BAHAMAS CELEBRATION Listing After Striking Underwater Object –Updated
Passengers on a Halloween cruise to the Bahamas got more excitement than anticipated when Celebration Cruise Line’s, 1000-passenger BAHAMAS CELEBRATION struck an unknown object after departing Grand Bahama for Palm Beach.
Passengers were called to muster stations with life jackets over their Halloween costumes while the ship returned to Grand Bahama Island following the incident on October 31st. Passengers described a loud bang followed by flickering lights.
Eye witnesses reported the presence of a cargo vessel nearby just before the loud bang and shudder. There were rumours that the engine room had flooded, and power was lost after the incident. The ship remained without power for the next six hours. Tugs arrived to tow the ship back to port where there was a long delay getting passengers off due as the gangway could not be easily connected to the listing ship. By 4am the following morning most passengers were ashore, then housed in local resorts.
Celebration Cruise Line said in a statement that passengers were evacuated from the ship and placed in several resorts pending their return to Florida. There were no reported injuries.
Crews were assessing damage to the ship and the line said it would cancel at least the next two cruises. Passengers were returned to Miami, Florida on the Bimini Superfast vessel which arrived at 5:00 pm the following day. Many had to remain on deck for the crossing as the vessel was full. Buses then returned passengers back to Palm Beach, where the cruise had begun.
BAHAMAS CELEBRATION remains tied up in Grand Bahama with a noticeable list to port.
The 35,855 gt BAHAMAS CELEBRATION was converted to a party oriented ship from the cold weather Jahre Line ferry PRINSESSE RAGNHILD built in 1981.
See Peter Knego’s Sea Trek tour of Grand BAHAMAS CELEBRATION from December 2010.
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I was a passenger on that Halloween cruise and I want to say that the evacuation process was extremely scary and chaotic it was not this mood organized transition that celebration corporate is obviously reporting it is extremely insulting and its sensitive for the corporate folks on the cruise line to be reporting this. So sad that they haven’t even reached out to passengers to even extend an apology there was no reps to meet us everyone does not live in Michigan does not live in Florida and there were several different scenarios where people have lost money or had to spend additional money because we had no choice which i think is completely wrong and that was important for us to even get back to our home states. it seems while passengers were still being transported to safety the crew ship agency jumps out ahead to the media and start reporting all this positive things about the evacuation process how would they know they weren’t there they didn’t have the experience so I completely resent celebration cruise line for doing that. It’s upsetting because we the passengers trusted them and they were not there for us yes they got us a hotel in a rescue ship and got his back home but what about having reps there what about showing some real professionalism and care and concern and compassion for the people who make your business thrive they should have been there with us at the port where we get dumped and stayed in the hot Sun for several hours waiting on the rescue ship they should have actually been at the Bahamas at the resorts with us they should have sent several reps to meet with us individually instead they grouped as up and just felt like they were trying to pass the buck and get rid of us all the information we were receiving with third party or the portable already in the bahamas why weren’t the cruise library there why canadian door some of this with us? We just out abandon in the bahamas in the time of emergency in a whole other country it was just sat for us we felt like a group of refuge cheese and then we were treated not exactly the most welcomed on the rescue cruise ship the whole thing was just not as easy as they are making it sound
OH MY!
Karen the whole scenerio sounds awful and to be honest it does not surprise me in the slightest especially after Costa Concordia but your reply does come across as if you writing it in the middle of the drama!
Sailed on her four years ago. Got a Suite . . . Ha Ha Ha. Could have doubled for motel 6. Sorry she’s breached, but really . . . no loss of life, so no loss at all. Only decent part was the Cove Restaurant which wasn’t bad at all . . . . the “queen bed” in the suite, was a stone tablet with a blanket on it. Took 20 minutes for hot water to come out of the shower head. Most of the elevators didn’t work.
Ship needs work. Maybe now she’ll get it.
Was in Freeport on Monday, 10-17-14 on Carnival Sensation, docked right next to Bahamas Celebration. Listing to port, did not appear like there was any ongoing work on the ship.
Thanks Lee, I just checked Travelpulse.com and their article contained this: “Right now it’s still being evaluated,” said Glenn Ryerson, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Celebration Cruise Line. “It definitely needs some repairs and we don’t have a time frame for when it will be back in service.”
Costa Celebration, the former Grand Celebration, is on its way to Florida. Rumour has it she is going to replace the Bahamas Celebration shortly.
For how long, nobody knows, but it seems that the problems with Bahamas Celebration are more serious (flooded engine?)
Grand Celebration (for a short while “Costa Celebration”) is going to replace her starting february. She will be operated by the newly formed Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line
http://www.seatrade-insider.com/news/news-headlines/ship-originally-built-for-carnival-to-replace-damaged-bahamas-celebration.html
Now travelling as CELEBRATION (a “cargo vessel”) now in Walvis Bay, Namibia en route (presumably) to the “Sands of Alang” (as Peter calls its)
http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/mmsi:341944000/shipid:372500/vessel:CELEBRATION