Cruise passengers aboard an MSC Cruises ship got an unexpected wake-up call last week when water began flooding into multiple cabins, forcing some travelers to wade through ankle-deep water inside the ship.
The incident happened Monday, Jan. 12, on the MSC Seaview while it was sailing off the eastern coast of Brazil on a South American itinerary, according to the cruise line and tracking site CruiseMapper.
Videos shared by Brazilian outlet UOL show stunned passengers scrambling to grab their belongings as water pours across cabin floors and spills into the hallway. In several clips, guests can be seen walking through pooled water in bare feet or sandals, while crew members work to contain the situation using shop vacuums.
In a statement, MSC Cruises said it was “deeply sorry for the inconvenience caused to our guests as a result of a leak on the ship.”
“A fault was detected in a water line, which unfortunately resulted in water entering a number of guest cabins and a public corridor,” the company said. “The issue was quickly isolated and resolved by our technical teams, and all affected cabins were thoroughly deep cleaned.”
The cruise line emphasized that there was no danger to passenger safety and said guests were kept informed throughout the incident.
According to UOL, passengers were first alerted around 7:30 a.m. local time when a “fire” alarm sounded. One guest described the terrifying confusion that followed.
“We were already at sea, on the tenth floor, when the steward banged on the door shouting ‘fire, fire,’” passenger Marcelo Andrade Bezerra Barros, 50, told the outlet. “At that moment, water started entering the cabin. We immediately thought the ship was sinking.”
Passengers staying in the affected cabins were temporarily moved to common areas while the situation was handled.
MSC Cruises said it offered compensation based on how severely guests were impacted. That included cabin upgrades, full refunds in some cases, and onboard credits of up to $150.
The MSC Seaview, which debuted in 2018, has more than 2,000 staterooms and can carry over 5,000 passengers.
While unsettling, the incident isn’t entirely unheard of in the cruise industry. In 2018, dozens of cabins flooded aboard the Carnival Dream after a break in the ship’s fire suppression system disrupted passengers’ vacations.
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