Carnival Cruise Line has responded to guest concerns about the need to hand in passports for select sailings with reassurances that this is indeed normal procedure.

While it may be new to some guests who may be sailing these types of itineraries for the first time, passports are always safely stored onboard.

Cruise Travelers Must Hand Over Passports

Guests aboard Carnival Freedom as the ship returns from dry dock in Spain have been startled to learn that they must surrender their passports for immigration processing in Spain. This can be disconcerting for travelers who have been warned of passport theft and scams, but Carnival Cruise Line is seeking to reassure guests about the requirement.

Carnival Cruise Line brand ambassador John Heald has been inundated with questions and concerns about this issue – some not so polite – and has explained the process.

“So [passports] will be collected today, embarkation day and stored in a safe on board. The immigration officials will come on the ship in Valencia or Malaga or both and check passports,” Heald said. “The good news is that the immigration authorities will not need to see the guests themselves otherwise there would be a huge line for that as you can imagine.”

Carnival Freedom departed Barcelona, Spain on Monday, October 23, 2023, after finishing her dry dock upgrades in Cadiz, which included getting a new whale tail funnel. The ship is scheduled to call on Valencia, Malaga, and Las Palmas in the Canary Islands before heading out to the open ocean on her way to Bermuda and then Port Canaveral.

The cruise line will not hold on to passports any longer than necessary to comply with immigration requirements.

“All the passports will be returned after the last Spanish port which is Las Palmas,” Heald clarified. “You will all receive a letter on board on how this will be done.”

Heald said that the cruise line was only informed of the requirement for Carnival Freedom‘s transatlantic crossing in the last few days, which explains why guests were not alerted to this requirement long before embarkation.

Not a New Procedure

It must be noted that this is not an unusual procedure and is quite common on both Asian and European cruises as part of immigration processing and clearances.

Collecting passports is not the cruise line’s decision, but is dictated by the regulations of the country the ship is visiting, with different countries having different regulations. Carnival Cruise Line has no recourse nor input that will affect the requirement, and if it is not done, Carnival Freedom would not be permitted to visit the planned Spanish ports of call.

Carnival Cruise Line’s travel documentation webpage only states that “US citizens are required to carry a passport, valid for six months beyond the return date of their voyage” for Europe and transatlantic cruises. No specific details about surrendering passports are mentioned.

Read Also: Large Passport Book vs Standard – Does It Matter?

Different factors may influence whether each country’s immigration officials may require passports to be surrendered. The number of ports a ship will visit, the total number of hours in ports of call, previous destinations the ship will have visited, or the overall capacity of the ship could all be factors in whether or not passports must be turned in.

Guests are always advised to travel with a valid passport, even if not explicitly required, such as for closed-loop cruises from US homeports.

Without a passport, guests could find themselves having much greater challenges if they must remain in a port of call due to an injury or other circumstances, must leave the cruise early for an emergency back home, or if something drastic happens and the entire cruise is cancelled and guests must be returned home from a foreign port, such as due to ship damage.

From the ocean itself to pools, hot tubs, waterslides, splash pads, and more, cruise ships are known for water. What is more unusual, however, is guests waking up in the middle of the night to water flooding their stateroom and pooling in the hallway outside as it rains down from the ceiling, but that is just what happened to guests aboard Carnival Radiance recently.

Videos Show Flooding on Carnival Radiance

Two new videos have been flooding – pun intended – social media showing soaked floors and the raining ceiling aboard what is reported to be Carnival Radiance.

Uploaded on TikTok by a woman named Amber, hashtags #carnivalcruise and #flooding help describe the videos, while the posted description indicates the incident occurred aboard Carnival Radiance. The hallway décor and brief glimpses of crew identification badges and nametags do indeed confirm that this was on a Carnival cruise ship.

The first video is just six seconds long and was posted in mid-October, showing the massive water accumulation in the hallway. That brief video already has more than 107,000 likes and more than 7,300 comments – many of which are making joking Titanic references.

Worth Reading: Couple’s Cabin Floods Multiple Times on P&O Cruise Ship

The incident apparently happened in the early hours of October 17, 2023, the first night of a 4-night cruise out of Long Beach, California. The ship had departed Long Beach the evening before and would visit Catalina Island on October 17, followed by Ensenada, Mexico on October 18. After a day at sea, Carnival Radiance returned to Long Beach on Friday, October 20.

You can watch the footage of the flooding below:

The poster claims to have been woken up at 2 a.m. with water gushing into their stateroom, while the video clearly shows hallways and floors so soaked that the water is pooling on top of the carpet. The poster also indicates that they lost power at one point in the midst of the flooding, though the hallway clearly has power.

Both videos also clearly show water pouring from the ceiling in one section of the hallway, as if it were raining indoors on the ship.

Nearly a dozen crew members are busy in the hallway with cleanup efforts in the longer video, using specialized vacuums and squeegees to contain the deluge. A makeshift plastic curtain has also put in place to help block the area from additional water spray.

Read Also: How Do Cruise Ships Get Fresh Water?

Guests on the sailing have indicated that the incident happened on Deck 7 (Empress Deck) of the ship, but praised crew members for very quickly cleaning up the area, even in the middle of the night.

Some comments state that passengers in the affected area were moved to different staterooms, the deck smelled like sewage, and that clothes were sent to the laundry, but these reports are not confirmed.

