Carnival Mardi Gras accidents and incidents

07 August 2023Boat Rescue

On the morning of August 7, 2023, at ~1 am Bahamas time (~5 am UTC) and while navigating in Bahamian waters, en route from Florida to Aruba, the ship responded to a USCG call and rescued two sailors from a sailboat in distress.

The boat was approx 20 NM (23 mi / 37 km) to the west of Castle Island, Bahamas (located just south of Crooked Island). The cruise liner received the USCG call when was approx 9 NM (10 mi / 17 km). After altering its course, the ship spent ~2 hours to locate the sailboat. Then a lifeboat was lowered to retrieve the sailors (man and woman, both US citizens) from their boat.

The incident occurred at the beginning of the 8-day "Southern Caribbean Cruise" (itinerary Aug 5-13, roundtrip from Port Canaveral/Orlando, Florida USA) with call ports in the Netherlands Antilles (Oranjestad Aruba, and Kralendijk Bonaire) and the Turks and Caicos (Cockburn Town, Grand Turk Island).

October 2022Other Incidents

In late-October 2022, Carnival adjusted a total of 21x Eastern Caribbean itineraries of Mardi Gras (departures December 17, 2022, thru April 22, 2024). The itinerary change was replacing the visits to Puerto Rico (San Juan) with The Bahamas (Nassau).

Pre-purchased shore excursions for San Juan were automatically refunded to the original form of payment.

The 7-day roundtrip from Port Canaveral (Florida USA) visited also Dominicana (Amber Cove) and Grand Turk Island (Cockburn Town).

03 June 2022Boat Rescue

On June 3, 2022 (~8 am Florida time / ~12-noon UTC), while navigating in open sea, approx 69 mi / 110 km off Key West (USA Florida), the liner rescued 16x Cubans (11 men + 5 women) stranded on a distressed boat. Reportedly, the small vessel was drifting in rough seas.

Mardi Gras had to stop to be able to assist the vessel. The Cubans were embarked, checked by the ship's med staff and provided with food and clothes. In the afternoon (at ~2:45 pm / 18:45 UTC) the cruise ship rendezvoused with a USCG cutter to offload the Cubans.

The incident occurred at the end of a 7-day "Western Caribbean Cruise" (itinerary May 28 - June 4, roundtrip from Port Canaveral, Florida) with call ports in Mexico (Cozumel, Costa Maya) and Honduras (Roatan Island's Mahogany Bay).

UPDATE: On April 10, 2024, AFRAS (Association for Rescue at Sea) presented the ship's Master (Captain Niccolo De Ranieri) with a "Cruise Ship Humanitarian Assistance Award" during AFRAS' annual ceremony held in Washington DC USA.

16 April 2022Crew / Passenger Deaths

On the morning of April 16, 2022 (at 1:15 AM Florida time/17:15 UTC), a 43-year-old male passenger was reported missing after jumping overboard. The ship was navigating approx 55 mi (90 km) east of Port Canaveral (Florida USA).

For the search and rescue operation, the USCG Sector Jacksonville deployed 3 cutters (permanently crewed patrol boats) plus an HC-144 Ocean Sentry (medium-range aircraft/surveillance airplane) from Air Station Miami. The operation also joined the fleetmate Carnival Elation.

On April 18th, after searching an area of ~2080 mi2 (~5370 km2), the USCG's 58-hour operation was suspended. The body was not found.

The incident occurred at the end of a 7-day "Eastern Caribbean Cruise" (itinerary April 9-16, roundtrip from Port Canaveral) visiting The Bahamas (Nassau), Dominicana (Amber Cove), and Grand Turk Island (Cockburn Town).

27 July 2021Crew / Passenger Deaths

In the morning of July 27, 2021, a male crew died after committing suicide on the ship. The accident occurred while the ship was docked in Port Canaveral (Florida) and without passengers.

The young man was from Brazil, but his identity and details of the incident were not revealed. Reportedly, the man was in good health and enjoying the company of friends several hours before the suicide. A mental health professional was sent to the ship to talk with the crew-staff and provide support.

The cruise ship had its Maiden Voyage scheduled for July 31 (7-day Eastern Caribbean itinerary roundtrip from Port Canaveral to San Juan Puerto Rico, Amber Cove Dominicana, and Nassau Bahamas).

04 June 2021Other Incidents

On June 4, 2021, Mardi Gras was for the first time LNG-refueled in the USA - at Port Canaveral's new CT3 (Carnival Cruise Terminal 3). The ship's bunkering took ~8 hours and was conducted by the new fueling barge Q-LNG 4000 (ship-to-ship ATB / articulated tug and bunker barge). The ship's LNG capacity is enough for ~14 days of operation (navigation and onboard electricity production).

