Videos show flooded decks as severe weather strikes Carnival cruise ship
The bad weather the formed in the Atlantic this weekend gave crew and passengers on board Carnival Sunshine a rough ride Saturday. Videos showed flooding on the lower decks and tumultuous seas rocking the ship before it was able to get into its home port of Charleston, S.C.
“Carnival Sunshine’s return to Charleston was impacted by the weather and rough seas on Saturday.” the cruise line said in an emailed statement Monday. “The weather’s prolonged impact on the Charleston area delayed the ship’s arrival on Sunday and as a result, the next voyage’s embarkation was also delayed. We appreciate the patience and understanding of all our guests. Carnival Sunshine is now sailing on its next cruise.”
The high seas were associated with a non-tropical low mixed with a storm front that had been sitting on Florida all week that the National Hurricane Center had been keeping tabs on, noting a small chance it could form into a tropical or subtropical depression.
As the system moved up toward the Carolina coast, gale and high seas warnings were issued from Florida up to Virginia, and Carnival Sunshine endured some of those effects as it waited to get into port. Weather reports showed winds in the area of up to 75 mph.
Videos on social media showed some of the damage. One post from the Twitter account @CrewCenter, associated with website Crew-Center.com, which is run by former ship crew, showed “the aftermath aboard Carnival Sunshine after a severe storm. The crew from Deck 0-4 evacuated to the theater, and anywhere they could rest… the crew bar destroyed.”
The website report stated there were no injuries, but passenger space on Deck 2 also experienced flooded hallways and staterooms.
Passengers in public spaces reported bottles flying off shelves as the waves of more than 12 feet rocked the ship.
A Twitter post from @FlyersCaptain said “We were in the piano bar right before when 30+ bottles of liquor jumped off of the bar and broke. We were told to leave the piano bar as there was liquor running across the floor.”
After a major makeover, the cruise line renamed what was the Carnival Destiny to Carnival Sunshine in 2013. It has a passenger capacity of 3,002 based on double occupancy.
The ship sails year-round on a variety of itineraries from Charleston.
