Miami cruise hits rough seas and pier. How the incident affected passengers and trip
A Carnival Corporation ship chartered as a rock music cruise encountered rough sailing in Jamaica, upending the itinerary and causing anxiety among some passengers.
The Carnival Magic hit difficulties on Tuesday morning, forcing the Miami-based cruise ship to briefly leave a Jamaica port while many passengers were still onshore. But the ship then went to a nearby pier and picked up the people, the company told the Miami Herald on Tuesday night.
The incident happened while the ship was in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. The ship sailed to the Caribbean out of PortMiami.
“Strong winds and swells caused the pier fender to collapse under pressure, and the ship made contact with the pier,” the company said in a statement.
The Carnival Magic then left the area “for the safety of everyone on board,” the company said, “and later docked at another nearby pier so that guests who went ashore Tuesday morning could rejoin the ship.”
On Wednesday, Carnival told the Miami Herald that the ship “will depart Wednesday evening to continue its sailing.”
The company Ask4Entertainment had chartered the Carnival Magic for its annual rock band trip called ShipRocked 2024, what it bills as “Six Terrifying Nights of Music and Madness.” The ship left PortMiami on Feb. 4 with stops planned for Bimini, Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman.
Bands scheduled to play on the ship’s five stages included Killswitch Engage, Beartooth, Highly Suspect, and Badflower.
On Tuesday, I Prevail was supposed to play at 4:30 p.m., but a couple of members were onshore, according to Barbara Ligman, on board with her husband, James Ligman. The couple, both 60, live in Fort Myers.
“We’re fine now that we’re back on the boat,” she said Wednesday in an interview with the Herald. “Yesterday was just horrendous because Carnival was not communicating what was going on.”
The past 24 to 36 hours were uneasy for James Ligman, an attorney born and raised in Miami, and Barbara Ligman, a pilot for American Airlines.
Weather had prevented the scheduled stop in Bimini. Then on Tuesday morning, the ship docked at Ocho Rios. “It was very windy,” she said.
“You can see right away the huge waves crashing over the pier and washing out the port,” she recounted. “Rocks and mud were entering the building.”
About 8:20 a.m. Tuesday, she and her husband got off the ship and started their hiking excursion. They had to be back on the boat by 3:30 p.m. It was supposed to set sail at 4 p.m. to Grand Cayman.
But when they were dropped off near the port just past noon, they saw the boat there, but no longer docked.
Until that moment, they had not received any updates on their mobile app about what was happening.
“People were just standing around,” she said. “Nobody telling you what’s going on.”
They went to a nearby bar to have some drinks. Later they and others were told to clear the pier and were taken by shuttle to a house.
She estimated about 1,000 people were in the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house waiting.
“We had no idea where the boat was,” she said. It was raining and getting dark. Yet, “We’re getting no information from Carnival.”
Finally, “we got an update at 6:30 p.m. that the boat is docked and ready to board” at another pier. They were picked up at about 7:30 p.m. from the house.
Damage to the ship and pier wasn’t immediately clear.
Carnival said passengers were never stranded. “Our guests were not and would never be left behind.” People ashore “were taken care of by the Carnival team and shore excursion partners.”
The company said no one was hurt and that ship services continued to operate.
The Carnival Magic stayed in Ocho Rios on Tuesday night, canceling a Wednesday visit to Grand Cayman.
The 1,004-foot vessel is a Dream class, large-scale, bow-to-stern cruise ship with a capacity of 3,690 guests.
Carnival Cruise Line is part of the parent company Carnival Corp., headquartered in Miami-Dade County.
