Carnival Corp. said on Friday said that its Carnival Legend ship, on the last leg of a seven-day Caribbean cruise, was having technical difficulties that were affecting its sailing speed.
The problem prompted Carnival to cancel a scheduled stop on Friday on Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. The Legend will instead go directly to its final destination and home port of Tampa, Florida, where it is expected to arrive on Sunday as scheduled.
The vessel made its scheduled call on Thursday in Mahogany Bay in Honduras, after stopping in Cozumel and Costa Maya in Mexico earlier in the week.
The company said it would give each passenger a $100 credit and offer 50 percent off a future Carnival cruise. A spokesman said the ship's safety systems and hotel services are functioning normally.
On a call with Wall Street analysts, Carnival Chief Financial Officer David Bernstein said he was "hopeful" the Legend would be able to sail on its regular itinerary next week.
The incident with the Legend was the fourth in the last month to grab headlines.
On Thursday, its Carnival Dream was idled in St. Maarten after its emergency diesel generator malfunctioned during testing, and last weekend another ship, the Carnival Elation, had to get a tugboat escort down the Mississippi River after a mechanical problem.
Most notably, last month, the Carnival Triumph was crippled in the Gulf of Mexico for days after an engine-room fire knocked out power and plumbing throughout most of the vessel.
Carnival on Friday lowered its revenue and profit forecast for the year, largely because of costs associated with the Triumph incident and sailing cancellations.
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