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Rogue Wave Strikes Cruise Ship, Killing a Passenger and Injuring 4 Others

The passengers were hurt after a large, unpredictable wave hit the ship, which was traveling toward the Antarctic, Viking Cruises said.

By Amanda Holpuch

A passenger died and four others were injured after a large, unexpected wave hit a cruise ship traveling toward a popular launching point for expeditions to Antarctica, Viking Cruises said.

The ship, the Viking Polaris, was struck by a “rogue wave” on Tuesday at 10:40 p.m. local time while traveling toward Ushuaia, Argentina, which is on the southern tip of South America, Viking Cruises said in a statement .

Viking Cruises did not say how the passenger was killed or provide the passenger’s name. The four passengers who were injured were treated by onboard medical staff and had non-life-threatening injuries, Viking Cruises said.

A State Department official said that a U.S. citizen died and that the department was offering consular assistance to the person’s family.

Rogue waves are unpredictable, typically twice the size of surrounding waves and often come from a different direction than the surrounding wind and waves, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration . Scientists are still trying to figure out how and when these uncommon waves form.

Ann Mah, of Topeka, Kan., told the news station WIBW that she and her husband were on the ship when it was hit by the wave and that it was “just like your whole house got shook really hard.”

“I mean, it was just a thud,” Ms. Mah said.

The Viking Polaris was launched this year and was designed for travel to remote destinations such as the Antarctic Peninsula. The ship is 665 feet long and can carry 378 passengers and 256 crew members.

The ship sustained “limited damage” from the wave and arrived in Ushuaia the day after it was struck, Viking Cruises said.

The cruise company canceled the Viking Polaris’s next scheduled trip, a 13-day cruise to the Antarctic Peninsula.

“We are investigating the facts surrounding this incident and will offer our support to the relevant authorities,” the company said.

Tourism to the Antarctic has steadily increased in the last 30 years, with 74,401 people traveling there in the 2019-20 season, according to the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators. Roughly 6,700 people traveled there in the 1992-93 season, according to the association.

In recent years, some observers have warned that the increase in tourism may not be sustainable and that it could threaten visitor safety or disrupt the fragile environment, which is already straining under the effects of climate change.

It is the beginning of the Antarctic tourism season, which coincides with its summer, beginning in late October or early November and usually lasting until March.

The death on the Viking Cruises ship this week comes after the death of two other cruise ship passengers in the Antarctic last month. Two Quark Expeditions cruise ship passengers died after one of the ship’s heavy duty inflatable Zodiac boats overturned near shore, Seatrade Cruise News reported .

Amanda Holpuch is a general assignment reporter. More about Amanda Holpuch

2 crew members die on Holland America ship; fire breaks out on Carnival cruise

MIAMI — Two crew members died on board a Holland America cruise ship, and a fire broke out on a Carnival ship while both of the ships were in the Bahamas this weekend, officials said.

The two crew on the Florida-based Nieuw Amsterdam died Friday during an "accidental steam release" while it was calling at the private resort island Half Moon Cay, Holland America said in a statement on Sunday.

"There was an accidental steam release in an engineering space on board Nieuw Amsterdam, which sadly resulted in the death of two crew members," the cruise line said.

The Bahamas Maritime Authority and the Dutch Safety Board were investigating the exact cause of the release, Holland America said.

A representative of the Bahama’s Coroner’s Court did not immediately respond to a request for information, such as the crew members’ identities and the cause and manner of death.

The cruise line said the conclusions of any investigation would be taken seriously. "Safety is always our top priority, and we are working to understand what, if anything, can be learned from this tragic accident," it said.

Passenger Laine Doss said she was on board when the captain announced the deaths on the vessel's P.A. system.

"We were celebrating the last day of the cruise," she said, when the mood changed "to something extremely somber."

The captain's voice broke, she said.

"He broke down crying," Doss said. "There was a moment of silence that the captain requested. And that entire scenario did affect the entire cruise. Things were canceled, joyous events were canceled, and we really just thought about mortality — the people who perished on the ship."

Crew members were being offered counseling, Holland America said.

Dutch government inspectors determined the vessel to be "fully operable," and this was "confirmed" by the U.S. Coast Guard, the cruise line said.

A U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson said she was looking into the statement and was unable to immediately confirm it.

