Fire-Stricken Carnival Liberty Cuts Its Cruise Short

The Carnival Liberty cruise ship that experienced an engine room fire on Monday is waiting clearance from authorities to sail from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands from where it would return to San Juan cutting its seven-day cruise short.

Namely, Carnival Liberty was on the second day of a seven-day Caribbean cruise that departed San Juan on Sunday, September 6th, when a fire was reported in the ship’s engine room.

There were no injuries to 3,346 guests and 1,150 crew as a result of the fire which was extinguished by the ship’s automated suppression system, Carnival informed.

All hotel services including air conditioning, elevators, toilets, galleys, etc. were reported to be fully functional and the ship’s normal array of activities, entertainment, dining options and programming were being offered.

“Once the vessel departs, it is scheduled to return to its homeport of San Juan. Guests will have the option of remaining on board through the rest of the week and exploring San Juan or disembarking and traveling home. If clearance to depart St. Thomas is not received by later this evening, the company will move forward with arrangements to fly all guests home from St. Thomas,” Carnival added in an update.

The cruise line said that all guests were being provided with a full refund of their cruise as well as a 50 percent discount on a future cruise. This is in addition to a $150 per person credit that has already been applied to guests’ shipboard accounts.