Carnival Cruise Ship Rocked by Storm Over Memorial Day Weekend

The Carnival Sunshine, part of Carnival Cruise Line, was caught in heavy weather in the middle of its return voyage on Sunday. 

The ship was returning from the Bahamas to its homeport in Charleston, South Carolina when it encountered the storm.  

Video footage from passengers shows large waves and high winds crashing into the cruise ship. Winds reportedly reached roughly 80 mph. 

The storm was caused by a low-pressure system off the southeast during Memorial Day Weekend. 

Coincidently, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) visited Carnival Cruise Lines’ headquarters in Miami, Florida earlier in the week, where they tweeted a photo with the Carnival weather team thanking them for monitoring the weather around their fleet. 

The weather delayed the return of the cruise ship on Sunday. As a result, the following cruise was delayed. 

In the aftermath, passengers reported water damage and broken glass across the ship. 

“The weather and rough surf led to some crew cabins being temporarily taken out of service while we clean up water damage. All the public areas of the ship are open and in service and Carnival Sunshine is currently operating its next cruise, a five-day Bahamas sailing,” said Carnival Cruise in a statement to FOX. 

Carnival Cruise Line also reported that all passengers were safe and there was minimal medical attention required.