Cruise flood ‘like titanic’ Say a prayer for us, plead passengers
Water gushes from walls and ceilings on Deck 9 of the cruise ship Carnival Dream, inset right CRUISE passengers yesterday told of the terrifying moment a liner’s accommodation deck filled with water – just like in Oscar-winning film Titanic.
A sprinkler malfunction aboard Carnival Dream led to corridors and rooms flooding.
Crew members formed a human chain and used buckets to bail out the water, which had gushed from walls and ceilings.
Passengers, who took to social media, compared the drama to scenes in 1997’s Titantic, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.
One, Marla DeAnn Haase, posted a picture taken in her Deck 9 stateroom, and urged people to: “Pray for us all.”
She added: “This is a rare moment of internet connection .... we are flooding on a cruise, we heard the violins and the silverware all came crashing down. What in the world... say a prayer for us all.”
Shocked
She was referring to violinists valiantly continuing to play as the Titanic sank on her maiden voyage between Southampton and New York City in 1912.
One of Ms Haase’s shocked friends replied: “What in the Titanic?” Another said: “I literally thought this was a scene from Titanic.”
Carnival Dream was five days into a Caribbean voyage when disaster struck on Thursday.
Another passenger reported that people whose staterooms had flooded were forced to sleep on yoga mats in the ship’s spa.
Carnival Cruises, based in Miami, Florida, said passengers affected would get full refunds, plus a 50 per cent credit for a future cruise. Any passenger who wanted to could be flown home before the cruise ended.
A company spokesman said: “Our onboard teams began clean-up immediately related to this clean water from a fire suppression system.
“We appreciate our guests’ understanding and sincerely apologise. We also thank our crew members for their quick action and hard work.”
The ship left New Orleans on April 29 for a seven night voyage.
With flood water still pouring in, Ms Haase posted a second message saying her brother-inlaw Mark’s CPAP machine (continuous positive airway pressure) used to help him breathe in the night had caught fire when it was doused with water.
“Mark Haase... laid down, put c-pap machine on, started to fall asleep and it caught on fire!
“The transformer was submerged in water too long so medical folks on board checked it out and said it was fine... thankfully we were not asleep when it went up in flames. No alarms went off again.”