Carnival Dream Delayed Off Belize by Anchor Retrieval Problem
Guests said divers might be needed to inspect the anchor near reef waters outside Belize City, a tender port where ships transfer passengers ashore by smaller vessels.
Carnival Dream remained off Belize City late on May 13 after an anchor-retrieval problem delayed the ship’s scheduled 5 p.m. departure from the tender port. Passengers aboard the 130,000-gross-ton Carnival Cruise Line vessel said the anchor was stuck.
The delay put immediate pressure on the ship’s six-night Western Caribbean itinerary, which called for a 9 a.m. arrival in Cozumel on May 14. No revised itinerary had been confirmed. Carnival had not confirmed whether the anchor or the ship had sustained damage.
Anchor problem keeps ship off Belize
In a passenger-posted video from about 9 p.m. local time, the captain told guests: “We are still experiencing an issue with retrieving the ship’s anchor and our engineers are working on the matter. Until the situation is resolved, we won’t be able to depart.”
Guests posting from the ship said divers might be needed to inspect the anchor and determine what it was caught on. Carnival Cruise Line did not respond to Cruise Hive’s request for comment before that story was published.
Carnival Dream is a Dream-class ship launched in 2008, with capacity for 3,646 guests at double occupancy and about 1,367 crew members. The 1,004-foot vessel had visited Costa Maya on May 12 before calling at Belize City.
Cozumel call faces schedule pressure
The next scheduled port was Cozumel, with the ship due alongside on the morning of May 14. Depending on routing, the distance from Belize City to Cozumel is about 122 to 195 nautical miles, a transit that could take roughly six to nine hours at top speed. The Cozumel call had not been formally canceled or adjusted at the time the delay was reported.
Belize tender operations add context
Belize City is a tender port, meaning cruise ships anchor offshore and transfer guests to land by smaller vessels rather than docking at a standard cruise berth.
Passenger accounts placed the problem near reef waters outside Belize City. The Belize Barrier Reef is the largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere, and its reserve system has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996.
After the Cozumel call, Carnival Dream’s next fixed schedule point is Galveston on May 16, where it is due to begin an eight-night Bahamas cruise.
