Carnival Cruise Woes: Technical Issues Cut Vacations Short
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Amy Sussman/Getty Images(TAMPA BAY, Fla.) — Passengers are making their return home from sea this weekend as mechanical problems crippled two different Carnival Cruise liners, cutting guests’ vacations short.
Two thousand passengers aboard the Carnival Legend are on their way back to Tampa Bay, Fla., after a technical problem caused the ship to sputter in the Yucatan as it failed to reach optimal speed.
Meanwhile, those aboard the Carnival Dream are flying back from St. Maarten after the emergency generator onboard caused the ship to stall at a dock on the island.
“Clearly, there is a larger problem going on at Carnival specifically,” ABC News’ Travel Editor Genevieve Shaw Brown told Good Morning America.
The issues plaguing the cruise line’s two ships bear an eerie resemblance to the deplorable conditions on the Carnival Triumph, which lost power at sea 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.
But despite these issues, Carnival told GMA that “each of these situations was different.”
“Technical issues will occur from time to time. We take each one seriously.”
Shaw Brown said the problems on the seas may be as a result of companies trying to outdo each other by building larger and more extravagant ships each year. But in the process, they often miss the maintenance problems on board.
“You maximize the revenue, and you try to keep them, the boats, the ships moving as fast as possible back out to sea,” Christopher Mullen, a professor at Boston University told GMA.
Yet, Carnival insists that potential vacation goers should still choose the company, saying, “We provide enjoyable vacations to 4.5 million people each year. It is important to remember that in neither instance was guest and crew safety compromised.”
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