Following the problems with Carnival Triumph (see SM, May), the company has suffered two further serious breakdowns. In mid-March Carnival Legend had engine problems that caused the call at Grand Cayman to be cancelled, and the ship headed back to Tampa at reduced speed.
Just a few days earlier, on 13 March, Carnival Dream experienced back-up generator failure during routine tests that knocked out some services, including lifts, while alongside in St Maarten. The ship never fully lost power, and all services were restored within a few hours, but the cruise was curtailed, as the company did not consider it sensible to put to sea, fully loaded, with no back-up generator. The passengers were flown back to Orlando, and the ship later made her way empty to Port Canaveral, arriving on 19 March for repairs. A new back-up generator was fitted and the ship sailed on her next cruise as planned.
Meanwhile, Carnival embarked on a programme of upgrading back-up power sources on those ships deemed to be vulnerable to similar problems. As a result, the repairs and upgrade to the electrical systems on Carnival Triumph will take longer than anticipated and, with a further ten cruises cancelled, she will not return to service until 3 June.
