Coral Princess accidents and incidents

March 2023Crew / Passenger Crimes

(sexual) In December 2022 and March 2023, two male crew (employed by Princess Cruises on Coral Princess) received heavy sentences for child pornography.

The crime was conducted in July 2019, while the ship was deployed in Alaska.

Daniel Scott Crow (employed as Assistant Cruise Director/ship's Entertainment Department, 35 years old at the time) met a minor girl (16 years old at the time) during an Alaskan cruise that she took together with her parents. After ending the voyage, the man repeatedly WhatsApp-texted and called her daily asking for nude photos and videos of her masturbating. In May 2020, he arranged to meet her in a hotel where they had sex filmed by him.

On December 12, 2022, Daniel Scott Crow (from Stuart, Florida USA) was sentenced (by Southern District Florida Judge Jose Martinez) to 30 years in prison. He was found guilty of enticing/persuading a minor to engage in sexual activity and of production/distribution of child pornography.

The Prosecutor urged for a 45-year sentence, which his Defense Attorney tried to reduce to 15 years, arguing that the victim was 17 years old in 2020 (when they first engaged in sex) and "partially responsible", depicting her as "precocious, mature, sexually aggressive” and a seductress, being fully cognizant of the attraction she created in him.

The second crew - Angelo Victor Fernandes (from Goa India, 34 years old at the time, employed as Guest Services Officer) was sexually attracted to Daniel Scott Crow. Following the arrest, he admitted to discussing with him obtaining kids for sex, even traveling to Southeast Asia (Thailand and The Philippines) for child abuse and sexual abuse.

The investigation eventually found that in 2022 (between January 16 and April 30), via WhatsApp, Fernandes sent Crow numerous porno videos (13) and hundreds of child porno images (600+), including of sexually abused kids under 12 and even toddlers.

On March 24, 2023, Angelo Victor Fernandes was sentenced (by Fort Pierce Florida Court Judge Aileen Cannon) to 188 months (15,5 years) in prison.

10 January 2023Coast Guard Medevacs

On January 10, 2023, a male crew was medevaced from the ship and flown to Hamilton NZ's Waikato Hospital. Reportedly, the man (in his 30s) sustained injuries after falling onboard.

He was offloaded/which had from the liner by an Auckland Rescue Helicopter crew and hospitalized in a serious condition. The medical evacuation was conducted approx 45 NM (83 km / 52 mi) off the coast of New Plymouth. The ship was en route from Wellington to Napier when RCCNZ (Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand) was contacted (at ~5 am / ~4 pm UTC) on Jan 10th requesting assistance.

The incident occurred during the 14-day "New Zealand New Year Cruise" (itinerary Dec 19 - Jan 12, roundtrip from Auckland) with call ports in Queensland Australia (Brisbane) and NZ's Fiordland NP, Port Chalmers-Dunedin, Lyttelton-Christchurch, Wellington, Napier, and Tauranga-Rotorua.

December 2022Structural and Technical Issues

A December holiday-themed voyage from Australia to New Zealand had its itinerary changed due to an infestation of marine phyla (snails) requiring unscheduled hull cleaning.

The accident occurred during the 14-day "New Zealand Christmas and New Year's Cruise" (itinerary Dec 19, 2022 - Jan 2, 2023, roundtrip from Brisbane QLD), with planned visits to NZ's ports/destinations Fiordland National Park, Port Chalmers-Dunedin, Lyttelton-Christchurch, Wellington, Napier, Tauranga, and Auckland.

The Captain announced the necessary itinerary changes on the first of 3 days of the Tasman Sea crossing (from AU to NZ). As Coral Princess had to undertake the hull cleaning ahead of the arrival in New Zealand, the itinerary was altered by canceling Fiordland NP (Milford Sound's scenic cruising planned for Dec 23/7 am - 4 pm) and skipping Port Chalmers (planned for Dec 24/port stay 8 am - 6 pm).

Princess Cruises officially announced they were "taking proactive measures to remove a species of mollusks not native to the area so that there is no unintended transfer in particularly sensitive areas of New Zealand.”

The vessel continued to NZ's east coast, where it was sitting ~50 mi / ~80 km off Tauranga while the snails were being removed (Dec 22-23) from discharge pipes in the hull by a dive boat team.

Note: New Zealand has some of the world's strictest biofouling regulations as ~90% of marine pests arrive in the country on the submerged surfaces of the ships' hulls. In the period 2019-2022, ~6% of the international cruise vessels scheduled to call in NZ ports have been required to clean their hulls prior to entering New Zealand’s waters.

October 2022Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Coronavirus) On October 24, 2022, when the ship docked in Broome (Western Australia), local media reported that WA Health confirmed "at least 100" COVID-positive cases amongst the passengers and crew.

