Carnival Vista accidents and incidents

07 September 2024Structural and Technical Issues

On August 29, 2024, CCL canceled a Carnival Vista cruise due to propulsion issues that limited the max cruising speed and required urgent repairs.

The canceled 8-day Southern Caribbean Cruise (itinerary Sept 7-15) had scheduled visits to Oranjestad Aruba (Sep 10), Willemstad Curacao (Sep 11) and Cockburn Town/Grand Turk Island (Sep 13).

All affected bookings received a full/100% refund of the fare paid, as well as full refunds for pre-purchased onboard services and reservations on shore excursions. Additionally, CCL provided 100% FCC/future cruise credit (to be used in new bookings) to be redeemed by August 31st, 2025, and toward any CCL cruise currently open for booking. Travelers with independently booked non-refundable flights received reimbursement of up to $200 per person for the flight change fees.

10 August 2024Propulsion / Power Loss

Upon passenger boarding on August 10, 2024, engine/propulsion issues (malfunction of one of the Azipods) prompted a last-minute itinerary change, replacing three Southern Caribbean ports with The Bahamas.

Online shared media showed passengers chanting "Give us our money!" in frustration after learning of the change, some while still boarding the ship. Tensions rose as guests requested refunds and considered disembarking the vessel still berthed at homeport.

In response, CCL offered two choices: remain onboard with a voucher (US$400 per stateroom in OBC/onboard credit) and 125% in FCC/future cruise credit or cancel the voyage and disembark with a full refund (100% of the cruise fare in FCC) plus US$200 per person for reimbursement of independent travel expenses). The FCC must be redeemed by August 31, 2025.

The accident occurred in the beginning of the 8-day "Southern Caribbean Cruise" (itinerary Aug 10-18, roundtrip from Port Canaveral/Orlando, Florida USA) with scheduled visits in Aruba (Oranjestad/Aug 13), Curacao (Willemstad/Aug 14) and the Turks and Caicos (Grand Turk Island/Aug 16). Instead, the ship visited Freeport and Nassau. Instead, Carnival Vista visited Nassau, Freeport, Princess Cay and Half Moon Cay.

Note: Upon returning from the previous voyage and before entering Cape Canaveral, the ship was assisted/towed by a tugboat. The USCG requires in cases that one of the propulsion units/azipods stops working, the vessel to be tugged as it loses steering redundancy/maneuverability while navigating between the sea buoys to the dock.

13 December 2023Boat Rescue

In the early hours of December 13, 2023, the ship responded to a distress call and assisted a capsized cargo ship, rescuing six men stranded at sea off Dominicana's coast.

In coordination with Carnival’s Miami-based Fleet Operations Center, the ship (mastered by Captain Paolo Severini) changed the itinerary's course after receiving the emergency alert. After arriving in the area, the officers on duty spotted the men on a liferaft and rescued them. Dominican Republic's Coast Guard started a search and rescue operation for the cargo vessel's other six crew and Carnival Vista was released to continue the voyage.

The incident occurred during the 6-day "Eastern Caribbean Cruise" (itinerary Dec 10-16, roundtrip from Port Canaveral/Orlando Florida) with call ports in The Bahamas (Nassau/Dec 11), Dominicana (Amber Cove/Dec 13) and Grand Turk Island (Cockburn Town).

11 August 2023Propulsion / Power Loss

On August 11, 2023, while returning back to homeport Galveston (Texas USA), a technical issue caused the ship to lose propulsion and halt at sea for ~3 hours.

Through a letter delivered to each cabin, the ship's Master (Captain Claudio Bozzo) informed the passengers that the arrival in Galveston will be delayed by ~2 hours (10 am instead of the scheduled 8 am).

The accident occurred at the end of the 7-day "Western Caribbean Cruise" (itinerary Aug 5-11, roundtrip from Galveston TX) that visited Jamaica (Montego Bay/Aug 8), Grand Cayman (George Town Harbour/Aug 9) and Mexico (Cozumel/Aug 10).

The next voyage was not affected, but the passenger embarkation in Galveston was delayed by 2 hours.

