Carnival Cruise Lines to cancel upcoming cruises due to damage from fire

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. — The Carnival Freedom ship will not be embarking on its scheduled cruises from Port Canaveral on March 25 and March 29 according to Carnival Cruise Lines.

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The Carnival Freedom experienced a fire on the port side of the exhaust funnel on Saturday, eyewitnesses reported a lightning strike hit the ship causing the fire and was quickly put out by the onboard team Carnival told Channel 9.

The ship went through a thorough assessment while the ship was in Freeport Sunday where it was discovered it will require immediate repair to stabilize the funnel.

The funnel was stabilized enough to make it back to Port Canaveral overnight to disembark guests and then will go back to the Freeport shipyard on Monday afternoon to begin the required repairs.

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“We sincerely regret the impact to our embarking guests, as we know they have been looking forward to their spring break vacation. We are providing all guests on both canceled cruises a full refund and a 100% future cruise credit so they can come back and enjoy a future cruise with us. We also greatly appreciate the terrific guests who are currently sailing with us, for their outstanding cooperation and support” according to Carnival Cruise Lines.

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