Source: Cruise Junkie dot Com

Events at Sea by Caribbean Princess

Events 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
2010
Incident
9.5.10 From a passsenger: The ship hit the gangway structure and was delayed several hours in departure. I asked why we were were behind schedule and that is what I was told.
Collision with gangway
22.4.10 London Free Press reports a 41 year old man was killed and his 37 year old wife was seriously injured in a head-on accident involving the ATV they were riding and a truck. The crash occurred on the main road that connects the port city of Oranjestad, where cruise ships dock, with resorts that line beaches to the north. A newspaper account says the truck may have swerved into the ATV and police reportedly found drugs in the cab. The ATV rental was not one sanctioned by Princess Cruise Lines.
Death ashore
3.4.10

From a reader: I was a passenger on the Mar 28-Apr 4 sailing. On April 1 (yes April Fool's Day) the ship listed severely as we approached our next port. I was on deck taking a walk when I noticed the side of the ship I was on appeared much higher than the other side. I then noticed water draining from the pools and told my partner to grab his towel and run inside. Bridge called crew to passenger assist stations. Several minutes later the ship righted itself. The Captain later came on the intercom and said there was a steering malfunction and the ship listed 5-9 degrees. Crew accounts say it was much worse. The incident delayed our arrival into port by as much as an hour. There are passenger accounts of dishes falling in the buffet and a wine barrel snapping loose in the wine bar and careening into the Piazza Court on Deck 5.

Severe list
23.2.10 Cruise Critic reports a tour bus carrying passengers to a "Tropical Forest Hike and Beach" ship-sponsored shore excursion in Tortola went off the road and flipped earlier today. Of the 20 passengers onboard, one person was killed and two others were seriously injured. According to a statement issued by the cruise line, Princess is still investigating the details of this morning's accident. The injured passengers have been taken to a local hospital, while the other tour participants are back on the ship, being checked out by the ship's medical staff. The passenger who died was a 24-year-old man from Rochester, New York, on vacation with his parents, who were also on the tour. The ship is on the second day of its seven-night Southern Caribbean itinerary. It was in St. Thomas yesterday, and is scheduled to visit Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados before returning to its embarkation port of San Juan on Sunday. UPDATE: The crash occurred as the bright green tour bus was descending a steep hill on Tortola when it reportedly veered off the road, crashed into a rocky embankment and flipped on its side. There is some suggestion the brakes failed. The driver has been charged with dangerous driving.
Passenger death on shore excursion; others injured
dd/mm/yy
2009
Incident
16.10.09 Cruise Critic reports while at sea today en route from Halifax to New York, the encountered gale force winds that caused the ship to list. According to an official statement from the cruise line, there were no passenger injuries and only one minor crew injury; this crewmember has already returned to work. The severity of the list in actual degrees is not yet known. Cruise Critic member JohnLauben was onboard and shares this post on the Princess forum: "Currently onboard, off the coast of New England. We're in a storm, with gale-force winds up to 70 knots. We listed a bit this morning ... several waiters in the Horizon Court fell, carrying trays of food or other dining supplies. A piano in the Explorer's Lounge slid off the stage, and was [totalled]. The galley and backstage tours were cancelled...." From a Reader: Seems there might be more Damage to the Caribbean Princess, last night [Oct 19] she left Boston late [9pm ish] due to inspections and possible repairs [report of DECK Damage / Cracked]. According to Sources at the port, Llyods of London was there doing the inspection[s] as well.See here for more information. Storm damage
dd/mm/yy
2008
Incident
5.10.08
The ship lost power after arrival at Ambrose light (New York). It was towed into New York Harbor by 3 tugs from Moran Towing, arriving at Pier 12, Brooklyn approximately 2 hours late.
Loss of power
23.10.08
It was announced today that five Caribbean Princess cruises in April 2009 have been cancelled following an approach to hold an important government conference on board. The affected cruises are April 5 (14-day), April 12 (7-day), April 12 (14-day), April 19 (7-day), and April 19 (14-day). Passengers affected will be offered alternative cruises.
Cancellations
7.7.08
It has been reported that the ship is experiencing mechanical problems (i.e., genset fault) and that it is running slow. St. Maarten has been dropped from the itinerary and replaced with Tortola. Other port calls have been shortened.
Mechanical problems
dd/mm/yy
2007 and earlier
Incident
28.1.06
The Sun-Sentinel reported on Feb 4 that a 30 year old waiter from Portugal was found dead in his cabin on Jan 26.  When the cabin was searched, 2 packages of heroin (1 kg) were found wrapped in a white t-shirt stashed in the bed's headboard.  Federal authorities began investigating when the ship returned to Fort Lauderdale on January 28.
Crew death
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Drugs found
29.7.05
Posted at Cruise CriticYesterday in St. Maarten we had some kind of power loss on the ship. When we embarked from St. Maarten none of the elevators were working. Capt announced the engineers were working on fixing the problem. I have an aft balcony and can watch the wake as we leave - as we were leaving the engines did not sound right. Then the capt announces that we would be leaving the harbor and doing some manuevers (360's) so the engineers can make sure everything was online.  All nite it seemed we not were sailing as fast as we had been. Sure enough - today they announced that there were engine problems and we would NOT be stopping at Princess Cay. Compensation is $100 ship board credit per passenger and port taxes for Bahamas refunded.
Engine problems
   



Illness Outbreaks at Sea by Caribbean Princess

dd/mm/yy
Reported Illness Outbreaks
20.10.10 CBC reports a ship carrying dozens of passengers, who have been quarantined after contracting a stomach flu, arrived in Saint John Wednesday. Roughly 40 passengers and three crew members aboard the Caribbean Princess have been plagued by an outbreak of the stomach flu. The sick have been barred from leaving the cruise ship while it is in port in Saint John because the virus is easily spread. UPDATE: Boarding in New York City on Saturday (October 23) was delayed while crew sanitized the ship.
24.10.08
CBC reports that 105 passengers and 3 crew have been sickened by a bug believed to be norovirus. The ship docked today at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Princess Cruises said in a written statement that extra sanitation procedures were put into practice as soon as a higher-than-usual number of sick passengers was reported. Ill passengers are isolated in their cabins until they are non-contagious. Yesterday a crew member was taken off the ship in Saint John and transferred by ambulance to hospital for an unknown illness -- it is unknown whether his illness is related to this outbreak of what appears to be norovirus. UPDATE: The CDC reported October 27 that 172 of 3081 passengers (5.58%) and 13 of 1161 crew members (1.12%) reported ill on the cruise.
8.4.07
The CDC reports that 117 people came down with what appeared to be norovirus on the cruise ending today -- six people were still in isolation when the cruise ended.  The breakdown of crew vs. passengers reporting ill was not provided -- instead the illness was minimized by saying that "about 2.5 percent of those onboard" (reportedly 4500 passengers and crew) had reported ill.  If the distribution between crew and passengers is as it usually is, the percentage is closer to 4 percent of passengers.



Illness Outbreaks by Ship: