Carnival Dream accidents and incidents

09 August 2024Crew / Passenger Deaths

(overboard) On August 9, 2024, a female crew was reported missing at sea/presumed overboard while the ship was en route from Mexico back to Texas USA. The ship left Cozumel on the previous day (Aug 8th) at 4 PM (9 PM UTC).

The woman was presumed to have gone overboard ~2:30 AM local time (~8:30 UTC) when the ship was approx 82 NM (~95 mi/~150 km) northeast of Río Lagartos (Yucatan).

Following an extensive onboard search, Mexican and American maritime authorities were alerted about the man overboard/MOB situation. The MOB report was received by Frigate Captain Jose Antonio Solano Claustro (Head of Yucatan's Harbormaster Office in Progresso) who notified the maritime community (military and commercial vessels) to stay vigilant and report any relevant information.

An extensive search and rescue operation was initiated, assisted by vessels from both the Mexican and the US Coast Guards. The body was not found.

The incident occurred at the end of the 6-day "Western Caribbean Cruise" (itinerary August 4-10, roundtrip from Galveston TX) visiting Costa Maya (Aug 6), Belize City (Aug 7), and Cozumel (Aug 8).

15 April 2024Crew / Passenger Deaths

(CruiseMapper-emailed report from Melissa Coats)

Hello. We just returned from a cruise on the Carnival Dream. On our second day, there was an overhead call asking for blood donations for a critical passenger. There was a door on floor 7 [Empress Deck/cabins] that had a red sign warning those not to enter by order of the captain. And there was evidence tape across the door. There were many rumors and 2 different stories claiming there was a murder.

All of us who were on the cruise feel we have a right to know what happened. Carnival had so far been hush-hush.

Thank you for considering looking into this!

We left on 4/14 and returned 4/20. Thank you!

Note: The incident occurred during the 6-day "Western Caribbean Cruise" (itinerary Apr 14-20, roundtrip from Galveston, Texas USA) visiting Mexico (Costa Maya/Apr 16), Honduras (Roatan Island's Mahogany Bay/Apr 17) and Mexico (Cozumel/Apr 18).

17 May 2023Boat Rescue

On May 17, 2023, while en route from Belize to Mexico, the ship slightly deviated from its course and stopped in the Belize Channel to rescue 17 people piled up on a capsized boat.

Mastered by Captain Francesco Fiorentino, the ship immediately deployed a tender boat and informed the Belize Coast Guard. All 17 were successfully recovered by the tender's crew, embarked and assessed by the ship's medical staff. A patrol boat and two small catamarans were dispatched from Belize to transfer the rescued, then Carnival Dream resumed the voyage sailing towards Cozumel.

The incident occurred during the 6-day "Western Caribbean Cruise" (itinerary May 14-20, roundtrip from Galveston, Texas USA) with call ports Costa Maya (May 16th), Belize City (May 17th) and Cozumel (May 18th)

06 May 2023Coast Guard Medevacs

On May 6, 2023, an 86-year-old male passenger was medevaced approx 50 mi / 80 km off Galveston TX.

The evacuation was recommended by the ship's medical team after an evaluation at the Infirmary and in consultation with a USCG duty flight surgeon. Reportedly, the elderly man ingested a button cell/coin battery which caused gastrointestinal hemorrhage/bleeding.

The ship conducted the USCG at 19:22 Texas time (00:22 UTC). From CG Air Station Houston was dispatched a Eurocopter MH-65 Dolphin (rescue helicopter). The man and a family member were hoisted/airlifted from the ship and flown to CG Station Galveston, from where was ambulanced to Galveston's UTMB (University of Texas Medical Branch).

The incident occurred at the beginning of the 8-day "Eastern Caribbean Cruise" (itinerary May 6-14, roundtrip from Galveston Texas) with call ports in Florida (Key West/May 8) and the Bahamas (Freeport/May 9, Half Moon Cay/May 10, and Nassau/May 11).

29 April 2023Coast Guard Medevacs

On April 29, 2023, a 76-year-old male passenger (experiencing heart attack-like symptoms) was medevaced from the ship navigating approx 300 mi/480 km off Fort Morgan (Alabama USA). The man and a ship nurse were airlifted by a USCG rescue helicopter in adverse/rapidly deteriorating weather (severe winds/squalls and fog).

For the medical evacuation, the USCG dispatched a patrol aircraft plus two aircraft - a plane (EADS HC-144 Ocean Sentry) and a rescue helicopter (Sikorsky MH-60T Jayhawk). However, a severe squall/sudden and violent gust of wind pushed the helicopter close to the water's surface and the crew was forced to move it away from the ship and abort the mission.

Both USCG aircraft returned safely to the base. Later, another Jayhawk helicopter returned and successfully completed the medevac. The passenger was flown to a hospital in stable condition.

The incident occurred at the end of the 8-day "Eastern Caribbean Cruise" (itinerary Apr 22-30, roundtrip from Galveston, Texas USA) with call ports in Florida (Key West/Apr 24) and The Bahamas (Freeport/Apr 25, Half Moon Cay/Apr 26, and Nassau/Apr 27).

13 March 2022Coast Guard Medevacs

On March 13, 2022, a 7-year-old female passenger (suffering from abdominal pain) was medevaced from the ship approx 264 mi (425 km) southwest of Clearwater (Florida). The girl and her father were airlifted by a USCG MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew (dispatched from CG Air Station Clearwater) and flown to St Petersburg's Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.

The incident occurred at the beginning of an 8-day "Eastern Caribbean Cruise" (itinerary Mar 12-20, roundtrip from Galveston, Texas) with call ports in Florida (Key West/Mar 14) and The Bahamas (Freeport, Half Moon Cay, Nassau).

07 June 2021Coast Guard Medevacs

On June 7, 2021, while en route from PortMiami (Florida) to Marseille Fos Port (France), the ship approached Madeira Island (Portugal) and anchored close to Port Funchal to disembark a male crew. The man was medevaced via boat and ambulanced to Hospital da Luz Funchal for medical treatment (not specified).

The Transatlantic crossing from the USA to France was for a scheduled drydock.

06 February 2020Crew / Passenger Deaths

On February 6, 2020, a male crew died ashore, after being hospitalized in Progreso (Yucatan Mexico). The man (Leonardus Patra, Indonesian) worked on the ship as Assistant Team Waiter and reportedly died from a stomach infection.

The incident occurred during 5-day Western Caribbean Cruise (itinerary Feb 3-8) roundtrip from homeport Galveston TX to Mexico (Cozumel and Progreso).

06 January 2020Coast Guard Medevacs

On January 6, 2020, while en-route from Texas to Mexico, due to a medical emergency the liner had to return back to homeport (Galveston TX) to offload a passenger. A USCG helicopter medevac was not possible due to strong winds. The incident resulted in an itinerary change - call port Cozumel was cancelled and replaced with a seaday.

As compensation, all passengers received a 20% future Carnival cruise credit, plus the port taxes and fees. All Cozumel shore excursions pre-booked through Carnival were fully refunded. The ship was on a 5-day Western Caribbean cruise (itinerary Jan 5-11) roundtrip from Galveston to Cozumel and Progreso (Jan 9).

24 October 2019Crew / Passenger Deaths

(overboard) On October 24, 2019, a 26-year-old male passenger was reported missing and presumed overboard when the liner was in the Gulf of Mexico and approx 80 km (50 mi) southeast of Galveston (Texas USA). Reviewing CCTV footage showed that the young man intentionally jumped overboard from his cabin’s balcony.

The ship immediately turned around and started a search and rescue operation by launching one of its rescue boats. The search was later continued by USCG vessels, but the body was not found. For the overnight operation, the USCG (notified at 8:45 pm) launched two aircraft - from Air Station Houston TX (rescue helicopter MH-65 Dolphin) and from Air Station Corpus Christi TX (twin-engined plane EADS HC-144 Ocean Sentry).

The incident occurred at the beginning of 4-day Western Caribbean cruise (itinerary Oct 24-28) roundtrip from homeport Galveston TX to Mexico (Cozumel).

27 August 2019Propulsion / Power Loss

On August 27, 2019, due to a propulsion issue affecting its max cruising speed, the liner canceled the scheduled call at Progreso (Mexico). The call port was replaced with a sea day as the ship was en-route from Mexico back to the USA.

The accident occurred during the 2nd leg of 5-day Western Caribbean / Mexico cruise (Itinerary Aug 24-29) roundtrip from homeport Galveston Texas to Cozumel (Aug 26 / 9 am - 6 pm) and Progreso (planned visit on Aug 27 / 10 am - 6 pm).

13 March 2019Coast Guard Medevacs

On May 13, 2019, a 57-year-old male passenger was medevaced from the liner aapprox 110 km (65 ml) offshore from Galveston. The man was evacuated by an USCG MH-65 Dolphin helicopter team dispatched from Air Station Houston. The man and a ship doctor, were hoisted and flown to Galveston's Scholes Airport, from where were ambulanced.

The incident occurred at the beginning of 5-day Western Caribbean cruise (itinerary May 13-18) roundtrip from homeport Galveston Texas to Mexico (Costa Maya, and Cozumel).

29 December 2018Structural and Technical Issues

On December 29, 2018, while navigating in the Gulf of Mexico, en-route from Mexico back to New Orleans, the liner lost one of its lifeboats. Reportedly, the boat (unit number 28) broke loose from its davit and fell into the sea at ~2 pm. As the ship was unable to retrieve the heavily damaged lifeboat, it was abandoned after salvaging all its equipment and supplies. In Port NOLA, the lifeboat was replaced with a new one. No injuries or ship damages were reported.

The incident occurred at the end of 7-day Western Caribbean cruise (itinerary Dec 23-30) roundtrip from homeport NOLA to Montego Bay (Jamaica), George Town (Grand Cayman) and Cozumel (Mexico).

30 September 2018Structural and Technical Issues

On September 30, 2018, passenger embarkation and ship's homeport departure were delayed by ~3 hours to allow finishing an unspecified work onboard. No further details were officially released.

The incident occurred at the beginning of 7-day Western Caribbean cruise (itinerary Sept 30 - Oct 7) roundtrip from homeport NOLA (New Orleans) to Jamaica (Montego Bay, Grand Cayman Island and Mexico (Cozumel).

24 August 2018Sea Pollution

On August 24, 2018, a CAM (Court Appointed Monitor) auditor reported witnessing in the marshalling area (in the vicinity of ship's garbage handling/storage area) waste containers with food mixed with unauthorized items (aluminium bottle caps, Q‐tips, broken plastic cups, plastic straws, paper, napkins, beverage umbrellas, emery cloth) destined to go down the cruise liner's Food Waste Chute and overboard while at sea. All these items were not segregated (as required) during food waste's collection in the galley (ship's kitchen).

03 May 2018Structural and Technical Issues

On May 3, 2018, at ~6 pm, while on a 7-day Western Caribbean cruise (itinerary April 29 - May 6), the ship experienced major cabin flooding. The accident was caused by a broken water pipe (from the fire suppression system on deck 9) and resulted in 52 flooded passenger cabins. The water was cascading down the stairs, pouring from walls and ceilings and flooding a walkway lined with staterooms.

As compensation, all affected passengers received a full refund, plus 50% future Carnival cruise booking discount and optional early disembarkation (on May 4) with complimentary home flight. The 7-day New Orleans roundtrip cruise visited the ports Costa Maya, Roatan, Belize City, and Cozumel.

A major cabin flooding (417 damaged staterooms) was reported on Serenade Of The Seas in January 2015. Royal Caribbean refused to refund the affected passengers.

16 December 2017Coast Guard Medevacs

On December 16, 2017, a 17-year-old male passenger (suffering a seizure) was medevaced by a USCG Dolphin helicopter team dispatched from New Orleans. The ship was approx 170 ml (270 km) southeast of Louisiana’s coast (Southwest Pass), and en-route from Roatan Island (Honduras) back to homeport NOLA.

To assist the USCG helicopter, Air Station Mobile Alabama launched an HC-144 aircraft. At ~12:30 pm, the young man was airlifted (together with his mother and a crew nurse) and flown to New Orleans. The incident occurred during the 7-day Western Caribbean cruise (itinerary Dec 10-17) also visiting Cozumel and Belize City.

11 August 2017Propulsion / Power Loss

On August 11, 2017, technical issue (power or propulsion problems) resulted in reduced speed and itinerary changes. The ship had to skip Cozumel Mexico in order to return in time to homeport NOLA New Orleans. All other onboard systems functioned normally.

The ship was on a 7-day Western Caribbean cruise (itinerary Aug 6-13) with call ports Montego Bay (Jamaica), George Town (Grand Cayman Island) and Cozumel. The next scheduled voyage was not affected. All passengers were compensated with USD 50 pp in onboard credit. On August 12, Carnival announced that the problem was fixed at sea and the ship returns to NOLA as scheduled.

01 July 2017Coast Guard Medevacs

On July 1, 2017, a 77-year-old male passenger (suffering from abdominal pain) was medevaced when the ship was near Southwest Pass, Louisiana. A USCG boat transported the man to USCG Station Venice, from where he was transported by an ambulance to West Jefferson Medical Center (Marrero, Louisiana).

The ship was returning from a 7-night Western Caribbean cruise (itinerary June 25 – July 2) from New Orleans to Roatan, Belize City, and Cozumel Mexico.

17 September 2016Coast Guard Medevacs

On September 17, 2016, a 71-year-old female passenger (suffering from severe respiratory arrest) was medevaced by USCG. The ship was near Southwest Pass (Mississippi River, Louisiana), returning to homeport NOLA New Orleans from 7-day Western Caribbean cruise (itinerary Sept 11-18) to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel Mexico.

07 May 2014Boat Rescue

(Cuban refugees boat)  On May 7, 2014, while on a 7-day cruise to Mexico from homeport NOLA New Orleans (departure May 4), the ship received a distress call. The itinerary course was altered and Carnival Dream stopped between Grand Cayman and Jamaica in order to help a boat with 34 men and 5 women in it.

They were all Cubans, trying to get to the USA. The boat’s engine had failed and it had begun to take on water. All passengers were taken aboard the Dream ship, given medical assistance, then transported to Jamaica (Montego Bay port).

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 Carnival cruise ship incidents happened on Carnival Paradise (March 4, 2014, 24 Cubans rescued), on Carnival Ecstasy (March 25, 2014, 41 Cubans rescued), on Carnival Liberty (August 22, 2014, 11 Cubans rescued) and on Carnival Breeze (May 9, 2015, 25 Cubans rescued). All refugee boats were both unseaworthy and overcrowded.

13 March 2013Structural and Technical Issues

On March 13, 2013, engine problems again occurred while the ship was docked in Philipsburg (St Maarten Island, USVI). The Captain reported a propulsion system malfunction (the emergency diesel generator failed during its testing). Ship’s engineering crew managed to fix the problem.

Even though the propulsion and primary power systems remained operational, Carnival Cruise Line decided to cancel the itinerary not risking to cruise without an operational back-up. Carnival also flew all the 4363 passengers home via about 50 private charters and commercial flights from St Maarten. All passengers received a refund (3-days cost of the canceled voyage) plus 50% discount on a future Carnival cruise.

