Carnival Freedom Cruises: Cancellations Following Recent Fire Incident

Carnival Cruise Line is canceling two upcoming cruises onboard the Carnival Freedom due to a fire incident onboard the ship.

The March 25 and March 30 departures affected were set to visit the Bahamas after leaving from Port Canaveral.

The Carnival Freedom faced a fire in the port side of the exhaust funnel on Saturday. The crew onboard immediately contained and extinguished the fire,” the company shared in a statement sent to booked guests.

“Investigations are ongoing into multiple witness accounts of a potential lightning strike while our technical team carried out a comprehensive assessment during the ship’s stop at Freeport,” added Carnival Cruise Line.

The company continued, “Unfortunately, the damage was more extensive than initially projected, necessitating immediate repairs to stabilize the funnel.”

Post the fire, the Carnival Freedom returned to Port Canaveral to let off guests and currently plans to visit a Grand Bahama shipyard to commence required repairs.

In a message to impacted passengers, Carnival said, “We truly regret the inconvenience caused, as we recognize how eagerly our guests had been anticipating their spring break vacations.”

According to the company’s statement, impacted guests will receive full refunds and a 100 percent future cruise credit.

After undergoing the necessary repairs, the 2,974-guest ship anticipates to recommence service with a Bahamas-bound four-night cruise on April 4, 2024.

The Carnival Freedom experienced a fire on this past Saturday while cruising in unpleasant weather in the Bahamas.

The case was reported immediately post 3:00 p.m. local time while the ship was approximately 20 miles off the coast of the Eleuthera island.

Unverified eyewitness accounts circulated on social media suggest that the fire, which affected only a portion of the ship’s whale-tail funnel, was triggered by a lightning strike.

Following its stop at Freeport, the Carnival Freedom returned to Port Canaveral to disembark the passengers on Monday morning.