NCL-Norwegian Cruise Line's ship Norwegian Escape set sail from Port Canaveral (Orlando, Florida) over the weekend for a 7-day voyage (March 19-26) which was canceled.
The ship ran aground on a sandbar on Monday, March 14, just off Puerto Plata Harbor (Dominicana). The accident happened as the liner with a total of 3223 passengers and 1618 crew departed the port city and got stuck at Taino Bay.
The vessel was scheduled for a week-long sailing, but the cruise company said repairs to Escape after she got stuck leaving Dominicana last week were taking “longer than expected.”
The ship got stuck after it had made contact with the sea/channel bed, causing minor hull damage. The boat remained grounded for hours while waiting for the high tide. She was later freed and docked back at Puerto Plata. The voyage was then canceled and all passengers were flown home via charter flights from NCL.
All passengers were fully refunded and offered a voucher for future sailings.
For more Norwegian Escape incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.