Carnival Cruise Ship Stuck in St. Maarten Port with Generator Problem

A Carnival Cruise Lines ship was stuck at port in St. Maarten on Thursday with equipment trouble, a month after another Carnival vessel was disabled by a fire that trapped thousands of passengers at sea for nearly five days.

Carnival Corp said the Carnival Dream’s emergency diesel generator malfunctioned during testing on Wednesday, causing temporary disruptions overnight to elevator and toilet services.

The cruise operator said it was making arrangements to fly the passengers home via charter flights and regularly scheduled flights from the Caribbean island.

Passengers will get a refund equal to three days’ worth of travel and half off a future cruise, Carnival said in a statement.

The U.S. Coast Guard first learned of a problem aboard the ship from a passenger at about 3 a.m. local time Thursday, said Chief Petty Officer Ryan Doss in Miami.

The ship was scheduled to leave St. Maarten on Thursday and was due back at Port Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday, he said.

Carnival Cruise Lines President and Chief Executive Gerry Cahill said earlier this week that the company had launched a comprehensive review of its entire fleet after a fire crippled the Carnival Triumph in the Gulf of Mexico last month.