Carnival cruise ship returns to Florida after funnel fire
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Carnival cruise ship that caught fire over the weekend safely returned to Florida on Monday.
Video from WESH showed the Carnival Freedom bringing passengers back to Port Canaveral around 7:30 a.m.
The ship’s funnel caught fire off the coast of the Bahamas on Saturday.
“The ship’s fire response team was quickly activated, and the ship’s captain also turned the vessel towards the heavy rain in the area to maximize the efforts to put out the flames. Eyewitnesses reported the possibility of a lightning strike and that is being investigated but cannot yet be confirmed,” Carnival told WFLA in a statement on Saturday.
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A portion of the funnel fell onto Deck 10. The crew asked passengers to avoid balconies and open decks for safety.
Carnival said two crew members who extinguished the fire were treated for minor smoke inhalation. No guests were injured.
The cruise line had to cancel the Freedom’s next two voyages, departing on March 25 and March 29, out of Port Canaveral.
Guests scheduled for those cruises will be issued a full refund and a future cruise credit, Carnival said.
The ship will go to the Freeport shipyard on Monday to undergo repairs.
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