On October 28th (when Coral Princess docked in Fremantle-Perth WA), Marguerite Fitzgerald (Carnival Australia's and P&O Australia's President) announced in an interview for ABC Business that onboard testing revealed an increased number of infected. Reportedly, the cases were ~10% of all people (pax+crew) or ~200.

According to NSW Australia data (published at nsw.gov.au), the ship had at least 290x COVID-positive cases but the website didn't indicate the exact number/percentage.

The outbreak occurred during the 28-day "Round Australia Cruise" (itinerary Oct 11 - Nov 8, roundtrip from Sydney NSW) with call ports Brisbane, Willis Island, Cairns, Darwin, Broome, Geraldton (Oct 27/canceled), Fremantle, Margaret River (Oct 29/canceled), Albany (Oct 30/canceled), Adelaide, Melbourne, Burnie (Tasmania) and Hobart (Tasmania).

On Oct 30, the cruise liner made an unscheduled stop/anchorage at Busselton WA for bunkering.

July 2022Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Coronavirus) In mid-July 2022, Queensland Australia health authorities reported a COVID outbreak affecting around 100 people (mostly crew plus some passengers/~20). The ship was operating a 7-day "Queensland Cruise" (itinerary July 3-10, roundtrip from Brisbane) with call ports Airlie Beach, Cairns, Port Douglas, and Willis Island (Coral Sea).

Wearing masks and social distancing onboard were recommended but not required. The ship's safety protocols included regular COVID testing of the crew, all of whom were fully vaccinated.

Princess Cruises didn't state the number of infected. The company offered refunds to customers booked on the following 12-day "Queensland and New South Wales Coast" voyage (July 10-22).

On the following voyage, Queensland Health reported an outbreak with a total of 118x COVID-positive cases (4 passengers plus 114 crew) mainly Omicron sub-variants. Disembarkation in all call ports was forbidden for the crew while passengers were required to provide a negative RAT (rapid antigen test) result upon leaving the ship.

Carnival Australia (the ship's current operator) commented that recent onboard testing found some COVID-positive crew and that they (together with their close contacts) had been quarantined in their cabins, away from passengers. The second outbreak occurred during the 12-day "Queensland and New South Wales Coast Cruise" (itinerary July 10-22, roundtrip from Brisbane) visiting NSW (Eden, Sydney, Newcastle), Queensland (Airlie Beach, Cairns, Port Douglas) and Willis Island.

April 2020Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Coronavirus) On March 31, 2020, the berthed at Port Bridgetown (Barbados) cruise liner reported to the local authorities a total of 13 people experiencing COVID-19 (Coronavirus) symptoms. Test samples were collected and sent ashore. The returned test results confirmed 12 cases (Coronavirus-positive), including 7 passengers and 5 crew. Two passengers died later on the ship. On April 1, the ship left Barbados en-route to Florida, with planned arrival and debarkation in Port Everglades on April 4. Shipwide quarantine (all passengers and off-duty crew to stay isolated in their cabins) was enforced on April 1.

The ship was carrying a total of 1898 people (1020 passengers plus 878 crew). All passengers were confined to their staterooms, with all meals and beverages ordered from a daily menu (via TV's infotainment system) and delivered via room service. Off-duty staff and crew were also isolated in their cabins. Face masks were supplied and distributed to all. In-cabin Internet and phone services were provided complimentary to all passengers and crew.

in the morning on April 4, the liner arrived and docked at PortMiami for refueling and provisioning (including medical supplies). Passenger debarkation started on April 5, after submitting health screening forms answering questions about flu-like symptoms (fever, dry cough, breathing difficulty, muscle aches, fatigue, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea). Six passengers were immediately medevaced and ambulanced - two to Larkin Community Hospital (Miami), three to St Joseph’s Hospital (Tampa) and one to Hialeah Hospital (where he died). Onboard remained a total of 67 people (29 passengers and 38 crew) being quarantined after developing flu-like symptoms or due to their medical conditions. However, these patients were not in critical conditions that require hospitalization. On April 5 were medevaced and hospitalized 8 more passengers.

By April 6 were disembarked 684 passengers, 274 remained onboard. Most of the disembarked were bused to Miami Airport to wait (in closed-off for general public airport terminals) for the Carnival Corporation-chartered international flights (to Canada, Australia and the UK). On April 7, the debarkation in PortMiami was completed, but 90 international tourists remained onboard due to flight travel restrictions to their home countries and awaiting clearance. For the ship's American cruisers, Carnival chartered 9 flights to airports in the USA. Debarkation was completed on April 9. Charter flights (1 domestic and 4 international) were additionally arranged to repatriate passengers and some crew to Europe and South America. Onboard remained the staff-crew plus 13 passengers, all quarantined for 2 weeks. The ship left PortMiami on April 10.

