Just posted on Carnival's FB site

[Dixieland Mom]

This was posted 10 minutes ago on Carnival's Facebook page, just an fyi for those who haven't seen the info:

Carnival Cruise Lines Update

March 16, 2013

 

We would like to share an update with you regarding the status of Carnival Dream, Legend and Elation and to answer your questions and clarify many misperceptions that are being driven by confusing and, in many cases, inaccurate media coverage. We would also like to update you on the status of our ongoing internal review in the wake of the Carnival Triumph incident.

 

Carnival Dream

 

As of this evening, we will have nearly completed the process of flying all guests from St. Maarten to either Orlando or their final destination via a combination of 21 charter flights and multiple commercial air flights. Additionally, we are providing some 600 hotel rooms in Orlando as needed based on travel plans, along with all motor coach transportation needs. Once all guests have left the ship, Carnival Dream will make preparations to sail back to Port Canaveral with the crew on board and we expect to sail on Sunday.

 

The ship’s power plant, propulsion and hotel systems are fully operational. Aside from some periodic interruptions to restroom and elevator service for a few hours Tuesday night, at no time have any of the ship’s systems and services not been functional. One public restroom was taken offline for cleaning Tuesday evening, but otherwise there were no issues with sanitation functionality or cleanliness on the vessel. Reports to the contrary are completely false.

 

We have had permission from all necessary regulatory authorities to depart from St. Maarten and sail to Port Canaveral since earlier this week. However, it was our decision not to sail with guests on board without a functioning back-up emergency generator. Upon arrival in Port Canaveral early next week, we will install a replacement emergency generator, followed by the appropriate inspections and approvals to operate our next scheduled voyage on Saturday, March 23rd.

 

Carnival Legend

 

Carnival Legend is experiencing a technical issue with the ship’s propulsion system which is having a minor effect on the ship’s maximum speed which is being reduced by a few nautical miles per hour versus normal capacity. The ship's safety systems, steering and all hotel services are functioning normally and the ship, which has been achieving speeds of 19 knots, is scheduled to arrive in Tampa on time tomorrow morning.

 

On Sunday afternoon, Carnival Legend is expected to depart on schedule while technicians continue to make progress on the repairs. The ship is expected to operate its normal itinerary with the exception of one port – Grand Cayman – which is being replaced by Costa Maya. Any guests wishing not to proceed based on the change to one port of call have been given the option of cancelling and receiving a full refund.

 

Carnival Elation

 

At no time has the Carnival Elation been under tow or required the assistance of a tug boat. The ship continues to operate its normally scheduled itineraries. The ship is experiencing a minor technical issue with the steering function of one of its two redundant Azipod propulsion units and the tug that is trailing the ship while it travels on the Mississippi River is purely a precautionary measure. The ship is scheduled to return on time from its current voyage on Monday. Repairs are expected to be fully completed prior to the ship’s departure for its next cruise on Monday afternoon.

 

 

Our Commitment to Safety and Security

 

We would like to sincerely apologize to our guests for the disruption to their vacation plans as a result of these occurrences. The cause of each one is unrelated although we take each of them very seriously. As always, the safety of our guests and crew is our foremost priority. Carnival Cruise Lines carries some 4.5 million passengers a year and operates thousands of cruises without incident. Our historical safety record is outstanding. We have comprehensive maintenance programs in place that meet or exceed all regulatory standards and requirements.

 

We are committed to learning from any incident that may occur on one of our vessels to apply lessons learned and prevent future occurrences. We are presently conducting a comprehensive fleet-wide review that encompasses multiple operational areas, systems and training. We have assembled an expert team from across the company, as well as a variety of outside experts to complete the assessment. We expect to make an announcement early next week on the initial steps of our implementation program based on the results of our review. In the meantime, we are confident that we will continue to provide our guests with a safe, fun and memorable vacation experience and look forward to welcoming them on board.

[OCruisers]

Thanks for your time to post this. Answers lots of questions!

 

LuLu

~~~~

[SkyMaster]

Makes total sense to me, and I, for one, am very glad that Carnival took the opportunity to inform us of the situation, and status of each of these ships, and cruises. THANK YOU CARNIVAL!

 

"SKY"

[Dixieland Mom]

Thanks for your time to post this. Answers lots of questions!

 

LuLu

~~~~

You're welcome. :)

[ddbaab53]

Thanks for posting that.;)

[deborahjo]

Thank you for posting the WHOLE article. I think we all need to see and read this.

