Carnival Vista loses power at sea as cruise line reveals floating dock repair plan

Carnival Cruise Line’s lead Vista-class cruise ship, Carnival Vista, lost power at sea on Wednesday evening, the latest incident in a series of malfunctions and technical issues that have affected the cruise ship’s schedule.

Carnival Vista was sailing between George Town, Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico on the 5^th night of a 7-night roundtrip Caribbean cruise from Galveston, Texas at the time of the power cut.

The power outage affected the front half of the ship, but propulsion was not impacted and the ship was never in any danger.

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Carnival Cruise Line ambassador John Heald, who was aboard Vista at the time, shared information on social media about the power outage, which reportedly only lasted a short while, with lights and air-conditioning restored after just a few minutes.

He shared a post from the bridge showing the crew working to resolve the problem.

“Everyone doing their job in well-practiced drills and as you can see from this photo the bridge is back in night navigation mode,” he said.

Cruise director Matt Mitcham and the captain reportedly kept passengers updated of the power cut through the PA system, but throughout much of the ship the cruise experience was not affected.

The Punchliner Comedy club was full and the show went ahead without a hitch as the aft portion of the ship didn’t suffer any power issues.

This incident comes after weeks of propulsion problems for Carnival Vista.

This cruise was actually the ship’s last before she goes to a shipyard for repairs. Three of her 7-night cruises from Galveston in July (on the 6^th, 13^th and 20^th) were cancelled last month ahead of the repairs.

Carnival Cruise Line had intended to send Carnival Vista to the Grand Bahama Shipyard to have her azipods repaired, but an accident involving a Royal Caribbean cruise ship has left the shipyard without space.

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The cruise line has therefore announced that Vista will undergo a first of its kind floating dry dock. The Netherlands-based Boskalis ship repair specialists will deploy a large transport vessel that will partially submerge so that Carnival Vista can be navigated over it and then lifted out the water.

“This groundbreaking procedure made possible by Boskalis is a revolutionary way to ensure Carnival Vista’s repairs are completed in a safe, timely and efficient manner, so the ship can resume her popular seven-day schedule from Galveston later this month,” said Lars Ljoen, Executive Vice President of Marine Operations for Carnival Cruise Line.

Carnival Vista will resume regular cruises out of Port of Galveston, Texas on July 27, 2019.