Rush of raw sewage from washbasin takes shine off cruise
A rush of raw sewage has spoiled what was meant to be a memorable cruise holiday for four young women sailing together aboard the Bahamas Celebration cruise ship.
The problem started when the women heard a sudden gurgling noise from the bathroom of their cabin in the early hours of Sunday morning, the Palm Beach Post has reported.
One of the women told WPTV in Florida that when she walked into the bathroom to check, she found the shower drains – and amazingly even the washbasin – overflowing with sewage water. “It was brown and disgusting and the smell was unmistakable.”
Passenger Tracy Mendoza took several photos of the evil-smelling sludge, which the women say was ankle deep, running through the cabin’s carpet and spilling into the hallway.
Mendoza told WPTV that the liquid was “literally pouring out of the walls” – quite an alarming image.
The television channel, an NBC-affiliate covering South Florida’s Gold and Treasure Coasts, reported a spokesman for the Bahamas Celebration saying the drainage system in the ship’s galley had overflowed and affected 10 cabins.
Bahamas Celebration is operated by Celebration Cruise Line on two-day voyages out of Port of Palm Beach to Freeport, Bahamas.
The line is contacting every passenger affected to offer reimbursement for damaged items as well as a free cruise.
Bahamas Celebration was last in the news a couple of months ago, when a 47-year-old Canadian woman vanished while travelling as a passenger and sharing a cabin with her boyfriend. She hasn’t been seen again. If she fell, jumped or was thrown overboard she would be about the 180th person to have gone overboard from a cruise ship since 2000.
Bahamas Celebration has a colourful history, having operated as the cruiseferry Prinsesse Ragnhild on the Oslo–Kiel route from 1981 to 2004, first for Jahre Line and, from 1990 onwards, for that company’s successor Color Line. In 1992 the ship was radically rebuilt at Astilleros Espanoles, Cadiz.
The ship has reportedly suffered two fires in its history, one of which led to its evacuation, the other was more minor. The fires happened before its present ownership. The current owners took over the ship in 2008, thoroughly refurbished it and renamed the vessel Bahamas Celebration. It can carry up to 2000 passengers.
Written by : Peter Needham
