Carnival Freedom funnel catches fire, cruises canceled

Tuesday, 26 Mar, 2024 0

Two cruises are cancelled this week on Carnival Freedom after the ship suffered a second cruise ship fire in less than two years.

A cruise set to depart yesterday and one on March 29 from Port Canaveral have been scrapped.

“Regrettably, the damage is more than we first thought and will require an immediate repair to stabilize the funnel,” Carnival Cruise Line said.

Carnival said the fire broke out on the port side of the exhaust funnel when the ship was about 20 miles off Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas.

The fire was quickly extinguished and no other area of the ship was damaged.

There were no reported injuries to guests however two crew members suffered smoke inhalation.

The line is still investigating the cause although there were reports of a lightning strike.

“It was a scary, very scary, fire in the middle of the ocean,” ship guest Jamie Eubanks told FOX 35 Orlando on arrival back in Port Canaveral on Monday.

According to guests, the cruise line then closed off the top deck.

Carnival praised guests onboard during the fire, noting their ‘outstanding cooperation and support.’

They will be refunded.

For guests booked on this week’s canceled cruises, the line will provide a full refund plus a 100% future cruise credit.

“We sincerely regret the impact to our embarking guests, as we know they have been looking forward to their spring break vacation,” Carnival said in a statement.

Carnival Freedom’s exhaust funnel also caught fire in May 2022 while the ship docked at Grand Turk.

Learn more about : Carnival Cruise Line ( N. America )

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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.

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