A Carnival Cruise Line ship struck “an errant piece of drifting ice last Thursday while sailing in Tracy Arm Fjord, Alaska,” the company confirmed to FOX Business on Monday.
The hull of the Carnival Spirit underwent an assessment and no damage was found, the company said. The ship continued on its current seven-day cruise that arrives back in Seattle, Washington, on Tuesday.
Carnival said “the vessel continued on its cruise and there has been no impact to operations.” Despite this, social media reactions took a turn for the dramatic.
“If we die, it was damn-well worth it,” passenger Cassandra Goskie said in a video she posted in a private Carnival VIFP Club Members Facebook group and shared with FOX Business. “It’s a Titanic moment.”
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“Oh, we are hitting it,” she said, as other passengers could be seen looking over the side of the ship. “Damn.”
The video’s caption reads, “Carnival did an AMAZING job of keeping all the passengers and staff safe and updated.”
One X user shared photos with their local meteorologist that showed the iceberg and a boat, which appeared to be assessing the ship for damage.
Carnival said in a statement to FOX Business that the ship did not experience delays, and that the Spirit “arrived in Skagway on Friday as scheduled.”
The Carnival Spirit was built in 2001. It can take just over 2,600 guests on voyages with 920 team members onboard, according to a ship fact sheet.
While its home port is currently Seattle, the ship has upcoming cruises from Mobile, Alabama.
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Alaska is considering a new policy to limit the number of visitors to its capital, Juneau, amid concerns about the impact of overtourism, expanding on measures introduced last year.
Juneau last year limited visitation to just five cruise ships per day, and in June, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian agreed to limit the number of passengers visiting the shore per day as well: 16,000 per day Sundays through Fridays and 12,000 on Saturdays starting in 2026, according to the Alaska Beacon.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCL | CARNIVAL CORP. | 15.67 | -0.48 | -2.97% |
Cruise season runs from early April to late October, and the capital continues to prove a highly popular destination with several glaciers nearby, including the Mendenhall Glacier. Residents in recent years have raised concerns about the increased traffic, congested trails and noise pollution from both cruise ships and helicopter tours.
The cruise industry produces around $375 million in direct investment into Juneau, mostly through passenger spending. Tourism dipped during the coronavirus pandemic, but has spiked in the past 18 months as travel resumed normal levels, with a record 1.6 million cruise passengers visiting Juneau in 2023.
FOX Business’ Peter Aitken contributed to this report.
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