Carnival Freedom accidents and incidents

Carnival Freedom cruise ship
Rating:

Cabins
1492

Length (LOA)
289 m / 948 ft

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CruiseMapper's Carnival Freedom cruise ship accidents, incidents and law news reports relate to a 3581-passenger vessel owned by Carnival Cruise Line. Our Carnival Freedom accidents page contains reports made by using official data from renown online news media sources, US Coast Guard and Wikipedia.

Here are also reported latest updates on cruise law news related to ashore and shipboard crimes still investigated by the police. Among those could be arrests, filed lawsuits against the shipowner / cruise line company, charges and fines, grievances, settled / withdrawn legal actions, lost cases, virus outbreaks, etc.

  • fires - 2007, 2010, 2022
  • propulsion/power loss - 2011 (2)
  • deaths - 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
  • injuries/crimes - 2009 (rape of a minor), 2011, 2012, 2013
  • medevacs - 2011
  • Carnival Cruise Lines bad publicity - 2015 (2 passengers forcibly offloaded/left in Cozumel Mexico after sustaining a fall injury)

26 May 2022Fire Accident

On May 26, 2022, while docked at Cockburn Town (Grand Turk Island) the liner suffered a fire in the funnel's starboard section, which as result was completely destroyed. The fire was extinguished by Carnival Freedom's emergency response crew assisted by crew from the next docked Mardi Gras.

No injuries were reported. All onboard safety systems functioned normally, hotel services remained unchanged, and all passengers were cleared to disembark for land tours/shore excursions.

CCL-Carnival Cruise Line didn't release an official statement about the cause of the fire. The ship was carrying a total of 2504 passengers plus 972 staff/crew.

The accident occurred during the 5-day "Eastern Caribbean Cruise" (itinerary May 23-28, roundtrip from Port Canaveral) with call ports in Dominicana (Amber Cove/May 25) and Grand Turk (May 26, scheduled port stay 8 am - 4 pm). Due to the fire, the ship remained at Grand Turk overnight (May 26-27).

On May 27th, from Miami (where is CCL's Fleet Operations Center) to Grand Turk was flown a technical team for a damage assessment and to plan for the funnel repairs as Freedom was booked for wetdocking at Grand Bahama Shipyard in Freeport Bahamas. Due to the necessary repairs, three scheduled voyages/roundtrip departures from Port Canaveral were canceled - May 28th (5-day to Nassau, Princess Cays, Grand Turk), June 2nd (4-day to Nassau and Princess Cays) and June 6th (5-day to Amber Cove and Grand Turk).

On May 27th, CCL sent a replacement ship (Carnival Conquest) to pick up Freedom's passengers, arriving in Grand Turk on May 28th, and arriving in Port Canaveral on May 30th. Due to the replacement, Conquest's May 27th cruise from Miami (3-day to Nassau Bahamas/May 27-30) was canceled.

Carnival Freedom returned to service on June 11 (5-day Eastern Caribbean). To minimize the out-of-service time, the damaged funnel/smokestack was trimmed down temporarily, with the "whale tail" to be added during the next regular drydock.

As compensation, Carnival Freedom passengers with purchased WiFi and drink packages received complimentary extended packages. All affected by the cancellations passengers received US$200 per cabin in OBC/onboard credit and 100% in FCC/future cruise credit (based on the fares paid, redeemable thru May 31, 2023/any CCL itinerary open for sale). Extended parking fees (at Port Canaveral) were waived. Reimbursement of max US$200 per person was offered to affected passengers with independently booked non-refundable flights for airline change fees.

29 September 2018Other Incidents

On September 29, 2018, ship's homeport departure was delayed due to city flooding. Final boarding was rescheduled for 6 pm, and the liner left port at 8:30 pm (instead of 4 pm). The flooding was due to heavy rains in Galveston TX the night before (Sept 28).

City streets were flooded, stranding disembarking passengers at the cruise terminal. Meanwhile, embarking passengers had great difficulty reaching the seaport, as most streets were blocked off by the police due to standing water (depth approx 18 inches / 45 cm).

The accident occurred at the beginning of 7-day Western Caribbean cruise (itinerary Sept 29 - Oct 6) roundtrip from Galveston TX to Jamaica (Montego Bay), Grand Cayman Island and Mexico (Cozumel).

20 January 2017Crew / Passenger Crimes

On January 20, 2017, a 23-years-old male passenger was arrested and detained for 2 days in George Town (Grand Cayman) on charges of purchasing marijuana. The man appeared in Summary Court where pleaded guilty to buying a small quantity of marijuana in the harbor area on January 18th.