09 April 2023Coast Guard Medevacs

On April 9, 2023, a 93-year-old female passenger was medevaced from the ship, flown back to Galveston (Texas) and ambulanced to a local hospital. The elderly woman was experiencing symptoms of respiratory failure, pneumonia, and septic shock.

At 10:18 pm TX time (13:18 UTC), the ship alerted the USCG Sector Houston-Galveston, requesting assistance. For the medical evacuation, from CG Air Station Houston was dispatched a Eurocopter MH-65 Dolphin (rescue helicopter). The woman, together with a ship nurse, was airlifted and transported to Galveston's UTMB (University of Texas Medical Branch). Reportedly, at the hospital, she was in stable condition.

The incident occurred at the beginning of the 7-day "Western Caribbean Cruise" (itinerary April 8-15, roundtrip from homeport Galveston) visiting Honduras (Mahogany Bay, Roatan Island), Belize City, and Mexico (Cozumel).

18 February 2023Coast Guard Medevacs

(CruiseMapper emailed report from Jennifer Ames)

Carnival Vista sailing from Galveston to Roatan, Belize and Cozumel, February 18-25.

On day one (Feb 18) they asked for emergency blood donors of A- and O- for a passenger in grave danger. On day two (Feb 19) we had to meet the Coast Guard of Mexico to disembark a crew member who they say will be out of the hospital by Feb 24-25, with no other details other than that it was a male crew member.

On day five (Feb 23) we had to turn around and head back to Cancun to meet the Coast Guard of Mexico again for a passenger who needs immediate medical attention. I happened to be at the drive-in movie when the incident happened and it seemed to be a serious fall (possibly due to fainting). It happened around 7:20-7:30 pm. And the Captain let us know about the diversion to land at 8:50 pm.

(CruiseMapper emailed update on the incidents from Derek Demont) received on March 7th)

The last person to get off in Cancun was not the lady who fell. I also was there for the fall. The man who got off was named Art. His wife updated in a Facebook group that he is ok and will recover fully.

The first and second evacuations were both crew members. The 3rd was a guest and then a 4th crew member was wheeled off in a wheelchair on disembarkation day.

December 2022Structural and Technical Issues

In mid-December 2022, CCL-Carnival Cruise Line canceled a total of 6x Carnival Vista cruises scheduled for 2024 (departures January 7 through and including February 11). The cancellations were to allow the ship to enter drydock.

The canceled voyages were 7-day Western Caribbean itineraries (roundtrips from Galveston Texas).

• (departure Jan 7th) Galveston to Falmouth (Jamaica), George Town Harbour (Grand Cayman Island), and Cozumel (Mexico)
• (departures Jan 14, Jan 21, Jan 28, Feb 4, Feb 10) Galveston to Mahogany Bay (Roatan Island, Honduras), Belize City, and Cozumel (Mexico)

The unscheduled drydocking was due to the propulsion issues that resulted in reduced cruising speed.

All affected/booked customers were emailed and offered two options - to either rebook on a comparable itinerary and in a similar stateroom (have the original cruise fare paid protected, and receive US$50 in OBC/onboard credit per person, up to US$100 per cabin) or to cancel with a full refund.

September 2022Structural and Technical Issues

In late-September 2022, CCL changed 6x Western Caribbean itineraries scheduled for Carnival Vista in 2022-2023.

Due to unscheduled maintenance works (citing an "unexpected issue"), CCL altered 6x voyages (all 7-day roundtrips out of Galveston Texas) - 3x departures in 2022 (Oct 15, Oct 29, Nov 12) and 3x in 2023 (Jan 21, Feb 4, Feb 18).

CCl explained to travel agents that as the maintenance works (to be conducted onboard and while the vessel is in operation/during the voyage) will also affect the propulsion system, the ship will not be able to sustain the max cruising speed required for the original itineraries. This forced the company to modify the itineraries by replacing the planned visits to Jamaica (Montego Bay), Grand Cayman (George Town) and Mexico (Cozumel) with Belize (Belize City) and Honduras (Roatan Island).

