On May 3, 2018, the Carnival Dream cruise ship had a flood on board. Fifty cabins on deck 9 were flooded when a water pipe used for fire suppression broke. This is clean water, but what a mess! And I imagine frightful for the passengers, at least initially when they didn’t know what was happening.

While this was unfortunate, it wasn’t a planned event. Things happen.

One thing that is also important to note, is Carnival’s response. What could have turned the Dream into a nightmare, seems to have been dealt with professionally and with the passengers on mind.

The hallways drained fairly quickly, and crew was on hand to help clean up the rest. Passengers who were affected were either moved to another cabin or otherwise accommodated (some on yoga mats in the spa, which isn’t ideal, but there were only so may rooms to be had).

Right away, these passengers were offered a 100% refund for their current cruise, a 50% discount on another cruise, and, if they chose to leave the ship, airfare home. This was 5 days in to a 7 day cruise.

Bravo, Carnival. This is how to make the best of a bad situation for your customers. Norwegian Cruise Line, are you paying attention?