Passengers on a Carnival cruise ship faced yet another, in a long line of previous problems on Sunday, as they spent hours in long lines waiting to exit the ship after it had docked.
The Carnival Freedom docked at Port Everglades early on Sunday morning, but many passengers were not able to debark and said they were still stuck on board the ship in the afternoon, according to WPTV.
A sign was posted at the port blaming the long lines on cuts resulting from the government sequester.
"Due to Federal budget cuts, U.S. Customs and Border Protection staffing has been reduced and wait time may be longer than usual," Carnival wrote. "Thank you for your understanding and patience."
Carnival acknowledged that passengers were facing longer wait times, but said that it shouldn't affect the itinerary for the ship. It was scheduled to depart later in the day on Sunday.
"The Customs and Immigration process for debarking guests has taken quite a bit longer than normal," the company said in a statement. "It is our understanding that more than one cruise line at Port Everglades is experiencing similar circumstances.
"We do not anticipate any impact to the ship's itinerary for the next voyage which will depart later today," the statement continued. "We regret the inconvenience our guests have experienced during today's debark and clearance process."
This is the latest in a long line of problems Carnival cruise lines has faced. They recently had a very public incident where the Triumph was stuck at seas for nearly two weeks. After its return to land, the ship came loose from the dock in Mobile, Alabama, and two dockworkers went overboard. The company was then forced to cancel 12 cruises initially. The number of cancelled voyages then increased to at least twenty after the series of incidents.
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