Norwegian Encore Gangway Collapses
The gangway of Norwegian Encore buckled and collapsed on Tuesday while the ship was docked in Panama, leaving multiple passengers injured.
A guest tweeted that a gangway from deck six to the pier two decks below collapsed while passengers were on it. Multiple guests were taken to the hospital in ambulances via stretchers and wheelchairs. The incident occurred around 1:30 pm local time when code alpha was called for the pier, which is code for a medical emergency.
Norwegian Encore is currently on a 21-day repositioning voyage from Seattle to Miami. At the time of broadcast, NCL hasn’t released a statement and the ship was still docked in Panama.
The last major cruise ship gangway collapse was back in 2009 on an MSC ship in Spain, sending one guests into the water.
Tropical Storm Nicole Impacting Cruise Ports
Tropical Storm Nicole has already started impacting Florida cruise ports, which led to cruise ship itinerary changes.
Both Jacksonville-based Carnival Elation and Central Florida’s Carnival Liberty have dropped Nassau and are heading to Cozumel to avoid the storm. Disney and Norwegian are also swapping Bahamas ports or opting for sea days to stay far enough away from the storm.
Nicole is forecast to become a hurricane by this evening when it strikes southern Florida, then weaken, cut north, and be out of Florida by early Friday morning.
Allure of the Seas Arriving in Galveston
Allure of the Seas is arriving to Galveston this morning, marking the first time an Oasis-class ship will homeport in Texas. The ship’s arrival also serves as the grand opening for Royal Caribbean’s new $125 million Galveston terminal.
In addition to Allure, which is one of the largest cruise ships in the world, the terminal will be home to Adventure of the Seas starting this month, and Radiance of the Seas starting in January. All three vessels will operate western Caribbean cruises.
Carnival Ecstasy Arrives at Scrapyard
Carnival Ecstasy arrived at the scrapyard in Turkey on Monday, marking the end of a 31-year run with Carnival Cruise Line. It took three weeks for the ship to sail from Gulf Coast to the scrapyard, including a two day stop in Miami to debark crew and equipment.
Ecstasy was Carnival’s only Fantasy-class ship so far to have a farewell passenger cruise, with guests and employees alike saying goodbye to a vessel full of memories. The only two Fantasy-class ships that are still in service are Carnival Paradise and Elation.
