Passenger anger after ship stalls
Baku, March 15 (AZERTAC). A Carnival Cruise Lines ship with 5,600 passengers and crew has broken down in a Caribbean port, a month after another Carnival vessel was disabled by a fire that trapped thousands of passengers at sea for days. The incident is the latest black eye for an industry battered by problems ranging from norovirus outbreaks to the Costa Concordia accident in Italy in 2012 that killed 32 people. Carnival said the cruise ship Carnival Dream was stuck in port in St Maarten after its emergency diesel generator malfunctioned during testing. The liner, among the company`s largest, was on a weeklong cruise and had been due back in Port Canaveral, Florida on Saturday (Sunday NZT).The problem caused temporary disruptions to elevator and toilet services but the ship never lost power, the company said, adding that only one public toilet had overflowed. Carnival said it was arranging to fly the passengers, via charter flights and regularly scheduled flights from the Caribbean island, to Orlando or their final destination. Passengers will get a refund equal to three days` worth of travel and half off a future cruise.
The Carnival Dream is being held at dock while company engineers work on the problem. The company said passengers were free either to leave the ship and go into port or to remain onboard until their flights. The cruise industry has proven resilient in the face of a series of disasters. The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) projects that the number of people taking cruises this year will rise 3.3 percent. Carnival and its smaller rival, Royal Caribbean Cruises, have said bookings are recovering from a slump following the Costa Concordia accident. But a slew of headlines about mechanical problems and passengers stranded at sea without functioning toilets - coming at the busiest time of the year for bookings - could take a toll, especially if it deters potential first-time passengers.
"It`s first-time cruisers that will have issues. This is definitely a PR (public relations) concern," said Morningstar analyst Jaime Katz. "This is some inflection point. «Carnival canceled the Carnival Dream`s next voyage. Kris Anderson, a reporter for Memphis TV station WREG and a passenger on the Dream told CNN his friends had chided him for booking a Carnival cruise. "I said, `What are the odds of it happening to two ships in such a short period of time?`" he told CNN. "Look what happened now."
The latest incident comes two days after Carnival said it had launched a comprehensive review of its entire fleet following a fire that crippled its Carnival Triumph in the Gulf of Mexico last month.
Passengers described an overpowering stench in parts of the ship and complained that toilets and drainpipes had overflowed.
The Triumph eventually was towed into port in Mobile, Alabama, by tugboats. The company has assembled teams of fire safety experts, naval architects, electrical and mechanical engineers and engine manufacturers to conduct its own investigation, Carnival Cruise Lines President and Chief Executive Gerry Cahill said. The CLIA`s website said a typical cruise ship has more than 60 safety, environmental and health inspections annually.
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