Carnival Cruise Line announced Thursday that the Carnival Liberty's next voyage, scheduled to depart Sept. 13, remains on schedule despite an engine room fire that left the ship stranded at port in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
In a statement issued Thursday morning, Carnival said that the vessel will depart St. Thomas as soon as the U.S. Coast Guard "has fully completed their activities on board."
"All future cruises, including the next voyage departing Sunday, September 13, are scheduled to operate as planned," the cruise line added.
The cruise line also confirmed that some guests aboard the ship have already been flown home from St. Thomas. "Several hundred were transported from St. Thomas yesterday and charter flights will continue throughout the day today...Charter flights are being utilized based on the limited availability of commercial flights."
Carnival has already issued an apology for the unexpected disruption, pointing out that all guests will receive a full refund for the cruise in addition to a 50 percent discount on a future sailing.
Meanwhile, $150 per person credits have already been applied to guests' shipboard accounts.
Although the 3,346 guests onboard the Carnival Liberty were forced to disembark at the dock in St. Thomas when the fire broke out Monday morning, no injuries were reported and the blaze did not impact key hotel services including air conditioning, elevators, toilets, and galleys.
"All guests are being accommodated on board until their scheduled charter flights depart and are free to enjoy the beaches, shopping, watersports and variety of activities available in St. Thomas," Carnival said in the statement.
The Carnival Liberty was on the second day of a seven-day Caribbean cruise when the fire occurred. The investigation into the cause of the incident is ongoing.
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