The affected South America cruise (32-day itinerary, March 5 - April 6) from Chile to Florida. On March 12, the voyage was canceled after Princess Cruises suspended global operations fleetwide. Since March 13, the liner was denied port entry and docking (passenger disembarkation) in all South American and Caribbean countries planned for visiting - Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Martinique, Saint Kitts and Nevis.

The ship initially planned passenger debarkation in Buenos Aires (on March 19), partially because most cruisers already had home flights booked there. However, in that case, Argentina allowed only Argentine passport holders and international tourists with confirmed flights (March 19 departures) to disembark. The ship departed Buenos Aires that night after Argentina warned that the ship would be quarantined in port indefinitely (debarkation was denied) if it remains past midnight (March 19). Coral Princess was denied docking and debarkation in Uruguay but was allowed to make a technical/bunkering stop (at Puerto Montevideo) for provisioning and refueling. After Brazil denied port entry (March 21), the liner headed toward Florida USA). On March 31, it made a second technical stop (at Port Bridgetown Barbados) for provisioning.

Initially, the USCG also barred the vessel from entering USA's territorial waters until it had an approved debarkation plan. For Coral Princess, PortMiami made an exception as the port was officially closed for passenger ships and berthing was not allowed.

March 2017Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

March 2017, CDC reported on itinerary March 8 to 18, a Norovirus outbreak affected 157 passengers (out of 2016, or 7,8%) and 25 crew (out of 881, or 2,8%). The ship was on the 10-day Caribbean and Panama Canal cruise roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale to ports in Dutch Antilles, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Jamaica.

03 August 2016Crew / Passenger Injuries and Overboards

On August 3, 2016, while the ship was docked in call port Juneau AK, a 79-year-old female passenger (from Ontario, USA) got lost in Alaska during solo hiking on Mendenhall Glacier (the trails East Glacier and Nugget Creek). The elderly woman became disoriented. As night fell, she decided to spend the night alone in the forest. She was without any camping gear. However, she managed to walk to safety the next day (Aug 4), arriving at the glacier’s visitor centre at ~9:30 am.

The cruise ship left Juneau AK at ~4 pm (Aug 3). Local police organized an extensive search and looked for the missing woman until midnight. During the incident, the ship was on 7-day Alaskan cruise (itinerary July 30 – Aug 6) round-trip from Vancouver BC to Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan.

11 May 2016Crew / Passenger Deaths

(overboard) On May 11, 2016, a male passenger reportedly jumped overboard from Dolphin Deck 9. The man (of Russian origin) was later reported lost at sea. The incident occurred near Santa Barbara CA (USA waters), during 4-day Alaskan repositioning cruise (itinerary May 10-14) from Los Angeles to Vancouver BC, also visiting Victoria BC.

14 April 2016Boat Rescue

(Cuban refugees boat) On April 14, 2016, while en-route from Montego Bay Jamaica to Fort Lauderdale, the cruise ship encountered a damaged boat and stopped to pick up 7 Cuban refugees (migrants) trying to get to the US by sea. The refugees were brought on board and later offloaded on a USCG ship that returned them to Cuba. Coral Princess was ending a 10-day Panama Canal and Caribbean cruise (itinerary Apr 5 – 15) roundtrip from Port Everglades Florida.

Note: Cruise ship operators have agreed to inform the USCG if they spot Cuban refugees in the open sea and to rescue them if needed.

Similar cruise ship rescue incidents happened on Carnival Paradise (Mar 4, 2014, 24 people rescued), Carnival Ecstasy(Mar 25, 2014, 41 people rescued), Carnival Liberty (Aug 22, 2014, 11 people rescued), Carnival Breeze (May 9, 2015, 25 people rescued), Brilliance Of The Seas (Mar 18, 2016, 18 people rescued), Disney Wonder (Feb 13, 2016, 12 people rescued). All the Cuban refugee boats were reported being both unseaworthy and overcrowded.

April 2015Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

April 2015, CDC reported on voyage April 12 to 27, a Norovirus outbreak (gastrointestinal illness) infected 99 passengers (out of 1958, or 5%) and 12 crew (out of 881, or 1,4%). All sick suffered from Norovirus symptoms (vomiting, diarrhea) and were quarantined to their cabins for 48 hours. The ship was on 15-day Panama Canal repositioning cruise to Alaska (leaving from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles.