[beachbum53]

Thanks for sharing that information. Despite what the nay-sayers have been posting, we are still looking forward to our upcoming cruise (on the Liberty). Now, if Carnival can somehow get Mother Nature to cooperate and provide us with some great weather, I would be one happy cruiser!:D

[eroller]

Very good response on the part of Carnival. Damage control in full force. Lets hope they stand by their word and that the fleet-wide review will correct whatever it is they have been doing wrong. They really can't afford any more "incidents". I'm glad they at least realize something is not right, or they wouldn't be performing a fleet-wide review. Corrective action is needed.

[rtw68]

Thanks for posting that info. I am sick and tired of the doom-and-gloom news reports of the issues and suspected it wasn't as bad as it was being portrayed.

 

Carnival has taken extra precautions in the case of the Dream cruise (which I applaud) and is still getting negative press.

 

I for one will keep cruising Carnival and have one going in April.

[cjknox]

Thank you for sharing. It's great to get the truth on these three matters.

[loujerb]

Wish they would have gave an update on repairs and how it's going on the Triumph. Sailing on 4/22/13.

[spencercoop]

Thanks for posting!

[pungo3]

Thank you for posting. I'm glad Carnival is giving us the facts!

[doitallWMB]

If this were any other Line not owned by CCL you folks would be chewing them up. Frankly, Carnival has management, budgeting and maintenance issue that the other majors, by some divine providence have avoided. Anyway, they must improve or the financial markets will decide their fate.

[Carnivaluver]

If this were any other Line not owned by CCL you folks would be chewing them up. Frankly, Carnival has management, budgeting and maintenance issue that the other majors, by some divine providence have avoided. Anyway, they must improve or the financial markets will decide their fate.

 

Carnival has already announced to the financial markets that is expecting less bookings this year then last year and lower profits accordingly. And none of the numerous law suits have been settled yet but I am sure these incidences will intensify litigants efforts.

[bjinouno]

Thank you for the Update, from the top.... So looking forward to our family cruise on the Splendor this August.

[maldenmusic]

Thanks for the info....I'm still a CCL customer

[Sargent_Schultz]

Carnival haters are going to hate that, but the truth will out. :p

[broberts]

. . . and clarify many misperceptions that are being driven by confusing and, in many cases, inaccurate media coverage. . . .

 

I wonder how much of the inaccurate media coverage is due to the apparent lack of a Carnival media spokesperson available for on-air and other interviews.

[Sargent_Schultz]

I wonder how much of the inaccurate media coverage is due to the apparent lack of a Carnival media spokesperson available for on-air and other interviews.

 

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

You can be sure the media will never admit their true motivation. Why wait for investigations to complete and facts when you can sell advertising today. :p

[tgunn1978]

Wish they would have gave an update on repairs and how it's going on the Triumph. Sailing on 4/22/13.

 

MY THOUGHTS, EXACTLY!!!! We're sailing on Triumph May 20th, and none of the comments by Carnival or Gerry Cahill have given a status update on her at all!:confused:

[danashay30]

I read this earlier on FB also and feel. that Carnival is doing an excellent job. They said from. the start that on the dream carnival decided not to sail. I. Took. that as them trying to avoid another triumph disaster so I don't know what else people want from. them.

[lady_cruiser]

We are sailing on the Elation the 11th of April. This gives them plenty of time to fix any problems that might occur.

 

Thanks for the posting.

[RWolver672]

The news is so screwed up. Yesterday they had Gabe Gutierez talking about Carnival. He said something about the CEO of Carnival Cruise lines being Mickey Arrison and they showed a picture of Gerry Cahill.

 

Carnival did well by posting that on Facebook. Too bad more people aren't a member to see it. I for one gave up on Facebook several years back.

 

We have no intentions of switching to another cruise line. We have had one instance with propulsion problems and it was not the end of the world by any means. Life happens.

[bvhboat]

I wonder how much of the inaccurate media coverage is due to the apparent lack of a Carnival media spokesperson available for on-air and other interviews.

 

CNN should report what Carnival posted on facebook but they wont. All they need is two people to call & complain & they run with it. What would make people call CNN in the first place? Do they have the number programmed in their phone just waiting for something to go wrong?