Marella Cruises UK has decided to cancel the remainder of its ongoing voyage and the upcoming departure of the Marella Discovery cruise ship due to a fire incident. During a Caribbean cruise en route to Grand Turk, passengers were alerted in the early hours of Friday, July 7th, when fire alarms were activated.
TUI, the parent company of Marella Cruises, has reported that the fire, which started in one of the ship's five engines, was quickly extinguished with no reported injuries among passengers or crew. As a precautionary measure, the ship was escorted back to its previous port of call, Amber Cove Dominicana, where a thorough assessment of the damage is currently underway.
Affected passengers on the current voyage have been informed that they will be flown back to the UK (from Puerto Plata's Gregorio Luperon Airport), while Marella Discovery's scheduled departure on Sunday, July 9th, has been canceled.
TUI UK released a statement expressing their decision to cancel the rest of the cruise due to a minor fire in one of the ship's diesel engines. The company understands the disappointment this may cause and extends its apologies to affected customers. The fire occurred while the ship was navigating through the Caribbean and was promptly extinguished without harm to anyone on board.
TUI reassured passengers that their highly trained crew members are capable of managing such situations. In light of the fire incident, the subsequent cruise scheduled to depart from Port Canaveral (Orlando City, Florida USA) on Sunday has also been canceled.
TUI UK's customer support teams will reach out to those impacted to assist with their future travel arrangements. Impacted customers will receive refunds, either in full or proportionate to their outward travel dates, and holiday vouchers as a goodwill gesture.
Efforts are currently underway to ensure safe transportation for all passengers to return home. TUI expressed gratitude for their customers' understanding and patience and apologized for any inconvenience caused.
For more Marella Discovery incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.