Worth Reading: Carnival Issues Clarification Statement

Carnival Cruise Lines issued an update yesterday on the status of Carnival Dream, Carnival Legend and Carnival Elation that is well-worth reading. For days now, I’ve listened to media coverage that has bordered on the absurd and that has frequently strayed into sensationalistic fear-mongering.

Carnival Magic docked in Civitavecchia, Italy. It’s been a bad month for the popular cruise line, made worse by fear-driven media coverage. Photo © Aaron Saunders

Has Carnival had a good week? No – this, coupled with last month’s incident aboard the Carnival Triumph – has been one of the worst periods in recent memory for the cruise line, which accounts for a whopping 21.1 percent of the entire cruise industry.

But inaccurate and uninformed media coverage is hampering the ability to determine the cause of these incidents and focus on prevention in the future. Clearly, measures have to be taken to ensure that the events that occured onboard Carnival Triumph last month do not happen again.

Here’s the line’s statement in its entirety:

Carnival Cruise Lines Update

March 16, 2013

We would like to share an update with you regarding the status of Carnival Dream, Legend and Elation and to answer your questions and clarify many misperceptions that are being driven by confusing and, in many cases, inaccurate media coverage. We would also like to update you on the status of our ongoing internal review in the wake of the Carnival Triumph incident.

Carnival Dream

As of this evening, we will have nearly completed the process of flying all guests from St. Maarten to either Orlando or their final destination via a combination of 21 charter flights and multiple commercial air flights. Additionally, we are providing some 600 hotel rooms in Orlando as needed based on travel plans, along with all motor coach transportation needs. Once all guests have left the ship, Carnival Dream will make preparations to sail back to Port Canaveral with the crew on board and we expect to sail on Sunday.

The ship’s power plant, propulsion and hotel systems are fully operational. Aside from some periodic interruptions to restroom and elevator service for a few hours Tuesday night, at no time have any of the ship’s systems and services not been functional. One public restroom was taken offline for cleaning Tuesday evening, but otherwise there were no issues with sanitation functionality or cleanliness on the vessel. Reports to the contrary are completely false.

We have had permission from all necessary regulatory authorities to depart from St. Maarten and sail to Port Canaveral since earlier this week. However, it was our decision not to sail with guests on board without a functioning back-up emergency generator. Upon arrival in Port Canaveral early next week, we will install a replacement emergency generator, followed by the appropriate inspections and approvals to operate our next scheduled voyage on Saturday, March 23rd.

Carnival Legend

Carnival Legend is experiencing a technical issue with the ship’s propulsion system which is having a minor effect on the ship’s maximum speed which is being reduced by a few nautical miles per hour versus normal capacity. The ship’s safety systems, steering and all hotel services are functioning normally and the ship, which has been achieving speeds of 19 knots, is scheduled to arrive in Tampa on time tomorrow morning.

On Sunday afternoon, Carnival Legend is expected to depart on schedule while technicians continue to make progress on the repairs. The ship is expected to operate its normal itinerary with the exception of one port – Grand Cayman – which is being replaced by Costa Maya. Any guests wishing not to proceed based on the change to one port of call have been given the option of cancelling and receiving a full refund.

Carnival Elation

At no time has the Carnival Elation been under tow or required the assistance of a tug boat. The ship continues to operate its normally scheduled itineraries. The ship is experiencing a minor technical issue with the steering function of one of its two redundant Azipod propulsion units and the tug that is trailing the ship while it travels on the Mississippi River is purely a precautionary measure. The ship is scheduled to return on time from its current voyage on Monday. Repairs are expected to be fully completed prior to the ship’s departure for its next cruise on Monday afternoon.

Our Commitment to Safety and Security

We would like to sincerely apologize to our guests for the disruption to their vacation plans as a result of these occurrences. The cause of each one is unrelated although we take each of them very seriously. As always, the safety of our guests and crew is our foremost priority. Carnival Cruise Lines carries some 4.5 million passengers a year and operates thousands of cruises without incident. Our historical safety record is outstanding. We have comprehensive maintenance programs in place that meet or exceed all regulatory standards and requirements.

We are committed to learning from any incident that may occur on one of our vessels to apply lessons learned and prevent future occurrences. We are presently conducting a comprehensive fleet-wide review that encompasses multiple operational areas, systems and training. We have assembled an expert team from across the company, as well as a variety of outside experts to complete the assessment. We expect to make an announcement early next week on the initial steps of our implementation program based on the results of our review. In the meantime, we are confident that we will continue to provide our guests with a safe, fun and memorable vacation experience and look forward to welcoming them on board.

Carnival Sensation and Atlantis in Nassau, Bahamas. Photo © 2012 Aaron Saunders

From the Deck Chair will return tomorrow with the start of our next Live Voyage Report from the Viking River Cruises’ “Longship 10” christening in Amsterdam, Netherlands!