"Yep, 4000 people on a ship with no good way of going potty!"

All they had to do is provide a bunch of buckets. Of course, getting the buckets to the rail in the dark could be tricky...

Carnival Cruises Strikes Again!

The Carnival line certainly is no stranger to fires and other 'incidents'. This one is just the latest (and probably not the last) in a string of fires for several years.

In 1995, Carnival's Celebration caught fire and 1700 passengers were evacuated after drifting for two days.

In 1996, the Golden Princess was towed from the coast of British Columbia to Victoria after a fire broke out in the engine room.

In 1998, Carnival's Ecstasy caught fire right after leaving Miami.

In 1999, Carnival's Sun Vista caught fire off the coast of Mayalasia. The passengers were trapped on the burning ship for 5 hours, spent another 6 hours in lifeboats (some with no supplies, but nearly twice the listed capacity), and were finally picked up by a Russian freighter.

Also in 1999, Carnival's Tropicale caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico, and was adrift for two days. The captain thought it best not to inform the passengers of the raging fire in the engine room because he thought it would cause a panic. The Tropicale also caught fire in 1982 on her maiden voyage. I guess if you've got something good, go with it!

In 2006, the Star Princess (a subsidiary of Carnival) caught fire in the Caribbean, with hundred of cabins burned and one man dead.

Also in 2006, the Crown Princess listed severely (apparently caused by the second officer) to 24 degrees off the coast of Florida, tossing passengers, crew and anything that wasn't fastened down, producing nearly 300 injured passengers and crew.

This year, the Royal Princess caught fire in the Mediterranean.

Also this year, Carnival's Ecstasy (of previous fire fame) turned hard to avoid a large buoy that none of the crew seemed to notice until they nearly hit it. The ship listed severely, injuring 60 passengers.

Cruises don't appeal to me, but the LAST cruise I would take would be a Carnival cruise (pun intended).

Although none of them are as bad as the sinking of the Greek cruise ship Oceanos in 1991, where the crew abandoned the ship early on, and the saving of the 571 passengers was orchestrated by the entertainment director, her guitarist husband and a magician! Part of the rescue was filmed, and shown on TV several years ago.

Sue