The Carnival Triumph skipped its weekly Progreso stop this week after a passenger apparently fell overboard and disappeared on Sunday.
Mexican Navy are searching for the passenger, a 44-year-old woman whose identity was not disclosed. Other passengers reported seeing her fall off the ship Sunday evening into the Gulf of Mexico. The ship was on its second day of a five-day cruise and headed to Cozumel.
Rescue efforts forced the ship to cancel its full itinerary. Triumph is expected to return to its home port of New Orleans on Thursday morning.
The ship has been in the spotlight before. In November, Triumph was stalled at sea after it encountered propellor problems, returning late to home port. Carnival canceled the next scheduled outing and refunded tickets to disappointed travelers.
A passenger on that voyage said she noticed passengers growing agitated and frustrated by the hour.
“The people that had flown into New Orleans and had to leave and get on another flight to get back to work, I mean, Carnival wasn’t really accommodating towards all of those people,” she said.
That same month, inspectors announced finding flies in the food preparation areas, and milk, cheese, eggs and yogurt kept in too-hot temperatures, among more than two dozen health violations, reported the Chicago Tribune.
Triumph earned a score of 78 out of 100 in 2017 due to a combination of mistakes, many of them related to faulty machinery.
Dirty dishwashers were common, with one that was shut down after being found “extremely soiled with debris.” Another had 10 clogged wash nozzles. Other violations included water leaks, corrosion in an ice machine, and disrepair in food-and-beverage areas, including recessed grouting, broken tiles and broken glass.
Water fountains were “heavily soiled” with “orange/yellow residue” in one and “thick black and brown residue as well as an orange/pink residue” in another.
The same ship was dubbed the “poop cruise” in 2013 when an engine room fire caused the ship to lose propulsion and left passengers with limited toilets and no air conditioning. Foul odors, dark hallways and food shortages were reported from angry tourists.
Sources: Chicago Tribune, WWL-TV, Diario de Yucatán
