Fire Breakout Forces Marella Cruises to Cancel Current and Next Cruise Departure
Marella Cruises has canceled the remainder of its current cruise, as well as the upcoming departure of its cruise ship Marella Discovery, following a fire incident. Passengers on board were alerted in the early hours of Friday, July 7, when fire alarms were sounded during a Caribbean cruise as the ship was en route to Grand Turk.
According to TUI, the parent company of Marella Cruises, the fire, which originated in one of the ship's five engines, was promptly extinguished, and no injuries were reported among the passengers or crew. As a precautionary measure, the ship was escorted back to its previous port of call, Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic, where a thorough assessment of the damage is underway.
Passengers on the affected ship have been informed that they will be flown back to the UK, while the scheduled departure of Discovery on Sunday, July 9, has been canceled.
TUI released a statement saying, "Due to a small fire in one of the five engines on the Marella Discovery, we have taken the difficult decision to cancel the remainder of the cruise. We understand how disappointing this will be and would like to apologize to our customers who have been impacted and thank them for their patience and understanding at this time. The fire was reported whilst the ship was on course in the Caribbean. The fire was quickly extinguished, and no one on board was harmed."
The company further assured passengers that their highly trained crew members are equipped to handle such situations. In light of the fire incident, the subsequent cruise scheduled to depart from Port Canaveral on Sunday has also been canceled.
TUI's customer support teams will reach out to those affected, providing assistance with their future travel arrangements. Refunds, either in full or pro-rata depending on outward travel dates, along with holiday vouchers as a gesture of goodwill, will be offered to impacted customers.
Efforts are currently underway to arrange transportation for all passengers to return home safely. TUI expressed gratitude for the understanding and patience shown by their customers and offered apologies for any inconvenience caused.
