The Cruise To Nowhere
The Carnival Cruise Lines ship Carnival Destiny, with a disabled propulsion system partially repaired, canceled its Caribbean port stops and sailed toward home Wednesday after more than a day adrift in the ocean.
"The ship has turned around and is headed in the direction of Miami," said Carnival spokesman Andy Newman.
The ship, carrying 2,956 passengers and 1,063 crewmembers on a seven-day cruise, left Miami Sunday headed for Puerto Rico. It was scheduled to arrive in San Juan at 6 p.m. Tuesday but as the vessel neared the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Atlantic southeast of the Bahamas, one of two cycloconverters malfunctioned, Newman said.
Cycloconverters transmit electricity from a ship's diesel engines to a propulsion motor, which moves the ship. As ship engineers were trying to diagnose the problem early Tuesday, the second cycloconverter went down, Newman said.
One unit was repaired early Wednesday and the ship initially headed for San Juan, the first port of call on its cruise schedule, at 10 to 12 about half its normal speed. But the cruise line later decided instead to return to its homeport in Miami for additional repairs, the company said.
All shipboard functions were normal and passengers had air conditioning, running water and working toilets, Newman said.
The ship was expected to arrive in Miami Friday evening. For their troubles, passengers were promised full refunds for their cruise and air transportation and a 50 percent discount on a future three- to seven-day Carnival cruise before Dec. 15, 2001.
The latest mishap is one of several the cruise line has experienced in the last six months.
In January a seven-day cruise was cut short when a generator caught fire aboard Carnival's Celebration and left the ship adrift for six hours and temporarily without running water, toilets or air conditioning. None of 1,586 passengers and 667 crewmembers was hurt in the fire.
Technical problems with one of Paradise's propulsion motors reduced the ship's traveling speed and forced the company to change the itinerary for the millennium-themed cruise with an estimated 2,600 on board.
An engine-room fire in September left the Tropicale temporarily disabled in stormy waters in the Gulf of Mexico with some 1,700 passengers and crew on board.
The Carnival Destiny can carry as many as 3,360 passengers and 1,100 crewmembers.
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