A Princess Cruises ship carrying more than 3,000 passengers lost main power twice during the early morning hours of June 5, leaving guests temporarily without air conditioning while drifting in the Caribbean heat. The vessel is since back on course and expected to arrive on schedule.
The Caribbean Princess, a 112,894-gross-ton ship, was sailing from San Juan, Puerto Rico, toward Port Canaveral, Florida, when the outage struck, according to Princess Cruises, which confirmed the incident in a statement to cruise media site Cruise Hive.
"This morning, while en route from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Port Canaveral, Florida, Caribbean Princess experienced a temporary loss of main power for approximately one hour and 15 minutes," the cruise line said.
A spokesperson for the cruise line did not return a request for comment from NTD News when contacted after regular business hours on June 5.
Up to 3,140 guests onboard—the maximum at double capacity—were affected by the outage, which knocked out the ship's air conditioning during what passengers described as sweltering Caribbean conditions. Emergency power systems, however, remained operational throughout, and the cruise line said guests were never in danger.
Power was eventually restored in stages. According to the same passenger, a partial recovery came through by 9:59 a.m. ET, with ventilation and air conditioning systems coming back online as the ship resumed slow movement.
According to one Reddit user who commented on the thread, the ship's captain kept guests informed throughout the outage, even appearing at a pre-scheduled "Coffee with the Captain Q&A" after the incident. "Captain and crew still managed to get ship generators all going and all systems back online," the commenter wrote. "He made it to the scheduled Coffee with the Captain Q&A and answered questions in a way everyone could understand. Well done."
A Facebook post from a couple traveling aboard the ship acknowledged the power loss but pushed back on what they called sensationalized coverage. "Hey, if you hear our ship — Caribbean Princess — lost power, it did, twice, this morning. Weird thing to wake up to. It lasted a few hours but all is fine," they wrote, adding: "Ignore the 'STRANDED AT SEA' drama posts. We're fine. No poop cruise."
Another user on Reddit added, "Drinks never stopped being poured. Still better than most airlines can say with mounting delays and 45-minute taxi times."
Princess Cruises confirmed in its statement that there will be no disruption to the ship's arrival or turnaround. "Main power has since been fully restored. Caribbean Princess is continuing its passage to Port Canaveral as scheduled, with no delay expected," the cruise line said. "The safety and well-being of our guests and crew remains our top priority as our onboard teams continue to monitor the situation closely."