Carnival Cruise Line has cancelled its next two departures out of Port Canaveral after a fire in the exhaust funnel onboard Carnival Freedom in the Bahamas this weekend.
The incident happened Saturday afternoon, near Eleuthera Island, Bahamas, on its way to Freeport and had about 3,700 passengers onboard. It's the second fire for the Carnival Freedom a fire broke out in the funnel area while it was docked in Grand Turk in May 2022.
News outlets are sharing passenger videos and statements from the cruise line, which say the damage is more extensive than they'd hoped for.
"Regrettably, the damage is more than we first thought, and will require an immediate repair to stabilize the funnel, resulting in the cancellation of the March 25 and March 29 cruises from Port Canaveral," according to a statement issued by Matt Lupoli, Carnival Cruise Line's senior manager of public relations. "The funnel has been stabilized for the ship’s return to Port Canaveral overnight to disembark guests, and then it will go to the Freeport shipyard on Monday afternoon to begin the required repairs."
"We sincerely regret the impact to our embarking guests, as we know they have been looking forward to their spring break vacation. We are providing all guests on both canceled cruises a full refund and a 100% future cruise credit, so they can come back and enjoy a future cruise with us. We also greatly appreciate the terrific guests who are currently sailing with us, for their outstanding cooperation and support."
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