December 2015Other Incidents

On December 14, 2015, Carnival Cruise Lines company suffered bad publicity after the online news media Yahoo Travel reported a disgraceful incident involving two US passengers on the Freedom ship. They were forced to leave the cruise and offloaded in a foreign port (against their will) after the man suffered a fall.

Mary Rosenberg and her travel companion (church member) were disembarked in Cozumel Mexico just 2 days into their 7-day Western Caribbean cruise (itinerary Dec 12-19) from Galveston TX, with call ports Cozumel, Roatan, Belize City. Both passengers were left in Mexico helpless. It cost them USD 1800 to get back to the US.

30 January 2013Crew / Passenger Deaths

On January 30, 2013, a male passenger was found dead in his cabin (death from natural causes).

04 December 2012Crew / Passenger Deaths

On December 4, 2012, a male passenger died in his cabin (death by natural causes). His wife disembarked the same day, while the body remained on the ship until voyage's completion (Dec 9).

29 August 2012Crew / Passenger Deaths

On August 29, 2012, a male passenger died at the ship’s infirmary. The man had a medical history (preexisting condition/death from natural causes). When visited the onboard hospital, he was suffering from severe abdominal pains, also from vomiting and nausea. His condition worsened and he stopped breathing. The performed CPR was unsuccessful.

11 August 2012Other Incidents

On August 11, 2012, a 50-year-old male passenger (of German origin) was reported missing after he disembarked the ship in call port Ocho Rios (Jamaica).

10 May 2012Crew / Passenger Deaths

On May 10, 2012, a female passenger died in her cabin. She was found by her husband. Medical staff attempted CPR unsuccessfully. The woman suffered from a preexisting medical condition (death by natural causes).

21 August 2011Propulsion / Power Loss

On August 21, 2011, upon entering homeport Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades), the crew was conducting various CFR tests when the ship suddenly lost propulsion as the pod motors’ breakers tripped. The system was reset and tested again. Testing showed a bad thyristor (semiconductor) was causing the erratic current in the bridge. Upon departure, engineering staff loaded new software into all PECs (4 pulse energy converters). Tests were satisfactory.

21 July 2011Crew / Passenger Deaths

On July 21, 2011, a male passenger traveling with his family (wife and two kids) committed suicide on board. The man’s body was left in St Thomas (USVI) while his family remained on the vessel. The incident happened on a 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise from Fort Lauderdale.

25 June 2011Propulsion / Power Loss

On June 25, 2011, while en-route to homeport Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale FL), the ship suffered total power loss due to emergency generator failure. Investigation showed the incident was caused by fuel pollution (sediments and other materials mixed in the fuel oil). The problem was fixed after the crew cleaned the filters, started the purifiers and added chemical agents to fuel tanks.

21 June 2011Crew / Passenger Deaths

On June 21, 2011, a male passenger died (committed suicide using a leather belt) in his cabin. The man was found by his family (wife and son) after the cabin’s door was opened by a security crew.

13 March 2011Coast Guard Medevacs

On March 13, 2011, a female passenger took some Aspirin to alleviate cramping and later vomited blood. She was medevaced via USCG Helicopter to Key West FL and transferred to Lower Keys Medical Center.

20 January 2011Crew / Passenger Deaths

On January 22, 2011, a male passenger died from natural causes (cardiac arrest /preexisting medical condition).

06 February 2010Fire Accident

On February 6, 2010, two intoxicated Carnival Shore Excursions staff members caused a fire in their cabin (#505 on crew deck 2). The fire didn’t spread to other staterooms/facilities, and was quickly extinguished by duty personnel using a wet towel. Both crew members were removed from their cabin, relieved of all duties and discharged from service.

11 January 2010Crew / Passenger Deaths

On January 11, 2010, while the ship was en-route to Key West FL from homeport Fort Lauderdale Florida, a male passenger was found dead. The medical staff performed CPR but resuscitation was unsuccessful. The man’s family reported later a preexisting medical condition (history of cardiac arrest /death by natural causes).

April 2009Crew / Passenger Crimes

(sexual) In April 2009, a 30-year-old male crew sexually assaulted a 14-year-old female passenger. The man (Hery Krispiyanto, of Indonesian origin) worked on the ship as a bartender. During dinner time, the girl was alone in her family’s cabin, when he entered the stateroom, took her to a crew-only room and raped her. The girl told her mother about the incident 1 year later.

(law news) On June 2, 2010, the man was arrested and charged with sex abuse of a minor. In May 2011, he was indicted in US federal court in Orlando FL, and in September 2011 sentenced to 3 years in jail after pleading guilty. On Feb 21, 2011, the case was aired on ABC News’ Nightline.

14 November 2007Fire Accident

On November 14, 2007, a small fire broke out on crew deck 2 (in the linen room). It was quickly extinguished and without injuries.

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