The Nieuw Amsterdam returned Saturday to its home port of Fort Lauderdale, guests disembarked, and the vessel has embarked on a cruise with a stop in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, on Monday, Holland America said.

"All of us at Holland America Line are deeply saddened by this event," the cruise line said. "We’ve been in contact with the families of both team members and are offering our support to them and to all of our crew at this difficult time."  

The ship set sail out of Fort Lauderdale on March 16 for a seven-night trip.

Fire on the port-side exhaust funnel of another Florida-based cruise ship in the Bahamas, the Carnival Freedom, rocked some passengers Saturday and took the ship out of commission for repairs, the cruise line said.

No injuries were reported.

In a statement Sunday, Carnival Cruises acknowledged witness reports of a lightning strike or the sound of thunder before the fire erupted.

Passenger Heath Barnes said the ship was on a detoured path, destined for an unscheduled stop in Freeport, as a result of stormy weather and high winds when fire started.

"I was shocked," he said. "I mean, I looked out there and you're not supposed to see black smoke and fire shooting out of the tail end of the cruise."

The blaze was preceded by "the loudest thunder-lightning clap that I've ever heard in my life," Barnes said.

Ship personnel extinguished the fire, Carnival Cruises said.

The cruise line said a technical team determined the ship sustained enough damage that it will need repairs before it can be returned to scheduled cruises. The funnel was stabilized, passengers were expected to be returned to Port Canaveral, and the ship will set off to Freeport for repairs, it said.

"The damage is more than we first thought and will require an immediate repair to stabilize the funnel, resulting in the cancellation of the March 25 and March 29 cruises from Port Canaveral," Carnival Cruises said.

Passengers scheduled for those late-March cruises are being offered full refunds and credit that can be used for a future cruise, it said.

It was the second funnel fire on the Carnival Freedom since 2022.

Marissa Parra is a national correspondent for NBC News based in Miami, Florida.

Dennis Romero is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital. 

Passengers on Antarctic cruise ship hit by deadly 'rogue wave' speak out

The Trusdales were passengers on the Viking Polaris cruise ship last week.

Tom and Pam Trusdale were enjoying a bucket list trip to Antarctica , until their trip of a lifetime turned into a deadly disaster.

"It was going real smoothly, and we were only anticipating nothing but smooth going forward," Tom Trusdale told ABC News.

The Trusdales were passengers on the Viking Polaris cruise ship sailing toward Ushuaia, Argentina, when it was hit by a "rogue wave" last week , killing an American passenger, Sheri Zhu, and injuring four others.

"Good Morning America" airs at 7 a.m. ET on ABC.

The Trusdales said the wave wasn't the only disaster. The Trusdales and ABC News later confirmed that a day before the accident, another passenger was seriously injured during a Zodiac boat excursion.

"It was a real loud, it was a boom, and I flew up in the air, and the passenger across from me flew up in the air. She came down and hit hard," Pam Trusdale said.

MORE: 'Rogue wave' strikes Antarctic cruise ship, leaves 1 dead and 4 injured

Tom Trusdale said he saw two passengers tossed into the air from what seemed to be an apparent explosion.

"I saw the woman go, probably about 3 feet in the air, and then the gentleman straight across from me go up in the air, and then roll over into the sea," Tom Trusdale said. "So I went across and leaned over the pontoon, and I just grabbed on to the life jacket. He was face up, so he was stabilized, and I reassured him that, 'Hey, you're safe.'"

Tom Trusdale said he and another passenger were able to quickly pull the man back on the boat, but the woman's leg was severely injured.

"She said, 'I hurt my legs. I can't feel my leg,'" Pam Trusdale said. " And then I could hear her kind of straining that, you know, I could tell that she was in a lot of pain."

The passenger's leg required surgery, which led the ship's captain to turn back to Argentina. During the trip back toward Argentina, through a known turbulent stretch of ocean, was when the "rogue wave" crashed into the cruise ship.

"This wave hit it and came over and literally broke through windows and just washed into these rooms, and not only did it wash into the rooms, but it broke walls down, and once some walls went into the next room," Tom Trusdale said.

Viking said in a statement on its website that it's investigating the wave incident and is committed to the safety and security of all guests and crew.

