ST. MAARTEN (CNN) — Carnival Cruise Lines is working to fly all passengers on one of its cruises back to Florida after the ship suffered a generator failure while docked in the Caribbean.
The experience on the Carnival Dream became something of a nightmare for passengers Wednesday when power went off, toilets stopped working, and no one was allowed to leave — despite the fact that the ship was docked at Philipsburg, St. Maarten, in the eastern Caribbean.
Although power was restored and facilities were functioning again, the ship still can’t leave its port.
“During regularly scheduled testing of the ship’s emergency diesel generator, a malfunction occurred,” Carnival said in a statement.
“While personnel continue to work on the technical issue we are making arrangements to fly all guests home via private charter flights and scheduled flights from St. Maarten. Guests on the current voyage will receive a refund equivalent to three days of the voyage and 50 percent off a future cruise.
“We are also cancelling the ship’s next voyage which is scheduled to depart on Saturday, March 16.”
On Tuesday, Carnival announced it was conducting “a comprehensive review” of all of its 23 ships following a disaster last month in which a fire crippled one of its ships in the Gulf of Mexico. Carnival President and CEO Gerry Cahill said the probe will focus on the prevention, detection and suppression of fires, engine room redundancies, and what additional hotel facilities might be provided and might run off the emergency generators.
