The Carnival Victory reportedly lost power for several hours late this afternoon, according to passengers posting on social media.
Passengers on the ship report that the at some point after 5:00 P.M., the Carnival Victory lost power and the ship went dark. (Several passengers mentioned that the ship lost power as early as 3:15 P.M.). A generator was started but the ship remained drifting without propulsion for several hours.
The Carnival Victory is on a 4 Night Western Caribbean cruise, having left Miami on February 25th for Key West, Florida. The Carnival cruise ship called on Cozumel, Mexico yesterday (February 27th) and is currently north of Cuba at this time. Before the power failure, the ship was scheduled to arrive back in Miami tomorrow morning at 8:00 A.M.
@CarnivalCruise @uscoastguard I’m on the carnival victory and we have been dead in the water for almost 2 hours without any explanation. What is going on???
— Scott Partridge (@scottdpartridge) February 28, 2019
Shortly before 8:00 P.M. this evening, Carnival announced that the cruise ship regained power and would arrive on time tomorrow morning. Carnival stated:
“Carnival Victory experienced a brief power outage earlier this afternoon. Power and all services have been fully restored and the ship continues on the way to Miami for an on time arrival tomorrow morning.”\
Passengers on the cruise ship are now stating that the air conditioning has finally come back on and the ship is sailing back to Miami and has increased its speed from around 11 knots to 20 knots. Carnival did not disclose the exact nature of the power failure.
The Carnival Victory experienced mechanical problems in October of last year. Carnival stated that an unspecified “issue” was affecting the ship’s “maximum cruising speed.” A letter to the ship’s guests signed by the Master of the cruise ship stated that although technicians were doing the “necessary work,” the ship would operate on a modified itinerary. The ship sailed to Nassau in the Bahamas rather than to Cozumel. Carnival offered its guests token compensation of only a $50 onboard credit.
Last year, Carnival announced that the ship is part of a $2 billion enhancement program where the cruise line is rebranding a number of its ships. The Carnival Victory will be dry docked in March of 2020 before returning to the fleet as Carnival Radiance. The ship will undergo major refurbishments including specialty dining facilities, aqua parks, and enhanced accommodations and amenities.
Power losses of cruise ships are a relatively common occurrence. In 2016, there were at least 18 power losses of cruise ships operated by the major U.S.-based lines, including problems with the Carnival Elation, Carnival Legend, Carnival Liberty and Carnival Vista as well as the Carnival owned Adonia, Caribbean Princess, Emerald Princess, and Costa neoRiviera.
2017 saw a number of Carnival cruise ships experiencing engine problems, such as the Carnival Dream, which was forced to miss a port in Mexico in August and then limped back to New Orleans, as well as propulsion issues plaguing the Carnival Fantasy, Carnival Paradise, and Carnival Splendor.
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