Another day, another Carnival cruise ship is having issues.
The company announced late Thursday night that the Carnival Legend, currently off the coast of Honduras, is unable to sail at its optimal speed because of a technical problem, forcing the ship to cut short passengers' vacation.
The Carnival Legend has canceled its visit to Grand Cayman today so it can immediately return to its homeport in Tampa Bay, Fla., according to a news release. The Legend is on the last leg of a seven-day Caribbean cruise that departed Tampa March 10.
Carnival did not know the exact number of people on board the Legend but, according to its website, it can hold 2,124 passengers and 930 crew members.
About 1,500 miles away, passengers onboard the Carnival Dream will be flown home rather than completing the remainder of their cruise back to Florida after their ship stalled at a dock in St. Maarten with a mechanical problem Wednesday.
"Since it is unclear when the Carnival Dream will be departing St. Maarten," Carnival spokesperson Vance Gulliksen said in an email to ABC News Thursday, "it only makes sense that we fly guests home and we are in the process of arranging both charter and commercial flights for guests to be flown to Orlando or their final destinations."
The ship suffered from a malfunction to its backup generator, but Carnival says the Dream hasn't lost power and admits there where interruptions to elevators and toilets for a few hours Wednesday night.
Gulliksen said only one public restroom was taken offline for toilet overflow and there was "a total of one request for cleaning of a guest cabin bathroom. Aside from that, there have been no reports of issues on board with overflowing toilets or sewage."
The Carnival Elation also ran into weekend problems that prompted the line to give the ship a tugboat escort as it began its voyage from New Orleans March 9. The cruise line said the ship had a minor issue with one of the two units used to propel and steer the ship.
The ship's speed, hotel services and all other systems remained in normal working condition, Carnival said in a statement. "In the interest of extreme caution, we requested that a tugboat remain alongside the ship as it maneuvered away from the dock and into the river in New Orleans at the start of the voyage on Saturday, March 9. The tugboat trailed the ship down the Mississippi for good measure, although it was not needed. The ship's full itinerary is expected to operate normally."
The cruise line, the world's largest ship operator, suffered a public relations nightmare that played out in the media for nearly a week when the Carnival Triumph lost power a month ago. An engine fire crippled the Triumph, leaving more than 4,200 people stranded for five days with overflowing toilets, no power and a scarce food supply.
"You know what, I thought everyone gave me a hard time when I was booking this cruise saying I can't believe you are going on a Carnival cruise after what happened with the Triumph," Kris Anderson, who is on the Carnival Dream with his family, told ABC News Thursday.
"What are the odds it's going to happen again, right? And then look at us now," he added
Despite the mishap on the Dream, people are dealing with the headache in a good manner.
"People obviously are upset, disappointed but it seems like, in general, most folks are going with the flow," Anderson said.
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Source: By Genevieve Shaw Brown and Gio Benitez, ABC News
Re-posted on CruiseCrazies.com - Cruise News, Articles, Forums, Packing List, Ship Tracker, and more
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