This morning, May 26th, Carnival Cruise Line’s ship Carnival Freedom experienced a fire onboard while docked at the Grand Turk port in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The cruise line issued a statement regarding the event, “Carnival Freedom’s emergency response team quickly activated and extinguished a fire inside the ship’s funnel while the ship was in Grand Turk. All guests and crew are safe, and the ship’s guests were cleared by local authorities to go ashore. We continue to assess the situation. Carnival Freedom left Port Canaveral on Monday on a five-day cruise,” said Matt Lupoli, Senior Manager of Public Relations for Carnival Cruise Line.
The cruise line reported that the fire had occurred, and was contained to the ship’s funnel, and that no passengers or crew were harmed during the incident. Guests onboard Carnival Freedom captured photos and videos of the fire.
Passengers were made aware of the fire onboard, when passengers from a neighboring ship, docked nearby began shouting to passengers of Carnival Freedom while they were on their balconies. Passengers were said to have been gathered by crew members and taken to their muster stations for safety.
After assembling at their assigned muster stations, guests were later told they could leave the ship and go ashore. The crew is reported to have assured guests that the fire was under control and that there was no immediate danger.
Carnival Freedom was operating a five-day itinerary when the fire occurred. The ship is currently scheduled to continue its voyage as usual. Carnival Freedom had previously departed from Port Canaveral, Florida on Monday May 23rd. As of now, there are no injuries being reported from the incident onboard, to either passengers or crew.
Hayley Phillips
Hayley Phillips is a military spouse currently living in Florida and loves all things travel and travel planning.
