Port Canaverals fire-damaged Carnival ship finally gets its replacement whale tail

Table Of Content

• Latest Updates After Fire Breaks Out on Carnival Cruise Ship
• Carnival cruise ship catches fire in Grand Turk
• Carnival Cruise Passenger Captures Ship Fire on Video After Reports of Lightning Strike
• Second Funnel Fire for Carnival Freedom
• Become A Travel Expert
• GET LOCAL BREAKING NEWS ALERTS
• Travel Troubleshooter: I accidentally paid twice for my hotel. Can I get a refund?

In May of 2022, Carnival Freedom‘s funnel caught fire while the ship was docked at the Grand Turk Cruise Center. “The Captain has made multiple announcements to guests and crew and advised all but essential safety personnel to stay away from balconies and all open decks. A Carnival cruise ship that set sail from Port Canaveral in Florida caught fire on Thursday.

Latest Updates After Fire Breaks Out on Carnival Cruise Ship

The ship’s last dry dock was in 2019, but headed in early to get its replacement funnel. While the cause of the fire is still being investigated, Carnival noted in a post on X Saturday that eyewitnesses reported the possibility of a lightning strike. Cruise Radio prioritizes well-balanced cruise news coverage and accurate reporting, paired with ship reviews and tips. The unfolding situation is eerily familiar to a scenario that unfolded nearly two years ago.

Carnival cruise ship catches fire in Grand Turk

There were some changes to the itinerary, however, because ofthe fire and weather. The current situation was inherently more dangerous because the ship was at sea with all her passengers and crew on board. When the funnel caught fire in 2022, many passengers were ashore, greatly reducing the risk of passenger or crew harm. By early evening, the Captain had announced that passengers had reported seeing the funnel hit by lightning but added that this was not confirmed. While details are still unfolding, a statement from Carnival Cruise Line — as well as eyewitness reports provided to Cruise Radio — indicate that a lightning strike may have caused the Carnival Freedom fire.

Carnival Cruise Passenger Captures Ship Fire on Video After Reports of Lightning Strike

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A Carnival cruise ship caught fire as it was docked in Grand Turk on Thursday morning, officials said. It wasn’t until it left for the Navantia shipyard in Cadiz, Spain, in September that it would undergo a 16-day dry dock that would give the ship a new funnel often referred to as the “whale tail” because of its winged shape. “And I want to add my apologies and my assurances that when you rebook using your full refund and your 100% future cruise credit, that the crew will be standing by to give you all the Fun you deserve,” he added.

Second Funnel Fire for Carnival Freedom

Friday's five-night sailing also was scheduled to stop at those two ports of call, but in reverse order. On Saturday evening, "Carnival Freedom guests enjoyed the Elegant Night dinner as planned, and, with the exception of the open decks, all areas of the ship are fully functioning," Carnival said in its statement. Carnival said it made the decision after "our technical team completed a thorough assessment" during the ship’s visit Sunday to Freeport in the Bahamas. Damage to the funnel will require the cancellation of Carnival's next two cruises out of Port Canaveral, which were scheduled to depart Monday and Friday. Carnival Cruise Line is also reassuring passengers that the ship’s next voyage, a 5-night Eastern Caribbean cruise departing on March 25 with calls to Amber Cove and Grand Turk, is still planned to set sail on schedule. Firefighterswere able to control the blaze in about two hours and there were no reportedmajor injuries.

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The Freedom ship will be taken to Freeport for a "repair to the funnel," Carnival said. All guests impacted by the changes in upcoming trips have been notified. The ship first had a day at sea on Tuesday and visited Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic on Wednesday.

To 4 p.m., and is scheduled for another day at sea before returning to Port Canaveral on Saturday, May 28. The fire was contained after about 20 minutes, but took somewhat longer to fully extinguish. Emergency personnel will continue to assess the ship to determine the cause of the fire, as well as to ensure the safety of the vessel. That incident led to passengers being transferred to Carnival Conquest, which had to cancel its scheduled cruise to accommodate the change. Heavy-duty machinery and shipyard workers were atop the funnel throughout the week, prepping for the smokestack redesign. The ship was about 20 miles off Eleuthera Island, Bahamas, when the fire broke out.

There were about 3,700 passengers onboard the ship when the fire occured. And the two upcoming sailings, which were canceled, likely would have had a similar passenger count amid the busy Spring Break season. The 110,000-gross-ton, Conquest-class Carnival Freedom can welcome 2,980 passengers aboard, and is also home to roughly 1,150 international crew members. The ship is homeported year-round from Port Canaveral, offering a variety of 4-night Bahamas and 5-night Eastern Caribbean cruises, perfect for quick getaways. In a letter sent to guests booked on the next sailing of Carnival Freedom, Carnival Cruise Line has provided an update to the ship’s condition and operation following a fire that damages the port side wing of the ship’s funnel. Freedom has been sailing without the iconic red-white-and-blue smokestack funnel since it became engulfed in flames in May 2022 while docked in Grand Turk.

It should be noted that the ship’s funnel is an exhaust vent and it is possible for the vessel to run safely without the characteristic “wings” that make Carnival cruise ships so distinctive. Mardi Gras, which arrived in port just before Carnival Freedom, experienced no delays with its own schedule for guests to debark and visit the port. No other cruise ships are visiting Grand Turk today, and the fire caused no damage to port facilities. Carnival Freedom experienced a fire in the starboard “wing” of its iconic whale-tale funnel while the ship was docked in Grand Turk on Thursday, May 26, 2022. No injuries have been reported, and the fire has been successfully extinguished. The ship’s captain kept all passengers onboard informed during the emergency with multiple announcements over the public PA system.

The call to Freeport is now planned for Sunday, March 24, and the ship will return on schedule to her homeport, Port Canaveral, on Monday, March 25. Carnival offers the most sailings from Port Canaveral with four ships offering a projected 270 homeport calls in the next year sailing year-round on a variety of itineraries. Freedom rejoins, Mardi Gras, Carnival Vista and Carnival Liberty, although Liberty will be switched during the year with Carnival Glory. One of the cruise’s passengers, Heath Barnes, posted footage of the incident on Facebook Saturday afternoon.

"The ship’s fire response team was quickly activated, and the ship’s captain also turned the vessel towards the heavy rain in the area to maximize the efforts to put out the flames," an earlier Carnival statement said. "Eyewitnesses reported the possibility of a lightning strike, and that is being investigated, but cannot yet be confirmed." Cruise Hive was established back in 2008 and among the earliest blogs in the industry. Since the start, it's been our aim to provide the latest cruise news covering all the major cruise lines.

Along with the ship’s firefighting team, the captain brought the ship into an area of heavy rain bands to help extinguish the fire, which was successful. Carnival Freedom has canceled several upcoming sailings because of a fire in its funnel, the second in the last two years. Witnesses reported the ship may have been struck by lightning, but that has not been confirmed, and the cause is still being investigated, according to the cruise line. This marks the second occurrence of a fire originating from the ship's exhaust funnel during a voyage.