Carnival Miracle Damaged in St. Kitts

[Dave]

I'm beginning to wonder about Carnival. There have been several instances over the past few months involving Carnival hitting piers and other docked vessels, and now comes word the Carnival Miracle sustained a large gash along the hull in an incident at St. Kitts. The ship will remain overnight for repairs to be completed and then return to Florida. No word on whether the ship will return late, which would impact embarkation for the next cruise.

[macmom111]

I am glad someone besides me was thinking it was alot of accidents with piers lately. makes you wonder if they are getting alot of untrained captains or just being careless. I know you cant help weather, but if it is bad enough that an experienced captain hits a pier maybe they shouldnt try it. just my thinking

[llev80]

Dave- Any word yet how substanial the damage is and if the ship will have to go to dry dock? I am booked on the March 13th sailing and am concerned the damages may impact my sailing. Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

Louis

[Dwayne]

Not Dave, but I'll chime in. From the pictures I've seen today, it doesn't look like substantial damage and they will probably be able to make repairs in the port(s). Carnival hasn't released any updates at this hour. I highly doubt it will be an on going issue or impact any sailings beyond the next one "possibly" being late boarding. Should be no worries.

I can easily see how this could have happened. I was on the Holiday once while while they were trying to tie her up at St. Kitts (for an hour or more) and the ropes broke because of the wind. The Captain made the decision for the safety of the passengers and crew to cancel the port. He was applauded by all for making the effort though.

Dwayne

[Jim C.]

They news report that accompanied the pictures found here, claim there were winds hitting about 43 mph. If the ship caught a just that strong while trying to align for docking its very possible to get blown into the pier before the captain could have corrected with thrusters. Makes you wonder why he even tried. Of course, I'm no cruise ship captain, maybe they can normally dock in that kind of wind safely? But maybe it was a unexpected wind gust too...

I agree with Dwayne, it looks like something that can be repaired without having to dry dock as the damage is well above the water line. They just had to patch it up before going to sea, thus the overnight in St Kitts.

[Dwayne]

Here is an excerpt from an 11:00AM USAToday update:

"Carnival says it has repaired the damage to the Carnival Miracle, and the ship has set sail for Fort Lauderdale. The line says the ship is expected to arrive at its home port at 12:00 noon on Sunday, about four hours late."

From an un-named company source I have. "This shouldn't impact future sailings."

Dwayne

[llev80]

Thanks for the info Dwayne & company .

With all the recent collisions involving cruise ships and piers, it makes you wonder how catastrophic a collision at sea would be. After all, these incidents in port have occured at low speeds in a controlled environment.

[Dwayne]

You are most welcome.

I know I wouldn't want to experience a collision at sea. I doubt it would happen at sea unless some extreme weather condition was at play. They know where the other ships are in the area, and leave space for each other.

For a ship that size it really was a bump. An unexpected wind change can really push ships this size more than what one would think. I was docking a little (compared to a ship) 30ft. boat once and took out a wood pier piling when the wind shifted.

Dwayne

[vietvet]

I am sure the captain tried his best. If he had not tried he would have been criticized for missing the port. Some people just don't realize the work it takes to put one of these ships into a port. I hope it didn't damage her badly she is one of our favorites.

[tncruiseman]

Greetings everyone! Just returned from the Carnival Triumph and an awesome cruise! We took the new "Behind th Fun" tour and while on the bridge, Capt Los (awesome guy) said he does not attempt Progreso when winds are over 30 MPH. I'll give a more detailed review later, but if you are cruising with Carnival, the new "Behind the Fun" tour is a "must-do!"