02 May 2013Fire Accident

On May 2, 2013, the ship experienced an engine room fire accident. The fire started in a storage locker and was quickly extinguished. No injuries were reported. In the list of material damages, a suite cabin on Deck 9 was reported flooded due to malfunction of the stateroom’s fire sprinkler system.

24 March 2013Crew / Passenger Deaths

(overboard) On March 24, 2013, a male passenger jumped overboard at ~2:30 pm. The accident was witnessed by several passengers who alerted the crew. The ship immediately started search and rescue operation and was later joined by USCG assets. At ~ 6 pm, the body was recovered from the water. No official statement was issued.

19 August 2011Propulsion / Power Loss

On August 19, 2011, a mechanical malfunction (gas turbine oil system) forced the Captain to anchor the vessel. The troubleshooting revealed that the turbine's lube oil had metal particles within, indicating failure. The gas turbine was secured and the propulsion was switched to diesel-electric, allowing the ship to continue the voyage as scheduled.

May 2011Fire Accident

May 2011, CDC reported on voyage May 4 to 19, a Norovirus outbreak affected 64 passengers (out of 1990, or 3,2%) and 3 crew (out of 873, or 0,6%). The ship was on 15-day Panama Canal cruise from Fort Lauderdale FL to San Francisco CA.

25 November 2009Crew / Passenger Deaths

(overboard) On November 25, 2009, a 31-year-old male crew was reported missing and presumed fell overboard. The man worked on the ship as a chef. He was last seen working in the kitchen at ~8 pm. The accident happened off Colombia's coast when the ship was en-route from Aruba to Cartagena.

The incident report mentioned a life preserver missing, with its illumination flares left on the ship. The ship was on 14-day Panama Canal transition cruise (itinerary Nov 23 – Dec 7) from Miami to  Los Angeles.

13 August 2009Crew / Passenger Crimes

On August 13, 2009, four passengers were forcibly removed from the ship and disembarked in call port Juneau Alaska. They occupied 2 separate cabins on Deck 9 and were caught smoking pot (marijuana).

16 May 2009Coast Guard Medevacs

On May 16, 2009, a young passenger suffered severe injuries in the Lotus swimming pool (Deck 14) and had to be medevaced. At ~3 pm, a USCG helicopter dispatched from San Francisco arrived and evacuated him. The incident occurred during the 3-day Alaska relocation cruise from Los Angeles to Vancouver BC.

May 2009Sea Pollution

On May 21, 2009, the vessel was sanctioned for sea pollution, violating the Alaskan wastewater quality standard for ammonia. Wastewater tests showed 91 mg/L concentration, with the norm’s limit being 80 mg/L.

May 2009Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

On May 27, 2009, CDC reported that on an Alaskan cruise, a Norovirus outbreak affected 121 passengers (out of 2001, or 6,1%) and 7 crew (out of 914, or 0,8%).

19 March 2009Propulsion / Power Loss

On March 19, 2009, the ship’s turbine malfunctioned, causing reduced cruising speed. The mechanical incident occurred on a Panama Canal repositioning cruise from Alaska to Caribbean (Vancouver to Fort Lauderdale). The itinerary was changed, dropping call port Victoria BC.

09 March 2009Crew / Passenger Crimes

(sexual) On March 9, 2009, a 38-year-old male crew was arrested and charged with sexual assault of a 42-year-old female passenger. The man (of Portuguese origin) was working on the ship as headwaiter. The arrest was made by the FBI when the ship docked in homeport Los Angeles CA (Long Beach), ending a 14-day Panama Canal transition cruise from Fort Lauderdale to LA.

February 2009Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

On February 11, 2009, CDC reported that on a Panama Canal transition cruise, a Norovirus outbreak affected 252 passengers (out of 1996, or 12,6%) and 19 crew (out of 885, or 2,1%).

January 2005Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

On January 7, 2005, CDC reported that on a roundtrip Caribbean cruise from homeport San Juan Puerto Rico, a Norovirus outbreak affected 84 passengers (out of 2116, or 4%) and 31 crew (out of 913, or 3,4%).

January 2004Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

On January 22, 2004, CDC reported that on a Panama Canal transition cruise, a Norovirus outbreak affected 136 passengers (6,5%) and 20 crew (2,2%).

03 November 2003Crew / Passenger Deaths

(overboard) On November 3, 2003, a male crew jumped overboard committing suicide. The man worked on the ship as a galley assistant and was newly employed. The accident happened shortly after the vessel left call port Cozumel Mexico. The man was reported being lonely and miserable. The Captain held 2 memorial services on the ship for him.

2002Other Incidents

December 2002, the ship’s Inaugural cruise (scheduled for Dec 14) plus 3 January itineraries were cancelled due to delayed vessel delivery by the French shipbuilder Chantiers de l’Atlantique.