All pre-purchased shore excursions for Jamaica and Grand Cayman were fully refunded and all impacted bookings also received US$50 per person (max US$100 per stateroom) in OBC/onboard credit. All canceled bookings were fully refunded. CCl also offered options for rebooking on the Galveston-homeported fleetmates Carnival Dream and Carnival Breeze.

28 August 2022Crew / Passenger Deaths

(CruiseMapper-reported incident by Dylan) On August 26, 2022, ~11 PM, during the Rock Band show in the Ocean Plaza Lounge (aft on Promenade Deck/deck 5) the ship's medical team was called for someone who had collapsed.

CPR was performed by 3 bystanders while waiting for crew members to arrive. Unfortunately, the person did not survive and was seen being taken out wrapped in a blanket.

The incident occurred while the liner was en route from Mexico back to the USA, ending a 7-day "Western Caribbean Cruise" (itinerary Aug 20-27, roundtrip from homeport Galveston, Texas) with call ports in Jamaica (Montego Bay), Grand Cayman Island (George Town Harbour) and Mexico (Cozumel/Aug 25).

December 2021Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Coronavirus) On December 28, 2021, the liner docked at Port Mahogany Bay (Isla Roatan, Honduras) with a total of 51 COVID-positive cases (1 passenger plus 50 crew). Only passengers were allowed to disembark at Roatan.

The ship was operating a 7-day Western Caribbean itinerary (Dec 24-31, roundtrip from homeport Galveston (Texas USA) with call ports Cozumel Mexico (Dec 26), Belize City (Dec 27) and Roatan Island (Dec 28, port stay 8 am - 6 pm).

10 August 2021Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Coronavirus) On August 10, 2021, Texas media sources reported that a total of 26 staff-crew tested COVID-positive. According to an anonymous crew, the infected employees were Casino staff (10), dining staff (4), entertainment staff (4), guest services (2), photo services (2), housekeeping (1), bar services (1), plus 2 other (unspecified). All infected were quarantined in their cabins.

The outbreak (initially 23 crew) was registered after the ship departed from homeport Galveston TX, on a 7-day Western Caribbean itinerary to Honduras (Roatan Island's Mahogany Bay/Aug 10), Belize (Belize City/Aug 11), and Mexico (Cozumel/Aug 12).

On the previous voyage (July 31-Aug 7, with the same itinerary), in a statement, CCL announced a "small number of positive cases" but refused to state the exact number. The CDC started an investigation but also didn't state the number of infected. The ship's CDC color status at the time was "Yellow". Following the incident, CCL added a pre-cruise testing requirement - all fully vaccinated adults must have a negative COVID test result (PCR/antigen) taken within 3 days prior to departure.

UPDATE: On Aug 11th was reported a COVID-positive passenger, raising the number of infected to 27. On the same day, the Belize Tourism Board in a press release announced that Carnival Vista carried a total of 4336 people (2895 passengers plus 1441 crew-staff), 99,98% of the crew and 96,5% of the passengers were vaccinated, all COVID-positive were vaccinated (asymptomatic or with mild symptoms) and in isolation onboard.

Close contacts were traced and tested, revealing no additional Coronavirus cases. Onboard safety protocols were enhanced by mandatory wearing masks indoors, crew using N95 respirators (masks with a very close facial fit and more efficient filtration), closing crew decks' social areas.

In Belize City, passengers were allowed to disembark for shore excursions. According to Belize Tourism Board's Coronavirus protocols, cruise ship disembarkation will be forbidden only if there are over 2% of COVID cases onboard (passengers+crew). In the case of Carnival Vista, the percentage was ~0,6%.

27 November 2019Crew / Passenger Deaths

On November 27, 2019, while the liner was docked in call port Belize City (Belize), two male passengers died ashore, after being involved in a bus crash accident. The Carnival passengers were among the all 5 fatalities. The tour van was transporting cruisers (from Carnival Vista and MSC Meraviglia) on a independently booked tour "Jaguar Paw Cave Tubing and Jungle Zipline".

The vehicle just left Jaguar Paw when the collision occurred. From all passengers in the van, 5 persons (2 Carnival, 3 Belize residents, one of whom the driver) died after sustaining serious injuries. The van was carrying a total of 7 Carnival cruisers. The first passenger died on the crash site, the other died later in the hospital. Another 5 passengers were hospitalized.