Viking issued a second statement about the Zodiac boat incident, saying: "On November 28, the Viking Polaris deployed a small boat with six guests and one crew member near Damoy Point, Antarctica. On this trip a guest sustained a serious but non-life-threatening leg injury while on board the small boat and was taken to the medical center on the Viking Polaris."

"Following a detailed diagnosis by the ship's medical team, the decision was taken for the ship to immediately sail to Ushuaia so that the guest could receive additional medical care from a shore-based hospital," it continued. "The guest is now recovering shoreside in Ushuaia and will then return home; Viking is continuing to support them during this period. We are committed to the safety and security of all our guests and crew, and we are investigating the cause of the incident."

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'We all suffer from PTSD': 10 years after the Costa Concordia cruise disaster, memories remain

GIGLIO, Italy — Ten years have passed since the Costa Concordia cruise ship slammed into a reef and capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio. But for the passengers on board and the residents who welcomed them ashore, the memories of that harrowing, freezing night remain vividly etched into their minds.

The dinner plates that flew off the tables when the rocks first gashed the hull. The blackout after the ship's engine room flooded and its generators failed. The final mad scramble to evacuate the listing liner and then the extraordinary generosity of Giglio islanders who offered shoes, sweatshirts and shelter until the sun rose and passengers were ferried to the mainland.

Italy on Thursday is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration that will end with a candlelit vigil near the moment the ship hit the reef: 9:45 p.m. on Jan. 13, 2012. The events will honor the 32 people who died that night, the 4,200 survivors, but also the residents of Giglio, who took in passengers and crew and then lived with the Concordia's wrecked carcass off their shore for another two years until it was righted and hauled away for scrap.

► CDC travel guidance: CDC warns 'avoid cruise travel' after more than 5,000 COVID cases in two weeks amid omicron

“For us islanders, when we remember some event, we always refer to whether it was before or after the Concordia,” said Matteo Coppa, who was 23 and fishing on the jetty when the darkened Concordia listed toward shore and then collapsed onto its side in the water.

“I imagine it like a nail stuck to the wall that marks that date, as a before and after,” he said, recounting how he joined the rescue effort that night, helping pull ashore the dazed, injured and freezing passengers from lifeboats.

The sad anniversary comes as the cruise industry, shut down in much of the world for months because of the coronavirus pandemic, is once again in the spotlight because of COVID-19 outbreaks that threaten passenger safety. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control last month  warned people across-the-board not to go on cruises, regardless of their vaccination status, because of the risks of infection.

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'We all suffer from PTSD'

For Concordia survivor Georgia Ananias, the COVID-19 infections are just the latest evidence that passenger safety still isn’t a top priority for the cruise ship industry. Passengers aboard the Concordia were largely left on their own to find life jackets and a functioning lifeboat after the captain steered the ship close too shore in a stunt. He then delayed an evacuation order until it was too late, with lifeboats unable to lower because the ship was listing too heavily.

“I always said this will not define me, but you have no choice," Ananias said in an interview from her home in Los Angeles, Calif. “We all suffer from PTSD. We had a lot of guilt that we survived and 32 other people died.”

Prosecutors blamed the delayed evacuation order and conflicting instructions given by crew for the chaos that ensued as passengers scrambled to get off the ship. The captain, Francesco Schettino, is serving a 16-year prison sentence for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning a ship before all the passengers and crew had evacuated.

Ananias and her family declined Costa’s initial $14,500 compensation offered to each passenger and sued Costa, a unit of U.S.-based Carnival Corp., to try to cover the cost of their medical bills and therapy for the post-traumatic stress they have suffered. But after eight years in the U.S. and then Italian court system, they lost their case.

“I think people need to be aware that when you go on a cruise, that if there is a problem, you will not have the justice that you may be used to in the country in which you are living,” said Ananias, who went onto become a top official in the International Cruise Victims association, an advocacy group that lobbies to improve safety aboard ships and increase transparency and accountability in the industry.

Costa didn’t respond to emails seeking comment on the anniversary.

► Royal Caribbean cancels sailings: Pushes back restart on several ships over COVID

'We did something incredible'

Cruise Lines International Association, the world’s largest cruise industry trade association, stressed in a statement to The Associated Press that passenger and crew safety was the industry's top priority, and that cruising remains one of the safest vacation experiences available.

