A fire aboard Carnival Freedom has left many passengers dissatisfied, not only with the incident itself but with how the cruise line handled it afterward.
Michele McKenzie Hernandez was with her friend on her friend’s first cruise when, midway through, the tail of the ship caught fire.
McKenzie Hernandez recalled the chaotic scene that followed.
“Team members are swarming the deck, pushing everybody in,” she said. “Everybody running in and filming. It was kind of crazy.”
The fire led to the closure of several venues on the back of the ship, including the pool, restaurants and the basketball court, according to McKenzie Hernandez.
McKenzie Hernandez said the disruption ruined the cruise experience.
No compensation for passengers
Despite the fire, Carnival has not offered refunds or future cruise credits to passengers.
News 6 contacted Carnival for a statement. A company spokesperson explained in an email, “We did not offer compensation to guests who were on Carnival Freedom when the fire occurred because the cruise was not interrupted, and no ports were missed due to the fire.”
McKenzie Hernandez expressed her frustration.
“To have a fire on your ship, that’s like the worst thing you would ever want to happen, and then to not do anything,” she said.
Having taken about 50 cruises, most with Carnival, McKenzie Hernandez feels the incident was a failure in customer service.
“They just … completely dropped the ball,” she said.
The importance of travel insurance
For those looking to avoid a similar situation, travel expert Tammy Levent advises cruise passengers to purchase travel insurance.
Levent, owner of Elite Travel, suggests opting for insurance through independent companies rather than the cruise line itself.
“Everyone should have travel insurance to protect them and cover them in case of anything like this that were to happen,” she said.
Levent also recommends adding a trip interruption rider to the policy.
“That is where most of your insurance coverage comes in, is under trip interruption,” she explained. “In the middle of the cruise, you were interrupted because there was a fire on board, and that interruption ruined the rest of your trip.”
Carnival canceled the next two cruises that were supposed to happen on Carnival Freedom and those passengers did receive refunds, according to the email.
“We offered guests compensation who were set to embark on the next 2 cruises, because we cancelled those sailings as we took the ship out of service to complete work on its funnel,” the email states.
Those who were on the ship when the fire happened are out of luck.
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