Where Did the Water Come From?

At this time, there is no indication of what happened to create the internal flooding. As Deck 8 is also a staterooms-only deck and the incident appears confined to Deck 7, it is possible a water pipe burst, causing the immediate flooding.

It should be noted that Deck 7 is well above the waterline and there is no indication at all that there was any structural breach on the ship at any time. This appears to have been an internal issue only and has already been resolved.

No information is available about whether or not impacted guests are being compensated for any damage to their possessions or if any other compensation for the unusual circumstances has been offered.

The Sunshine-class Carnival Radiance was formerly Carnival Victory before a tremendous $200 million (USD) transformation in 2021. The 101,509-gross-ton ship can welcome 2,984 guests at double occupancy, or up to 3,873 guests when fully booked when all berths filled (not flooded).

Floods on Cruise Ships

This is not the first time a cruise ship has been inundated with unexpected water. On the maiden voyage of the world’s largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean International’s Wonder of the Seas in March 2022, a sprinkler malfunction caused swift flooding on the Royal Promenade.

In another bizarre incident, a sudden turn caused a pool to overflow on Harmony of the Seas in January 2023, creating a six-deck waterfall in the ship’s center space.

Cruise ships occasionally have open spaces flood from less severe pool overflows, or when a vessel may be caught in a sudden, intense squall, such as happened aboard Carnival Sunshine in May 2023, which caused significant flooding, particularly in crew areas.

Water pipes can burst, drains clog, sprinklers malfunction, and other incidents happen that cause such unexpected waterlogging.

Fortunately, crews are well-trained to mitigate such incidents and quickly repair and clean up areas to restore them to dryness with a minimum of disruption. Carpeting can be swiftly replaced, huge fans are used to circulate air and speed drying, and other restoration methods are used to quickly dry ships out and ensure a fantastic, non-flooded time for guests.

Carnival Freedom has officially set sail again sporting her brand new, iconic “whale tail” winged funnel following more than two weeks in dry dock in Cadiz, Spain. The ship’s return to service is also with additional renovations and refreshment, including adding a popular new venue onboard.

Carnival Freedom Finishes Dry Dock

The 110,000-gross-ton, Conquest-class Carnival Freedom has successfully completed her dry dock in Cadiz, Spain, and has welcomed guests back aboard for a transatlantic cruise to return to her homeport of Port Canaveral, Florida.

The ship spent a total of 16 days in dry dock undergoing intensive refurbishment, which has included refreshing public areas as well as guest staterooms, expanding the onboard casino, and general maintenance work.

Of special interest are the aesthetic upgrades to the ship’s appearance, most notably the replacement of the ship’s winged funnel, which was damaged by a fire in May 2022 while docked in Grand Turk. There were no injuries during the fire, but the starboard wing of the funnel structure was severely damaged, resulting in both wings being removed for more than a year until this dry dock.

This marks the first time that the team members at the Cadiz shipyard have designed and manufactured a Carnival funnel, bringing the ship back to her characteristic appearance that is so instantly recognizable to cruise lovers around the globe.

Another update to Carnival Freedom‘s appearance is that her hull has now been repainted in the new red, white, and blue livery that first debuted with Mardi Gras in 2021 and has been rolling out across the fleet as each ship enters dry dock.

This overall refreshment inside and out gives Carnival Freedom, which first set sail in 2007, a brand new look for guests to enjoy.

New Venues Onboard

It isn’t just the overall look of Carnival Freedom that has been updated. The ship has also had the popular Heroes Tribute Bar added with fitting military décor, a “Welcome Home” tribute and memorabilia wall, and a patriotic scheme to honor veterans and active-duty service members.

Carnival Cruise Line is gradually adding the Heroes Tribute Bar to all ships in the fleet. The venue first debuted with Carnival Panorama in 2019, and has been a hit for veterans, active service members, and their families to share the camaraderie of their service and experiences.

“The Heroes Tribute Bar is a project that is very near and dear to my heart and one that everyone at Carnival is extremely proud of,” said Christine Duffy, Carnival Cruise Line president, when the venue opened aboard Carnival Panorama.

“We’re always looking for new ways to honor our military heroes and this new outlet is a wonderful tribute to the sacrifices of our Armed Services personnel and their families, and is a wonderful complement to our extremely popular military tributes which are held on each and every Carnival cruise.”

Another new venue, the Dreams Studio, has also been added aboard Carnival Freedom. The studio offers private photography sessions for guests to capture the very best of their vacation memories with Carnival’s expert photography staff.

Carnival Freedom Sailing Again

To return to Florida, Carnival Freedom is now sailing a 14-night transatlantic cruise from Barcelona, visiting Valencia and Malaga in Spain, the Canary Islands, and Bermuda before she will arrive in Port Canaveral on Monday, November 6, 2023.

Once back in her year-round homeport, the ship will offer 4- and 5-night Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean sailings, visiting popular destinations like Nassau, Grand Turk, Amber Cove, Bimini, Half Moon Cay, and Princess Cays, depending on the cruise length and departure date. The ship is scheduled to remain sailing from Port Canaveral at least until early April 2026.

Carnival Freedom can welcome 2,980 guests aboard at double occupancy, or as many as 3,754 guests when fully booked with all berths filled. The ship is also home to approximately 1,150 international crew members who are ready to once again welcome guests to phenomenal vacations on the revitalized ship.