Princess Cruises ship loses power off Florida coast

[mercedes]

 

Last night apparently was a rough one for passengers on Princess Cruises' Emerald Princess, which lost power shortly after pulling out of Fort Lauderdale.

 

Vacationers aboard the 3,080-passenger vessel have told news outlets and written on online message boards that the ship was dead in the water for several hours with no air conditioning and limited services.

 

"An hour out of (Fort Lauderdale) our engines quit, (and) we were a floating paperweight for four hours as they tried to repair generator and computer problems," writes one passenger today on a message board at cruise fan site . "Meanwhile ... no (air conditioning), limited lights and cancellation of shows, entertainment, etc. The dinner menu was limited to a few items, and the poor waiters were melting in their uniforms."

 

A local CBS-TV affiliate in Floridaquotes a Coast Guard official as saying a computer glitch on the three-year-old vessel was to blame.

 

Passengers say Princess has canceled the Emerald's scheduled call today at Princess Cays, the line's private beach destination in the Bahamas, due to the delay.

 

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UPDATE, 12:14 PM ET: Princess Cruises confirms the Emerald Princess lost power for several hours late Sunday starting at about 6:30 pm ET -- 90 minutes after it pulled out of Fort Lauderdale.

"Due to the power outage, the ship was without propulsion until approximately 11 pm, when it was restored," the line says. "Power for hotel services was restored intermittently during this time. At no time was there any danger to the ship or its passengers and crew."

A spokeswoman for the line, Karen Candy, also confirms the ship has skipped its scheduled port call today at Princess Cays. The rest of the ship's itinerary is unaffected, Candy says, adding the line soon will have details on compensation for passengers affected by the incident.

[coloradocruisers]

How disappointing for those passengers. We've booked the Emerald Princess for our next cruise, and are so looking forward to the itinerary. I hope Princess get's the problem fixed, and makes it right for the passengers.

[DebbieandJerry]

What an adventure! Hot, humid, no wind, no movement and no entertainment.

[zebra]

Kevin, I can assure you .... you would not know that the ship had those problems. We had a perfect cruise.

[coloradocruisers]

Kevin, I can assure you .... you would not know that the ship had those problems. We had a perfect cruise.

That's what I like to hear Jackie!