04 March 2013Structural and Technical Issues

On March 4, 2013, while docked in Great Bay (call port Philipsburg, St Maarten), the ship suffered a major technical accident concerning its backup emergency generator. The issue was reported during the backup system’s scheduled testing. Although the propulsion and primary power systems were not impacted, Carnival Cruise Lines decided not to risk and let it depart without an operational back-up.

While the responsible crew personnel was working on the problem, Carnival decided to fly all the passengers home via private charter flights and regular flights on planes departing from Princess Juliana International Airport (St Maarten).

As compensation, all passengers received cruise refund equal to the 3-day cost of the canceled voyage, plus 50% future Carnival cruise booking discount. The next itinerary (March 16) was also canceled. All booked customers received a full refund, 25% future 7-day Carnival cruise booking discount, plus reimbursement of any non-refundable transportation expenses.

09 October 2012Crew / Passenger Crimes

(law news) On October 9, 2012, the lawsuit against a 46-year-old female passenger who falsely alarmed the ship’s security about a bomb on board ended with 12 months federal prison sentence. The false threat prompted an extensive shipwide search, during which explosives were not found.

07 October 2012Fire Accident

On October 7, 2012, unofficially was reported a fire incident in Lido Deck's aft section. Two crew suffered injuries (smoke inhalation and burns) and had to be medevaced/airlifted by USCG.

30 May 2012Structural and Technical Issues

On May 30, 2012, while the ship was docked in Coxen Hole (Roatan, Honduras), the wire rope of one of its rescue boats broke during hoisting (just before taking its rigging position). The boat fell from ~8 m (26 ft) in the water, with all 4 crew on it.

15 October 2011Crew / Passenger Deaths

On October 15, 2011, FBI investigated a case of dead newborn baby found on the ship. The body was found by a crew in a passenger stateroom when the ship docked in homeport Port Canaveral Florida. After Carnival contacted local authorities in St Maarten, they found the 20-year-old mother (US citizen) and detained her. FBI reported the mother didn’t return to the USA.

15 October 2011Coast Guard Medevacs

On October 15, 2011, a male passenger (diagnosed with pre-existing Pneumonia) was medevaced by a USCG boat and transferred to Fort Pierce FL (Lawnwood Hospital).

24 July 2011Coast Guard Medevacs

On July 24, 2011, the ship was near Key West Florida when a male crew experienced right-side face paralysis. Also reported were slurred speech, vomiting, disorientation. Via USCG cutter boat the man was disembarked from the cruise ship and transferred to Marathon FL (Fishermen's Community Hospital).

09 July 2011Propulsion / Power Loss

On July 9, 2011, propulsion system problems caused itinerary changes (Western Caribbean changed to Eastern Caribbean). The notification was made only 5 days prior departure. As compensation, all booked customers were offered US$100 in onboard credit.

29 August 2010Crew / Passenger Deaths

On August 29, 2010, a female passenger died on the ship at sea. The woman was traveling with her family and had a serious medical condition (breast cancer) diagnosed prior to boarding. She was given up to 2 months to live.

08 March 2010Crew / Passenger Crimes

On March 8, 2010, Carnival filed a lawsuit against a 30-year-old male passenger who broke into the ship’s infirmary and stole drugs. The man was charged with burglary involving drugs and with possession of controlled substances. He was arrested onboard and delivered to the FBI after the ship docked in homeport Los Angeles (Long Beach CA). When searching his cabin (sometime after the break-in), the ship’s security uncovered syringes with morphine, Dilaudid (Hydromorphone Hydrochloride) and Percocet (Endocet) tablets.

02 March 2010Crew / Passenger Deaths

On March 2, 2010, a male passenger died in the Main Dining Room restaurant at dinner. The man suffered a heart attack while choking. The incident happened while the ship was docked in call port Charlotte Amalie (St Thomas USVI).