Carnival Dream Cruise Ship Stuck At Port

A Carnival Dream cruise ship full of passengers is stuck at a port in the Caribbean today after reporting technical issues, according to the Coast Guard.

The incident has reportedly sparked outrage among some of the Carnival Dream’s passengers, who are not permited to disembark the ship while maintenance crews attempt to fix the mechanical problem. The cruise ship is currently docked in a port in St. Maarten.

A passenger reportedly alerted the Coast Guard to the situation at approximately 3 am local time on Thursday, according to Chief Petty Officer Ryan Doss in Miami.

The Carnival Dream’s captain reportedly indicated to the Coast Guard that the cruise ship was experiencing mechanical difficulties relating to its emergency diesel generator, responsible for controlling the vessel’s propulsion system.

According to the Coast Guard, passengers on the Carnival Dream are being kept aboard the ship for “accountability reasons.”

The cruise was originally scheduled to depart St. Maarten today, and the captain reportedly wants to prevent anyone from inadvertently being left behind once the mechanical issues are resolved.

Several passengers on the Carnival Dream cruise ship have reportedly reached out to the media, expressing anger and frustration at the decision.

“We are not allowed off of the boat despite the fact that we have no way to use the restrooms on board,” passenger Jonathan Evans wrote in an e-mail to CNN early Thursday. “The cruise director is giving passengers very limited information and tons of empty promises. What was supposed to take an hour has turned into 7-plus hours.”

Carnival Cruise Lines confirmed that the ship has experienced periodic power issues since becoming stuck in port. The company released a statement on its official Facebook page this morning.

“At no time did the ship lose power but there were periodic interruptions to elevators and toilets for a few hours last night.” the statement reads. “However, at this time all hotel systems are functioning normally and have been functional since approximately 12:30 am. The ship has full power but is still at dock while personnel continue to work on the technical issue.”

According to the Coast Guard, the Carnival Dream was in the process of a seven day cruise when the mechanical issues arose. The cruise ship was originally scheduled to leave St. Maarten on Thursday and return to Cape Canaveral, Florida on Saturday.

[Top image via Wikipedia]