The incident occurred during 7-day Western Caribbean cruise (itinerary Nov 23-30) roundtrip from homeport Galveston TX and visiting Isla Roatan (Honduras), Belize City (port stay 8 am - 4 pm) and Cozumel (Mexico).

03 July 2019Propulsion / Power Loss

On July 3, 2019, while en-route from Grand Cayman to Mexico, the liner suffered a power outage (for ~30 min) that resulted in no lighting, elevators and air conditioning on all decks' midship to forward sections. No injuries were reported. It was also confirmed that nobody was inside ship's lifts. The voyage/itinerary was not affected.

The accident occurred during 7-day Western Caribbean cruise (itinerary June 29 - July 6) roundtrip from homeport Galveston TX to Jamaica (Montego Bay), Grand Cayman Island (George Town) and Mexico (Cozumel).

15 June 2019Propulsion / Power Loss

Carnival Cruise Line emailed all booked passengers about an itinerary change due to technical issues resulting in reduced max cruising speed. As compensation, all bookings received US$50 per person in OBC (automatically added to passenger's Sail&Sign account) plus 25% future Carnival cruise credit (used on itineraries departing before Dec 12, 2020). Canceled bookings received full refunds (towards future Carnival cruises). All pre-purchased tours (booked through Carnival) were also fully refunded.

The originally scheduled 7-day Western Caribbean itinerary (June 15-22) roundtrip from homeport Galveston Texas had planned visits to Jamaica (Montego Bay / June 18, 8am - 5pm), Grand Cayman (George Town / June 19, 7am - 3pm) and Mexico (Cozumel / June 20, 9am - 5pm).

The revised itinerary (June 15 from Galveston TX) included 2 seadays (June 16-17), Roatan Island (Mahagony Bay / June 18, 10am - 6pm), Mexico (Costa Maya / June 19, 8am - 5pm), Mexico (Cozumel / June 20, 7am - 4 pm) and a seaday (June 21).

Due to ongoing propulsion issues impacting vessel's speed, on June 20, Carnival Cruise Line had to cancel three consecutive 7-day Western Caribbean itineraries (departures July 6, 13, 20) which are listed below.

departure July 6

departure July 13

departure July 20

The cruise ship was taken out of service (July 5 through 23) for repairs. All canceled July 2019 bookings were provided with full refunds, refunds of pre-purchased items (prior departure), USD 200 pp to flight change fees/travel expenses, plus 100% future Carnival cruise credit (to rebook before Dec 20, 2020). Following a special 4-day voyage (departing July 23), Carnival Vista resumed its 7-day Caribbean cruise schedule from Galveston on July 27.

In July 2019, Carnival contracted the Dutch dredging and heavy-lift company Royal Boskalis Westminster NV (headquartered in Papendrecht, Holland) to lift Carnival Vista out of the water and onto the vessel BOKA Vanguard (IMO 9618783) and transport it to Grand Bahama Shipyard (Freeport Bahamas) for repairs.

This floating drydock operation (the world's first for a passenger ship) was required due to technical issues with the liner’s azipods (propulsion units positioned under waterline). For the operation, Boskalis deployed from Europe the heavy-load carrier BOKA Vanguard - currently the world’s largest heavy-lifting vessel (semi-submersible platform).

The carrier arrived in The Bahamas on July 5 to prepare for the liner’s arrival (July 12). The loading and lifting operation was planned for July 12-14. Carnival Vista's repairs took place whilst the liner was on BOKA Vanguard. Note: Grand Bahama Shipyard's drydock facility sustained damages when a crane collapsed onto Oasis OTS (April 1, 2019).

01 June 2019Crew / Passenger Deaths

(CruiseMapper emailed incident report by Barbara Dodson) I was on Vista from 06-01 to 06-08-19. We heard them call for a medical response team to go to a cabin on deck 9 and later heard someone on deck 9 had died of a heart attack. A passenger reported seeing the body being transported to the morgue and the cabin being sealed off. If the medical emergency and death were related, this happened on 06-01. I could've sworn we were still in port when the medical emergency was called, though. It may have been right after we left, though.

