Water gushing down a hallway, crew members forming a human chain to bail the flood into buckets, sleeping on yoga mats in the ship’s spa: Some of the passengers on the Carnival Dream will have a nightmare to tell when the ship returns to port in New Orleans on Sunday.
A broken water line was to blame for flooding a portion of the ship, Carnival Cruise Line officials said, sending both crew members and travelers scrambling.
One passenger, Marla DeAnn Haase, posted pictures and video to Facebook of what she saw happening on the ship Thursday, May 3, KTLA sister station WGNO in New Orleans reported.
Carnival spokeswoman Annemarie Matthews said the the ship left New Orleans April 29 for a seven-day cruise of the Western Caribbean.
But on Thursday, a broken water line in the sprinkler system sent “clean” water into about 50 cabins on Deck 9.
Guests who were “impacted” by the flooding will receive a full refund, plus half off a future cruise, Matthews said.
Still, some passengers might pass on the offer. Besides having to sleep on a yoga mat, Haase described a small fire in the sleeping area which she believed was caused by one passenger’s CPAP breathing apparatus shorting out in the damp conditions.
Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts told WGNO that his parents were on the cruise.
Roberts said his brother spoke to their parents, who described an “out of control” situation Thursday evening.
But his parents’ room was not affected by the water and they opted not to leave the ship in Cozumel, where passengers were allowed to disembark if they didn’t want to finish the cruise in New Orleans, Roberts said.