May 2021Other Incidents

In May 2021 CCL canceled 10x more departures on Mardi Gras from Port Canaveral. The canceled 7-day itineraries were scheduled for the period July 3 through September 25. The Maiden Voyage was rescheduled to October 2 (Western Caribbean).

January 2021Other Incidents

In late-January 2021, CCL canceled 5x more departures on Mardi Gras from Port Canaveral. The canceled 7-day itineraries were to Eastern Caribbean (April 24, May 8, May 22) and Western Caribbean (May 1, May 15).

The new ship's Maiden Voyage was rescheduled from April 24 to May 29 (Western Caribbean).

In March and April were canceled more departures and the Maiden Voyage was rescheduled for July 3 (Eastern Caribbean).

22 December 2020Structural and Technical Issues

On December 22, 2020, the newbuild vessel docked in Port Rotterdam Holland (for the first time) to conduct its ever-first refueling (LNG-bunkering) with Liquefied Natural Gas. The ship has 4x medium-speed LNG marine engines which are used both at sea and in ports. The liner's LNG tanks capacity allows it to safely operate for 14 days between LNG-bunkerings (refuelings).

MS Mardi Gras left Port Rotterdam on December 23, en route to Barcelona, from where continued to its Caribbean homeport Port Canaveral (Florida USA). The maiden voyage was scheduled for April 24, 2021 (7-day Eastern Caribbean roundtrip from Florida itinerary to Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Grand Turk Island).

03 December 2020Other Incidents

On December 3, 2020, CCL canceled additional 11 Caribbean cruises on Mardi Gras - departures February 6-13-20-27, March 6-13-20-27 and April 3-10-17. The new liner's Maiden Voyage was rescheduled from February 6 to April 24.

The company also canceled through February 28 its scheduled itineraries for all ships homeported in Miami (Conquest, Horizon, Sunrise), Port Canaveral (Elation, Liberty) and Galveston (Freedom, Dream, Vista).

06 July 2020Other Incidents

On July 6, 2020, Carnival announced that the liner officially debuts in 2021, with the inauguration (maiden voyage) planned for February 6. Initially, the inaugural cruise was scheduled for November 14, 2020. Both departures being roundtrips from homeport Port Canaveral (Orlando, Florida USA).

A total of 11 itineraries (departures planned for the period Nov 14 through and including January 30) were canceled.

20 December 2019Structural and Technical Issues

On December 20, 2019, Carnival Cruise Line officially announced that ship's delivery in 2020 will be delayed with 2 weeks. The inaugural cruise (from the US homeport Port Canaveral FL) was rescheduled from August 31st to November 14th.

As result, the ship's first 8 planned cruises were cancelled, including in Europe (the Inaugural Cruise from Copenhagen to Southampton), the Transatlantic crossing (Southampton to New York City), two NYC roundtrips and four Port Canaveral roundtrips. All affected bookings received full refunds (tickets, port fees, Gov taxes, pre-purchased packages) plus 25% future Carnival cruise credit and full compensation for purchased non-refundable flights and/or booked hotels. With rebooking (by February 18, 2020) were offered 25% future Carnival cruise credit plus US$ 100 pp OBC (onboard credit).

Next are listed all canceled Carnival Mardi Gras cruises as ports and times (arrival/departure). Prices shown in brackets are per person (double-occupancy Interior cabin rates).

9-day Maiden Voyage (USD 1269)

14-day Transatlantic (USD 1129)

6-day Canada And New England (USD 649)

15-day US East Coast repositioning (USD 1359)

8-day Eastern Caribbean (USD 979)

7-day Eastern Caribbean (USD 689)

7-day Western Caribbean (USD 699)

7-day Eastern Caribbean (USD 679)

16 September 2019Other Incidents

On September 16, 2019, in Pascagoula MS was named the LNG bunkering barge Q-LNG 4000. The vessel was constructed by VT Halter Marine Inc (shipbuilding company, subsidiary of ST Engineering North America Inc / fka VT Systems). Q-LNG 4000 is designed to provide ship-to-ship LNG bunkering (liquid natural gas transfers) to LNG-powered vessels.

In November 2017, the shipowner Q-LNG Transport LLC (New Orleans-based company) contracted VT Halter Marine for building the first US-manufactured ATB (articulated tug/barge) vessel. The combo ship consists of a barge (LNG capacity 4000 m3) and a tugboat. The US-made ATB was scheduled for delivery in 2020-Q1. It will be chartered (for 15 years) by Shell Trading Co (USA) to deliver LNG fuel to several Florida ports. Q-LNG 4000 will bunker Carnival's dual-fuel XL-Class ships, as well as two dual-fuel vehicle carriers (owned by Siem Car Carriers AS and chartered by Volkswagen for its Europe-North America shipping operations).

The barge has length 324 ft (99 m), the attached tugboat's length is 128 ft (39 m). The ship was built at VT Halter Marine's shipyard in Pascagoula (Mississippi).