UPDATE:
Carnival has now cancelled Carnival Liberty’s cruise due to an engine room fire on Monday. The ship has been in port since Monday. The cruise ship was expected to set sail from St. Thomas today but now it has been decided to fly all passengers back home from the US Virgin Island. below is the latest statement from the cruise line:
The Carnival Liberty continues to remain in St. Thomas following an engine fire that occurred on Monday, Sept. 7, while the ship was docked there during a scheduled port of call visit. All guests will now be flown home from St. Thomas. Given the limited availability of commercial flights, guests will primarily be transported via chartered aircraft.
All guests are being provided with a full refund of their cruise as well as a 50 percent discount on a future cruise. This is in addition to a $150 per person credit that has already been applied to guests’ shipboard accounts.
The ship is expected to return to its homeport of San Juan later this week. We apologize to our guests for this unexpected disruption to their vacation and the inconvenience they are experiencing.
Carnival Liberty will return back to its homeport in San Juan later in the week.
PREVIOUSLY:
Carnival Cruise Line has stated that Carnival Liberty will be heading back to San Juan, Puerto Rico after an engine room fire on Monday, September 7th.
Once the U.S. Coast Guard gives the all clear the Carnival Liberty will sail from St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands where it has been docked since Monday. The ship had an engine room fire and as a result all passengers and crew were evacuated to the island. Passengers were provided refreshments at a local hotel in St. Thomas. The good news is that there were no injuries and the ship’s automated suppression system extinguished the fire.
Here is the latest statement posted by the cruise line:
The Carnival Liberty continues to remain in St. Thomas following an engine fire that occurred yesterday while the ship was docked there during a scheduled port of call visit. The ship’s command is presently awaiting permission from authorities to sail.
Once the vessel departs, it is scheduled to return to its homeport of San Juan. Guests will have the option of remaining on board through the rest of the week and exploring San Juan or disembarking and traveling home. If clearance to depart St. Thomas is not received by later this evening, the company will move forward with arrangements to fly all guests home from St. Thomas.
All guests are being provided with a full refund of their cruise as well as a 50 percent discount on a future cruise. This is in addition to a $150 per person credit that has already been applied to guests’ shipboard accounts.
The delay has been due to an evaluation of the ship’s engine systems and checking of any damage after the fire. The ship is able to depart St Thomas with all services running as normal. The Carnival Liberty will sail back to homeport in San Juan where guests can choose to stay on the ship and go ashore or disembark and travel home.
The ship expected to be cleared for departure sometime today. Cruise Hive will update this post once more is known.