“Our thoughts continue to be with the victims of the Concordia tragedy and their families on this sad anniversary," CLIA said. It said it has worked over the past 10 years with the International Maritime Organization and the maritime industry to “drive a safety culture that is based on continuous improvement."

For Giglio Mayor Sergio Ortelli, the memories of that night run the gamut: the horror of seeing the capsized ship, the scramble to coordinate rescue services on shore, the recovery of the first bodies and then the pride that islanders rose to the occasion to tend to the survivors.

► Cruising during COVID-19: Cancellation, refund policies vary by cruise line

Ortelli was later on hand when, in September 2013, the 115,000-ton, 1,000-foot long cruise ship was righted vertical off its seabed graveyard in an extraordinary feat of engineering. But the night of the disaster, a Friday the 13th, remains seared in his memory.

“It was a night that, in addition to being a tragedy, had a beautiful side because the response of the people was a spontaneous gesture that was appreciated around the world,” Ortelli said.

It seemed the natural thing to do at the time. “But then we realized that on that night, in just a few hours, we did something incredible.”

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Overboard cruise ship passenger found dead off Florida

Body of msc meraviglia passenger recovered in ocean off port canaveral.

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. – A cruise ship passenger who went overboard off the Central Florida coast was found dead in the ocean early Thursday, according to the Coast Guard.

The 36-year-old woman was aboard the MSC Meraviglia, owned and operated by MSC Cruises, and fell from the ship off Port Canaveral. The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office said they believe the woman’s death is an apparent suicide.

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The Coast Guard tweeted that the woman’s body was recovered about 18 miles off the port.

MSC Cruises later issued a statement about the passenger.

“Early (Thursday) morning, MSC Meraviglia’s advanced detection systems alerted our crew to a passenger overboard while the ship was sailing to Port Canaveral. The crew performed an immediate search and rescue operation, alongside the US Coast Guard who supported search efforts with boats and a helicopter.

“Unfortunately, despite the rapid rescue operation, the passenger sustained fatal injuries. We are offering our full support to authorities as they investigate this matter.

“We are deeply saddened by this incident and offer our sincerest condolences to the family and those affected,” the statement said.

The MSC Meraviglia later docked at Port Canaveral.

An investigation is ongoing.

#BREAKING : A 36-year-old woman's body was recovered from the water approximately 18 miles offshore #PortCanaveral Thursday morning after she went overboard the cruise ship Meraviglia. The cause of the incident is under investigation. — USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) December 15, 2022

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He told his sister he was going to the bathroom. Then he came to in the Gulf of Mexico.

Updated on: December 2, 2022 / 8:47 PM EST / CBS/AP

He spent nearly 20 hours alone, treading water in the Gulf of Mexico after falling off a cruise ship and being saved on Thanksgiving. James Michael Grimes spoke about the experience Friday, saying it has taught him to not take life for granted.

"My worst fear is drowning and that was something I did not want to have to face," Grimes told ABC's " Good Morning America ." "I wanted to see my family again. I was dead set on making it out of there. I was never accepting that this was it, that this was going to be the end of my life."

The 28-year-old from Lafayette, Alabama, was with 18 relatives on a Carnival cruise to Cozumel, Mexico, when somehow, he ended up overboard after a day of fun.

On Nov. 23, he had won an air-guitar contest held on the cruise and remembers telling his sister around 11 p.m. that first night on board that he was going to the bathroom, he said. What happened next remains unclear. He said he doesn't remember falling or landing in the water.

"When I came to, regained consciousness, I was in the water with no boat in sight," he said. "I can't float myself, even when I'm trying to. So there had to be ... the Lord was with me while I was out there because something was holding me up the whole time I was passed out."

One of the U.S. Coast Guard officers who later saved him, aviation survival technician Richard Hoefle, told CBS News he believes Grimes "had about 30 seconds to a minute left before we would have lost him."

The 28-year-old man had "an incredible will to survive," Hoefle said.

At some point, Grimes said he thought he saw the fin of a shark, kicking at something that bumped into his leg. He later chewed on a stick he found floating in the water that appeared to be bamboo. 

"It gave some type of flavor in my mouth other than saltwater," he said.

As time passed and the sun began to set, Grimes said the water started getting colder.