The incident occurred at the beginning of 7-day Western Caribbean cruise (itinerary June 1-8) roundtrip from homeport Galveston Texas to Montego Bay (Jamaica), George Town (Grand Cayman) and Cozumel (Mexico).

(2nd feedback from Barbara Dodson) I did confirm the call for a medical response team on June 1 was for this incident. We had actually just left Galveston when it happened. The body remained onboard the entire week (presumably in the morgue) until we got back to Galveston (June 8). Witnesses reported seeing a hearse pulled up to the ship before we disembarked. This incident did not cause any itinerary changes but was a sadly tragic event for this poor person's family.

08 July 2018Coast Guard Medevacs

On July 8, 2018, an 89-year-old male passenger (suffering a stroke) was medevaced from the ship approx 140 ml (220 km) west of Great Inagua Island (Bahamas), en-route from Miami to Jamaica. The USCG dispatched  MH-60 helicopter crew from Clearwater, Florida. The man and a crew nurse were airlifted and flown to Cheshire Hall Medical Centre (Turks and Caicos).

The incident occurred during 6-day Western Caribbean cruise (itinerary July 8-14) roundtrip from homeport Miami to Ocho Rios (Jamaica), George Town (Grand Cayman) and Cozumel (Mexico).

02 December 2017Other Incidents

On January 16, 2018, CDC issued a report regarding the Carnival Vista ship, inspected on December 2, 2017.  The sanitation inspection resulted in score 79.  Note: any CDC score of 85 or lower is failing. Sanitation inspectors caught the crew hiding perishable food and galley equipment in crew quarters, officially reported as "an organized effort to physically move several containers and trolleys of food equipment, utensils, spices, potentially hazardous food items, raw produce, and decorations to a crew cabin hallway and a crew cabin in order to avoid VSP inspection".

Among the items found by the VSP staff were Lexan boxes with butter, buttermilk, whipping cream, raw seafood and meat (salmon, lamb, beef). In addition, the VSP staff found incomplete and/or inaccurate gastroenteritis (infectious diarrhea) illness logs and incorrect time control labels.

14 November 2016Propulsion / Power Loss

On November 14, 2016, while operating in the Southern Caribbean, the ship experienced technical problems affecting its propulsion system. The incident resulted in lower speed. The incident affected the next scheduled 11-night repositioning cruise from NYC to Miami (itinerary Nov 16-27) – Grand Turk was replaced with Nassau.

22 October 2016Coast Guard Medevacs

On October 22, 2016, a male passenger was medevaced (airlifted) from the ship in the Mediterranean while the liner was en-route from Barcelona to Gibraltar.

28 August 2016Other Incidents

("Messina incident") On August 28, 2016, while operating maneuvers for leaving the port of Messina (Sicily Island, Italy), the vessel turned over some of the port’s boating piers (at Marina del Nettuno) and flooded several boats that were moored there. The port has a harbor bay (formed by a C-shaped land area) for docking large-sized ships. At the harbor’s entrance (bay’s northwestern part) there is a quay (called Marina del Nettuno) with several concrete piers where smaller boats and yachts are moored.

While the Carnival cruise ship was maneuvering to exit the port, it came too close to the quay. The thrust it produced and the unusual proximity resulted in strong waves reverberating close to the marina dock. This caused some of the piers to turn over and swamped all moored boats, some of which sunk at their moorings. Of the affected piers, two suffered structural damages (one destroyed beyond repair). The ship didn’t stop but was slightly delayed its departure.

The Harbour Master (Messina port authority) opened an investigation of the accident. According to Italian news media sources, the damages caused by the cruise ship were over EURO 250,000 – two piers, broken mooring lines, boats in poor condition.

The incident occurred on a good-weather day. and during a 9-day Barcelona round-trip Mediterranean cruise (itinerary Aug 26 – Sept 3) with call ports Messina, Naples, Civitavecchia (Rome), Livorno, Marseille, and Palma de Mallorca.

In a similar incident (passing too close to the shore), the Carnival Sunshine ship trapped a water taxi in Venice (Italy) in July 2013.