The cruise line said 6 guests with minor injuries “have presented themselves to the Carnival Glory medical center for evaluation.”
Two Carnival Cruise ships collided at the port of Cozumel, Mexico, on Friday morning, causing damage to at least one of the ships and at least six reported injuries, according to the company.
“Carnival Glory was maneuvering to dock when it made contact with Carnival Legend which was already alongside,” a spokesperson for the company wrote in an emailed statement. “We are assessing the damage but there are no issues that impact the seaworthiness of either ship.”
Initially, there was only one reported minor injury of a Carnival Glory guest that occurred when a group was being evacuated from the dining room of one ship’s decks 3 and 4. But the cruise line said that since its preliminary evaluation, six guests with minor injuries “have presented themselves to the Carnival Glory medical center for evaluation.”
Makenna Morris, 21, from Salt Lake City, Utah, said that she was on the fourth deck of the Carnival Legend taking pictures when she noticed the Carnival Glory moving toward her ship. She said that as the Carnival Glory approached, she could hear passengers screaming as they prepared for the impact.
“I started hearing people yelling and screaming on the Royal Caribbean,” Morris told NBC News. “That’s when I heard sounds of cracking and glass breaking.”
Morris also recalled hearing what sounded like scraping as the Carnival Glory made impact with the Carnival Legend.
“They ran into us and I was like ‘holy crap’,” Morris said. “The whole dining hall caved in and shattered.”
Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line and the largest one globally, according to the trade publication Cruise Market Watch.
Eight ships from various cruise lines were scheduled to dock at the Port of Cozumel on Friday. The Carnival Glory, which left its homeport in New Orleans on Sunday, was scheduled to dock in the port at 10 a.m Friday, while the Carnival Legend was scheduled to dock at 8 a.m.
The ships’ passengers have been advised to spend their day ashore in Cozumel.
Images show significant damage to the Carnival Glory. However, all damage appeared to be significantly above the water line, based on images posted on social media.
In fact, Carnival Cruise Line issued a statement to 94.5 PST saying that “there are no issues that impact the seaworthiness of either ship.”
In terms of what happened, they say it happened when Glory was in the process of docking.
“Glory had an allision with Carnival Legend this morning in Cozumel,” the cruise line wrote in a statement Monday afternoon. “Carnival Glory was in the process of docking when it made contact with Carnival Legend which was already docked.”
“Six guests with minor injuries have presented themselves to the Carnival Glory medical center for evaluation,” Carnival said via a statement on Friday afternoon.
“We have advised guests from both ships to enjoy their day ashore in Cozumel,” a company spokesperson told us.
Passengers aboard Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas, which was docked nearby, said the Glory began to drift towards them after the incident before it finally began to sail away from the port.
This video shows how close the Carnival cruise came to smacking into the 6,000 passenger Oasis of the Seas.
The Port of Cozumel is quite busy today with eight ships (from various cruise lines) scheduled to dock there today. The Carnival Glory was scheduled to officially dock in the port at 10 am.
The Carnival Glory has a passenger occupancy of about 2,900 people. The ship left its homeport in New Orleans on Sunday (December 15) for a 7-night cruise, and it is scheduled to return this upcoming Sunday (December 22).
Christmas week is a very busy week for cruise ships, and the company is assuring guests on Twitter that the next departures will not be affected.
Souce: wpsp.com, nbc.com
