A shipload of passengers received an unwelcome end to their cruise — and thousands more have had their upcoming cruise adjusted — following a ‘technical’ issue impacting Carnival Pride.
The ship, which was on 12-day European cruise from Dover, England developed a problem that appeared after departing Kiel, Germany earlier this week. According to reports from CruiseCritic’s online message board, the ship had issues with its propulsion system. One passenger who said they were on the sailing reported a “hard bang” followed by slow speeds.
The passenger then posted a letter from the captain informing passengers that “the ship has developed an issue that is affecting its maximum cruising speed.”
The ship returned to Kiel, Germany to assess the situation. While we’ve seen no official word from Carnival on what exactly is the problem, the cruise line went ahead and took the step of canceling the next cruise aboard Carnival Pride, which was set to sail today.
A note shared by Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald on Facebook on Wednesday said the following:
“We have an urgent message about your upcoming cruise. Carnival Pride is experiencing a technical issue and is making an unplanned stop in Kiel, Germany today so that we can board expert technicians. While we are working to make the repair and get the ship back to Dover as quickly as possible, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the 9-day cruise that is scheduled to depart from Dover on Friday as planned.”
Carnival made arrangements for passengers on the ship to make their way home from Germany, although it’s unclear what sort of compensation they received for their trouble and shortened cruise.
Canceled Cruise Now Back On, But Shorter
Now, however, following the assessment the cruise is back on, albeit with an adjusted itinerary.
In a post this morning, Heald shared an update stating the next cruise aboard Pride will now depart Monday, July 24 and sail an abbreviated itinerary, returning on the originally scheduled July 30. You can see his Facebook post below:
For passengers on the next sailing who have had their trip interrupted, the cruise line is offering the following:
- Passengers who decide to take the shortened cruise will receive a three-day pro-rated refund, including items like drink and wi-fi packages. In addition, Heald also said passengers will have $500 to spend onboard the ship.
- Those already in Europe will be reimbursed for hotel stays through Sunday (up to $300 a night) and receive $100 in food credit per diem.
- For Passengers who aren’t yet in Europe, Carnival will reimburse any airline change fees required to travel.
- Those who choose not to sail the adjusted cruise will receive 100% refund of what they paid, plus a 100% future cruise credit.
At this time, the ship is still docked in Kiel, Germany according to CruiseMapper.com. That’s roughly 430 miles as the crow flies from its homeport of Dover, England.
Carnival Pride was first introduced to the fleet in 2002. The ship holds 2,124 passengers at double occupancy.