"At that time, I thought, how much longer am I going to have to be out here," he said. "The fall didn't kill me and the sea creatures didn't eat me. I felt like I was meant to get out here."

Then, he saw the lights of a tanker ship and began swimming toward it.

"That was my final little burst of energy," Grimes said. "The strength that I had, I used pretty much every bit of it to try to make it."

He said the Coast Guard circled the tanker two or three times looking for him.

"I'd done taken off my socks and everything and was just waving them around my head, trying to do something where they could see me, and when that light finally hit me, somehow I heard, 'We got him,' and I seen a guy coming down from a helicopter and ... right then I thought, 'man I seen the light.'"

Grimes was rescued at about 2:30 p.m. local time on Nov. 24, about 20 miles off the coast of Southwest Pass, Louisiana, according to the Coast Guard. He said he remembered telling his rescuer he was naked and he told him that was fine. 

"He told me to hold on to this life vest, and I was just thinking 'Thank you, you were like a guardian angel coming down for me,'" he said.

It's been a week since the incident, and Grimes said the experience has opened his eyes. While dressing in a pair of pants he planned to wear on the cruise, Grimes said he found a fortune cookie fortune in the pants pocket that read "Life's a beach. Enjoy the waves."

Though harrowing, Grimes said the experience will not discourage him from taking another cruise.

"I might not get within 10-foot of the rails, but I'd definitely be open to going on another cruise, because I really didn't get to go on this one," he said.

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Cruise ship collides with iceberg near Southeast Alaska glacier

A passenger aboard the Norwegian Sun in Juneau on Monday, June 27, 2022. The ship skipped Skagway after it hit an iceberg while transiting Hubbard Glacier. (Photo by Jennifer Pemberton/KTOO)

This story was originally published by KTOO Public Media and is republished here with permission.

Coast Guard divers in Juneau assessed damage to the 2,000-passenger cruise ship Norwegian Sun on Monday.

The Norwegian Cruise Lines ship hit an iceberg near Hubbard Glacier on Saturday. A spokesperson for Norwegian Cruise Lines said the ship was “engulfed by dense fog, limiting visibility,” and that’s the reason it hit what the cruise line is calling a “growler” — a small iceberg about the size of a grand piano.

But passenger Jason Newman of Atlanta, Georgia, says the fog had cleared when he felt the impact.

“The ship had a severe judder,” he said “You could feel the strike. And then it listed minorly.”

Newman said the ship limped out of the bay and all the way to Juneau at 10 mph — he tracked their speed using a phone app. The ship skipped its scheduled Skagway stop on Sunday and reached Juneau on Sunday night at around 5 p.m.

He said passengers did not hear from the captain until 8:30 a.m. Sunday morning, when he confirmed the ship had struck an iceberg.

Newman says passengers were allowed a five-hour shore leave Sunday night in Juneau but were confined to the ship on Monday.

“They told us they couldn’t get the authority to approve us to leave the ship,” he said.

Newman said the cruise line had canceled the entire day of tours for everybody on board by 10 a.m. He had planned a jeep tour in the morning.

“I’m sure that all the tour operators lost revenue,” he said.

The cruise ship was moored at Franklin Street Dock in Juneau until Monday afternoon when it left port. It’s next scheduled stop is in Ketchikan, but port agents, cruise agencies and the coast guard could not confirm that the ship would stick to its itinerary after the incident.

Petty Officer Lexi Preston with Coast Guard public affairs said that after the assessment, it would be up to Cruise Lines Agencies of Alaska to determine what will happen next.

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A terrifying incident unfolded at the port of Salerno, Italy, on October 3rd, when an 8-year-old boy narrowly escaped a tragic fate. The boy had disembarked from a cruise ship with his family at the Salerno Maritime Station, when a simple and innocent moment turned into a terrifying ordeal when the young boy slipped and fell into the water in the small gap separating the dock from the ship.

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Carnival Cruise Line Passenger Missing After Falling Overboard

Written by Charles R. Lipcon Charles R. Lipcon is the firm’s founder and one of the preeminent maritime attorneys in the United States. Mr. Lipcon has been handling maritime lawsuits – including personal injury, wrongful death, sexual assault and rape – for over 40 years. In that time, he and his firm have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for their clients.

