Carnival Corp., the world’s largest cruise operator, will fly passengers home from the Caribbean island of St. Maarten, after a generator malfunction interrupted elevator and restroom service on board the Carnival Dream.
The malfunction, another operational and publicity setback for the Miami-based company, occurred last night during regularly scheduled testing of the ship’s emergency generator, Carnival said today in an e-mailed statement.
“We are making arrangements to fly all guests home via private charter flights and scheduled flights from St. Maarten,” Carnival said in the statement.
The company also canceled the next scheduled trip for the Carnival Dream. The generator problem follows the engine fire that crippled the Carnival Triumph in February, leaving about 3,100 passengers to cope with unsanitary conditions and food shortages.
The Dream had about 4,300 passengers and 1,300 crew, according to Vance Gulliksen, a company spokesman. The ship was on the last leg of a seven-day cruise and was docked in St. Maarten when the malfunction occurred. Passengers will get a refund equivalent to three days of their voyage and 50 percent off a future cruise, the company said. The ship is based in Port Canaveral, Florida.
Carnival fell 1.2 percent to $35.30 at 1:09 p.m. in New York. As of yesterday, the stock had declined 8.5 percent since Feb. 8, the last trading day before the breakdown on the Carnival Triumph, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 2.4 percent.
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