Carnival Works to Clean Up Its Messes

Carnival cancelled 10 additional sailings of the Carnival Triumph in the wake of the engine fire that stranded it at sea last month. The Triumph is now scheduled to return to service on June 3.

The cruise line said on Tuesday that it needed more time to implement changes to the Triumph that it is undertaking as part of a “comprehensive operational review” of its entire fleet.

Backup systems
Carnival is “making significant investments to enhance the level of operating redundancies and the scope of hotel services that can run on emergency power,” it said. The changes are being made on both the Triumph and the Carnival Sunshine.

The line is also working to “further improve each ship’s fire prevention, detection and suppression systems,” it said.

The Carnival Sunshine, currently in dry dock for a previously scheduled renovation, will now re-enter service May 5, with two voyages canceled.

Affected passengers will receive a full refund, reimbursement for nonrefundable transportation costs, plus a 25% discount on future four- or five-day cruises.
 
Seeks to minimize impact
“Our team of experts has worked virtually around the clock to determine the best set of solutions and rapidly develop an effective implementation plan for both of these ships,” said Carnival Cruise Lines president and CEO Gerry Cahill in a statement.

“Moving forward, we will have the ability to source materials and schedule improvements much more expediently, thus minimizing the scheduling impact on other vessels.”

Cahill announced a fleetwide review of Carnival Cruise ships at last week’s Cruise Shipping Miami conference.  The Triumph and Sunshine represent the first phase of implementation. Other Carnival Corp. brands are also under review.

Plagued by problems
Carnival has been beset by equipment troubles in recent weeks.

Last Thursday, the Carnival Dream was stranded in St. Maarten after an emergency diesel generator malfunctioned following a scheduled test. On Friday, the Legend was forced to skip a scheduled port call in Grand Cayman after experiencing propulsion issues.

Carnival flew all guests on the Carnival Dream to either Orlando or their final destination on a combination of 21 charter flights and several commercial air flights. They also provided 600 hotel rooms in Orlando to guests as needed.

Carnival disputes media claims that guests experienced unsanitary conditions onboard the Dream.

“One public restroom was taken offline for cleaning Tuesday evening, but otherwise there were no issues with sanitation functionality or cleanliness on the vessel,” said Carnival in a statement. “Reports to the contrary are completely false.”

Legend continues on
The Carnival Legend, after skipping a scheduled port call last week, left on its subsequent sailing with mechanics on board.

The ship is only able to achieve a decreased speed of 19 knots, forcing it to replace Grand Cayman with Costa Maya on the sailing. Guest unhappy about the change in itinerary can cancel and receive a full refund.

Financials
Meanwhile, Carnival lowered its financial guidance for 2013 in a scheduled financial conference call last week, citing increased costs from “timing of certain expenses and repair costs related to the ship incident.”