America’s Most Prestigious Carnival Cruise Line Accident Attorneys Located in Miami, FL are Uniquely Equipped to Help You Cope With the Fallout of Your Cruise Ship Accident Injuries

Our Carnival Cruise Line accident lawyers at Lipcon, Margulies & Winkleman, P. A. have 8 office locations across the United States. In fact, we have headquarters in Miami, Fl and are considered one of the nation’s leading cruise ship accident and injury law firms. Established in 1971, we have been advocating for our clients rights for more than 50 years, and will continue to do so. Our team has collectively recovered more than $300 million in cruise ship, resort, and maritime injury settlements, handled more than 3,000 cases, and appeared as experts on numerous hotel, resort, and maritime injury themed television programs and specials. Several of our attorneys have also been named to “Best Lawyers”®, and our law firm has been selected as one of the “Best Law Firms”® by US News & World Report every year for nearly a decade.

If you were traveling as a passenger or were a crew member aboard a Carnival Cruise Line, going up against this international corporation can be overwhelming. However, when you have our dedicated cruise ship accident attorneys working for you, you can rest easier. We have a success rate that cannot be matched by our competitors. This makes us uniquely equipped to help you and your family fight for fair compensation after your accident. Having handled countless landmark maritime and cruise ship accident cases, our team is ready to help you take action. Below, we go into further detail about some of the most common types of accidents on cruise ships: passengers falling overboard. In fact, just a few weeks ago, a man fell overboard while traveling on a carnival cruise. Do not hesitate to contact our team so we can help you navigate the often complex legal process associated with cruise ship accidents and injuries.

The Latest on Carnival Cruise Passengers and Crew Going Overboard

On May 29, 2023, a passenger aboard a carnival cruise line, the Carnival Magic ship, went overboard . According to the United States Coast Guard, passenger Ronnie Peale went overboard while traveling 186 miles east of Jacksonville, Florida. U.S. Coast Guard crews used water and aircraft assets to search over 5,000 square miles before suspending their search.

The search for 35 year old Peale ended several days after he was originally reported missing by his cruise ship companion. His companion reported him missing late in the afternoon on May 29 and Carnival Cruise Line reviewed security footage that showed him leaning over his state room balcony railing when he suddenly dropped into the water. This occurred at around 4:10 AM in the morning.

U.S. Coast Guard’s District 7 Lieutenant Commander Christopher Hooper oversaw these search efforts and offered his condolences to Mr. Peale’s companion, friends, and family. The ship continued on to Norfolk, VA after search efforts were suspended. The Carnival Magic ship was originally on a round-trip sail from Norfolk to the Bahamas when Peale went overboard. Carnival Magic operates out of Norfolk, VA, Miami, FL, and Cape Canaveral, FL ports.

The FBI is Investigating

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is currently reviewing the Carnival Magic overboard incident, as they share a responsibility to investigate certain accidents and incidents on the navigable waters. By interviewing witnesses to get the facts of the case, reviewing video surveillance and security footage, and obtaining other evidence, they should be able to determine who, if anyone, is responsible for Peale falling overboard.

However, this is only one of the most recent Carnival and cruise ship overboard accidents and cruise ship disappearances . Back in November 2022, a passenger aboard the Carnival Valor ship went overboard. Similarly, a woman traveling near Port Canaveral aboard the MSC Cruise’s Meraviglia suffered fatal injuries after going overboard. A Royal Caribbean international traveler also went overboard back in April 2023, during a Trans-Pacific trip. Those search efforts were eventually suspended and the passenger was never recovered.

According to the Cruise Lines International Association , in 10 years, 212 people went overboard on cruise ships while just 48 were rescued. This indicates cruise ships may not be utilizing the necessary safeguards to keep passengers out of harm’s way and avoid overboard incidents. This includes ensuring that safety rails are located at least 42 inches above state room decks according to the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010.

What to Do After a Cruise Ship Accident

If someone you love falls overboard while traveling on a cruise ship, it is crucial to notify crewmembers as soon as possible so rescue efforts can commence. If they are rescued or lost at sea, you may have the right to pursue legal action against the cruise ship or other liable parties. With help from our reputable cruise ship accident attorneys, you can demand Carnival Cruise or other cruise lines be held accountable for their negligent safety practices. Not only do you have a chance to recover the compensation you will need to get through these difficult times, but your efforts could prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.

