise ship and Coast Guard ended its search for a 22 year old man who disappeared at sea after leaving the ship's nightclub.  The ship was between San Juan and Miami.  For more information see here.
Passenger overboard
16.2.99
Carnival Destiny
Technicians restored partial power after the ship had drifted for 27 hours off the coast of Turks and Caicos.  Power to two electric propulsion motors was lost at 1:40 AM, leaving the ship adrift.  The power loss did not affect showers, lighting, or air conditioning.
Power loss - Adrift
20.7.98
Ecstasy
Fire disables the ship, which is adrift and without power for hours.  The NTSB eventually ruled the fire had been set off by a spark from a welder in the main laundry setting off lint in the ventilation system.  See: Fire on Board the Liberian Passenger Ship Ecstasy Miami, Florida  -  July 20, 1998, NTSB Report Number: MAR-01-01 Fire
9.1.98
Fantasy A 35 year old man fell over the aft railing from the outdoor restaurant and lost at sea.  Witness accounts conflict as to whether he was standing or sitting on a table when he lost his balance and fell over the railing.
Passenger overboard
28.6.97
Jubilee
The ship reportedly made a sudden turn to avoid a collision with a fleet of fishing boats, waking passengers in the early morning hours.  The ship was 25 miles off the coast of San Diego.
Near collision
21.11.96
Sensation
A power faiulure lasted several hours and caused a change in itinerary -- the ship skipped St. Thomas and went to St. Croix instead of St. Maarten.
Power failure
Feb.96
Tropicale
Stuck on sandbar will attempting to leave Tampa.  The ship was pulled free by tugboats, but will miss a port call at Grand Cayman.
Grounded
Mar.96
Celebration A 23 year old male fell overboard, as the ship was steaming away from San Juan, as he was urinating over the side of the ship.  He survived by swimming to shore.  Accidental fall
18.6.95
Celebration
The ship drifted for 2 days with overflowing toilets and no running waterafter a fire in the control room knocked out power.  No one was injured and passengers were transferred to the Ecstasy for return to Miami.
Disabling Fire
10.2.89
Celebration
In good weather, the ship rammed the Captain San Luis, a 352 foot Cuban bulk carrier, about 25 miles off the NE coast of Cuba.  The Cuban vessel was cut in two, killing the Captain and two crew members; there were 13 survivors.
Collision