Carnival has cancelled several cruises on two ships so that it can make repairs and changes to the ships' power and fire suppression systems following power issues on multiple cruises.
Carnival Cruise Line announced on Tuesday that they cancelled a dozen sailings on Carnival Triumph and Carnival Sunshine as they need to review their fire safety systems and engine problems following the Carnival Triumph disaster in February. The line hinted at taking other ships out of service as well, USA Today reports.
Both ships are already being repaired.
"The cruise line is making significant investments to enhance the level of operating redundancies and the scope of hotel services that can run on emergency power, and further improve each ship's fire prevention, detection and suppression systems," the line says in a statement according to USA Today. "Given the necessary lead time to source needed materials and implement the enhancements, Carnival will extend the current out-of-service period for these two ships."
The Carnival Triumph is undergoing a nine-week overhaul that began right after it reached the port in Mobile, Alabama following the February engine room fire that left the ship stranded. Carnival cancelled 14 trips following the cruise. Now they're saying it will remain out of service for another seven weeks due to more changes that need to be made, so Carnival cancelled 10 additional trips. The Carnival Triumph will resume service on June 3.
The Carnival Sunshine is also undergoing a planned makeover that was supposed to take seven weeks. It will now take three weeks longer, meaning two trips have been cancelled. The Carnival Sunshine will resume service on May 5.
These cancellations will affect around 30,000 vacationers. Those who booked a cruise will receive a full refund, transportation cost reimbursement and a 25 percent discount on a future cruise.
More ships may undergo a review of their fire safety and power systems, but it is not clear how many.
"Our team of experts has worked virtually around the clock to determine the best set of solutions and rapidly develop an effective implementation plan for both of these ships," Cahill says. "Moving forward, we will have the ability to source materials and schedule improvements much more expediently, thus minimizing the scheduling impact on other vessels."
Cahill wanted to ensure travelers that cruise travel is safe now despite so many mishaps lately.
"All of our vessels have fully effective safety systems, equipment and training in place," Cahill says. "The changes we are implementing are focused primarily on improvements to better support continued power and hotel services should unexpected issues arise. In addition, we are applying new learnings and making enhancements in the area of fire suppression and extinguishing."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
