Stranded Passengers on a High-End Cruise Ship Experience a Multi-Hour Power Outage Off the Italian Shoreline
The Celebrity Cruises' vessel, the Celebrity Constellation, encountered a temporary power outage on August 2, 2020, off the coast of Italy. The incident, which lasted under three hours, left guests without electricity and air conditioning, but the ship's essential systems were not disrupted [2][3][5].
The power outage was resolved by the activation of emergency generators, which supported essential systems such as emergency lighting, fire detection, elevators, and engine restarts. These generators, located on the upper decks, have an independent fuel supply [6].
The incident comes amidst concerns about the maintenance and aging of some ships in Celebrity Cruises’ Millennium class, to which the Constellation belongs. However, specific technical details on the exact cause of the outage have not been publicly disclosed [3].
The Celebrity Constellation is currently on an 11-day itinerary that began on July 28 from Porto Corsini in Ravenna, Italy. The ship can carry up to 2,184 guests, and its scheduled stops include destinations in Croatia and Montenegro, with the cruise concluding on Aug. 8 in Civitavecchia, the nearest port to Rome [1].
This incident recalls the 2013 incident aboard the Carnival Triumph, as detailed in the Netflix docuseries "Trainwreck: Poop Cruise". In that incident, a fire in the engine room destroyed electrical cables, leaving the vessel powerless in the Gulf of Mexico. Passengers on the Carnival Triumph endured several days without lighting, air conditioning, refrigeration, or functioning restrooms, ultimately having to use plastic bags for waste and cope with raw sewage onboard [4].
It's worth noting that Royal Caribbean's emergency generators are automatically activated in case of power loss, as was the case with the Celebrity Constellation. Passengers were still able to use their cellphones during the outage [7].
While the Celebrity Constellation incident did not involve any disruptions to essential systems or prolonged power outage as severe as the Carnival Triumph incident, it serves as a reminder of the importance of maintaining the fleet's technical integrity.
References: 1. Celebrity Constellation Itinerary 2. Celebrity Constellation Power Outage 3. Celebrity Constellation Power Outage: What We Know 4. Carnival Triumph Power Outage 5. Celebrity Constellation Power Outage: Guests Describe Their Experience 6. Celebrity Cruises' Emergency Power Systems 7. Cellphone Usage During Power Outages on Cruise Ships
- Despite the temporary power outage on the Celebrity Constellation, passengers were still able to use their cellphones, differing from the Carnival Triumph incident where prolonged power loss caused disruptions.
- The Celebrity Constellation incident, along with the 2013 Carnival Triumph crisis, highlights the significance of maintaining technical integrity in the cruise industry's fleet, with incidents like car-accidents and general-news serving as a reminder of unexpected challenges that can arise.
