Skip to main content

Passengers report trouble on another Carnival cruise ship

By Tina Burnside and Ed Payne, CNN
March 14, 2013 -- Updated 0930 GMT (1730 HKT)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • The Carnival Dream is experiencing problems, passengers say
  • There's human waste all over the floor," passenger Gregg Stark says
  • An engine room fire crippled the Carnival Triumph last month
  • Class-action lawsuit alleges Carnival should have known "mechanical and/or engine issues"

(CNN) -- A month after a fire crippled a Carnival ship in the Gulf of Mexico, another one of the cruise line's vessels may be experiencing its own problems.

Multiple passengers aboard the Carnival Dream have contacted CNN, telling stories of power outages and overflowing toilets, all while docked in port at Philipsburg, St. Maarten, in the eastern Caribbean.

"We are not allowed off of the boat despite the fact that we have no way to use the restrooms on board," Jonathan Evans of Reidsville, North Carolina, said in an e-mail early Thursday. "The cruise director is giving passengers very limited information and tons of empty promises. What was supposed to take a hour has turned into 7+ hours."

The Dream was scheduled to leave port around 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

Carnival CEO: 'We failed'
Lawyer on Carnival: 'You're out of luck'

Gregg Stark, who is traveling with his wife and two young children, told a similar story.

"There's human waste all over the floor in some of the bathrooms and they're overflowing -- and in the state rooms," he said. "The elevators have not been working. They've been turning them on and off, on and off."

An announcement over the ship's public address system said they were trying to fix the problem and were working on the generators, according to Stark. A few hours later, another announcement was made, saying the problem was worse than expected.

When told of the complaints, Carnival representative Vance Gulliksen said late Wednesday night he wasn't aware of a problem. Several subsequent calls to the cruise line went unanswered.

The U.S. Coast Guard said there were no reports of an incident, adding cruise lines typically give a courtesy call even when they're experiencing minor problems.

The Dream, which can carry more than 5,000 passengers and crew, sailed from Port Canaveral in Florida on Saturday.

The reports are similar to those that came from the Carnival Triumph last month.

READ: Crippled cruise ship returns; passengers happy to be back

An engine room fire left the cruise ship crippled and adrift in the Gulf of Mexico with more than 4,200 people aboard.

The schedule four-day cruise stretched into eight days as tugs pulled the vessel into port. Food was scarce and passengers sweltered in the heat with no air conditioning.

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Carnival Corporation in the aftermath.

READ: How Carnival can clean up the PR mess

ADVERTISEMENT
Part of complete coverage on
June 19, 2013 -- Updated 1231 GMT (2031 HKT)
In soccer-mad Brazil, the World Cup, Confederations Cup and FIFA have become symbols of corruption and waste.
June 19, 2013 -- Updated 0059 GMT (0859 HKT)
A man who silently stood in Taksim Square and stared at a portrait of the founder of the modern Turkish state, drew hundreds to his vigil.
June 19, 2013 -- Updated 1726 GMT (0126 HKT)
In a file picture taken on January 30, 2012, Taliban fighters stand with their weapons as they hold the Muslim holy book Koran after they joined Afghan government forces during a ceremony in Herat province. The medieval Taliban who ran Afghanistan with the Koran in one hand and a gun in the other now tweet and talk peace, but they remain a potent threat as a NATO withdrawal looms.
As Afghan forces formally take over security of the country, what is likely to be on the table when the U.S. and the Taliban meet for talks?
June 19, 2013 -- Updated 0854 GMT (1654 HKT)
North Korea's recent belligerence has many in China, its lone ally, saying enough is enough. But would Beijing really cut Kim Jong Un off?
June 19, 2013 -- Updated 1047 GMT (1847 HKT)
Whether you have a vague fear of Big Brother or a desire to keep your bank information private, there are ways of securing your data.
Among the intriguing pieces of history in Chinese coastal province Fujian are the tulou: large, round, rammed-earth buildings dating back centuries.
June 18, 2013 -- Updated 1539 GMT (2339 HKT)
NYU did a great favor not only for the Chinese dissident but also for both the U.S. and Chinese governments, writes James Millward.
June 18, 2013 -- Updated 0314 GMT (1114 HKT)
Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden is laying low, but that's becoming increasingly difficult. CNN's Ian Lee reports.
June 19, 2013 -- Updated 1111 GMT (1911 HKT)
Esspresso being made at the Everyman Expresso coffee house July 31, 2012 in the Soho section of New York.
Tired of seeing developed nations take the lion's share of profits from his country's coffee crop, a Ugandan businessman decided on a new plan.
June 19, 2013 -- Updated 1322 GMT (2122 HKT)
There's a new menace lurking in the streets of London -- exploding sidewalks, which have injured at least 5 people.
ADVERTISEMENT