Lipcon, Margulies & Winkleman, P.A are the Nation’s Leading Carnival Cruise Ship Accident Lawyers

No one ever expects to suffer devastating injuries or have a family member fall overboard while enjoying a Carnival Cruise. However, when it happens to you, you need the nation’s top-rated Carnival Cruise ship accident attorneys to advocate for your rights. Lipcon, Margulies & Winkleman, P. A. was named as one of America’s “Best Law Firms” ® by US News & World Report since 2016 and have had multiple personal injury litigators selected as “Best Lawyers” ®.

Our extensive experience and knowledge of cruise ship and maritime laws make us the premier option when you or someone you love falls overboard or suffers other injuries in a Carnival Cruise Line accident. Take steps to hold Carnival Cruise Lines accountable for their negligence when you contact our team for a 100% free consultation. Fill out our online contact form or call us at 877-233-1238 to get started on your Carnival cruise ship accident claim as soon as possible.

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Published on July 17, 2023

Categories: Cruise Ship Accidents

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A Norwegian Cruise Line ship on the way to an Alaskan glacier hit an iceberg over the weekend and is being turned around due to damage.

The ship, the Norwegian Sun, smacked into the minor iceberg, also known as a growler, on Saturday and was rerouted to Juneau for inspection.

“On June 25, 2022 while transiting to Hubbard Glacier in Alaska, Norwegian Sun made contact with a growler,” a Norwegian Cruise spokesperson told The Post.

“The ship sailed to Juneau, Alaska for further assessment, where it was decided that the current voyage would be shortened, and the cruise scheduled to embark on June 30, 2022 will be canceled, so that the necessary repairs can be made.”

On Monday, the Juneau Empire reported the ship sustained damage after divers inspected it and it had to return to Seattle for repairs, according to Petty Officer 1st Class Nate Littlejohn, a Coast Guard spokesperson.

Littlejohn said the ship called the Coast Guard to report the incident and told officials there were no injuries, according to Juneau Empire.

A Norwegian Cruise spokesperson confirmed to The Post that the ship was given clearance by the United States Coast Guard and other local maritime authorities to return to Seattle “at reduced speed.”

“All guests currently onboard will disembark in Seattle as originally planned,” the spokesperson said.

One passenger was with six of her relatives for a family vacation that was postponed three years due to the COVID pandemic.

Alicia Amador, of Phoenix, Arizona, told Juneau Empire she heard a “big noise” and then the ship moved as if it struck something.  She estimated the iceberg was the “size of a semi-truck.”

“The whole boat came to a complete stop from the impact,” Amador told the Juneau Empire. “It was a scary experience.”

She told the newspaper that Norwegian told her Monday the rest of the trip was canceled and the ship would arrive in Seattle on Thursday. She said her family was told they’d be reimbursed.

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• CruiseMapper

Carnival Dream accidents and incidents

Cabins 1823

Length (LOA) 305 m / 1001 ft

  Tracker   Ship Wiki

CruiseMapper's Carnival Dream cruise ship accidents, incidents and law news reports relate to a 4558-passenger vessel owned by Carnival Cruise Line . Our Carnival Dream accidents page contains reports made by using official data from renown online news media sources, US Coast Guard and Wikipedia.

Here are also reported latest updates on cruise law news related to ashore and shipboard crimes still investigated by the police. Among those could be arrests, filed lawsuits against the shipowner / cruise line company, charges and fines, grievances, settled / withdrawn legal actions, lost cases, virus outbreaks , etc.

• propulsion/power loss - 2011, 2013 (backup generator malfunction in St Maarten / passenger evacuation), 2017, 2019
• pollution - 2018
• deaths - 2010, 2011 (newborn baby), overboard (2019), crew (2020)
• injuries/crimes - 2010 (infirmary robbery), 2011, 2012 (crew), 2012 (bomb threat)
• structural damages - 2012 (rescue boat with 4 crew fell from 8 m / 26 ft), 2018 (flooding, lifeboat)
• medevacs - 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 (2)
• boat rescue - 2014 (39 Cuban refugees), 2023 (17 people)

You can add more details on reported here accident or submit new / your own Carnival Dream ship incident ("Cruise Minus" report) via CruiseMapper's contact form .