There is nothing like taking a nice cruise.  You board the ship, stow your things, and prepare for a nice cruise enjoying the sights and sounds. Except that is not what happened recently to passengers aboard the Carnival ship Sunshine. Hours after leaving Port Canaveral Florida, it experienced what the Carnival called a “technical issue.”

I didn’t think anything of it, since it’s not uncommon for ships to rock back and forth. But it didn’t rock back. It kept leaning,” said passenger David Crews, according to CBS Orlando. “Plates and silverware started sliding off the tables. Then the tables themselves started to slide. Glasses and plates started to fall and shatter. At this point, it was pure chaos. Screams. Cries. Panic.”

An electrical switchboard problem resulted in the ship tilting to one side (whether it was port or starboard is unclear right now). The result was panic. Like most people you take the occasional bumps and jolts when on the ocean as nothing. But when it did not right itself quickly and things began sliding and coming off the walls, people began to panic. And of course water started coming in making it appear the ship for the moment was in serious peril.

The situation thankfully did not last long and apparently was corrected quickly by the ship officers. The damage was done though as passengers took to social media to report what happened. Although the ship’s crew quickly got to work to clean up all the mess caused by the tilt, many just wanted to get off the ship at the next port of call (many did). The initial offer of a $50 credit by the captain was considered insufficient by many. Carnival likely had to offer other compensation to passengers who choose to leave early. And you cannot blame them. That is a pretty scary thing to go through. Thankfully though it was not at all like Titanic. However it is not a great way to start your vacation.

Sources:
1. Cruise Ship Chaos: ‘Technical Issue’ Causes Carnival Sunshine To List To One Side, Terrifying Passengers (CBS New York,1 Nov 2018)
https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2018/11/01/cruise-ship-chaos-technical-issue-causes-carnival-sunshine-to-list-to-one-side-terrifying-passengers/

2. A scene from the Titanic: Carnival cruise ship terrifies passengers after leaning to one side (Deseret News,2 Nov 2018)
https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900040078/a-scene-from-the-titanic-carnival-cruise-ship-terrifies-passengers-after-leaning-to-one-side.html