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American Morning

Florida: Cruise Ship Stuck in Port

Aired May 28, 2001 - 11:11   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Imagine, if you will, planning a dream cruise, boarding the ship, and then finding out your ship is stuck in port. That's precisely what happened to about 2,000 passengers who were supposed to set sail yesterday on a seven-day Western Caribbean tour. Well, they are stranded in Miami now.

And that is where we find our Miami bureau chief John Zarrella -- John, what's the story?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, imagine that holiday weekend: absolutely ruined for these people -- at least right now.

What happened was that the Norway, the SS Norway, Norwegian Cruise Line ship, was supposed to leave 4:00 yesterday afternoon. By this time, they should be well on their way of the first port of call. But they're not. They're sitting here at the Port of Miami -- the reason: A surprise Coast Guard inspection yesterday turned up about 100 to 105 clamps in pipes in the sprinkler system that are apparently faulty.

And the Coast Guard is saying, unless they can get these clamps and these faulty welds fixed, they're not letting the Norway go anywhere. They are apparently negotiating right now with the folks from the cruise line to try and work something out, to see if they can come up with the compromise so that the ship can set sail and the passengers can at least get on their way on their vacation and only lose one day.

We spoke with lots of folks this morning getting off of the ship. They're sending them off to go to places like the Seaquarium, the Dadeland Mall, down to South Beach. And you might be surprised, but the people so far, the passengers, are saying they're happy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're from Nebraska, so actually, this is -- I've never been to Miami. So we're going to make the best of it and have a little fun today. We will get to our

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... disappointed until tomorrow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. If we're still here tomorrow, then...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we're still here in the tomorrow, it would be a different story.

ZARRELLA: So we should check back with you in the morning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you see us coming off in the tomorrow, you would probably want to interview us.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By 7:00, he is telling us.

ZARRELLA: That's what they're telling you, 7:00.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seven o'clock.

ZARRELLA: How have they been treating you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wonderful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They gave us free drinks.

ZARRELLA: What?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Free drinks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Free drinks.

ZARRELLA: Have you had some this morning already?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no.

ZARRELLA: No?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is left over from last night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: So the people are feeling pretty good getting off of the cruise ship. Now, they're still filing off, still getting on the buses that are lined up here behind me, dozens and dozens of buses to take them to area attractions -- a lot of the people saying: Well, at least they're having -- getting an opportunity to see Miami.

In most instances, they fly in, they get on the cruise ship, they go on the cruise, they get back, they fly out, they never get to see the attractions. Of course, obviously, they would much prefer to be on the high seas heading towards the Cayman Islands and Mexico, which were part of the itinerary. It's still not clear if they will make 7:00 p.m. tonight.

The Coast Guard is going to have to sign off on whatever the repairs are. And, apparently, they will be extensive because these pipes for the sprinkler system run the entire length of the Norway. And the Coast Guard says if they had had a problem at sea and if there was a fire, they can't guarantee that the sprinkler system would have enough pressure to fight the fire. And that could cause some very serious consequences -- so the SS Norway not going anywhere, sitting here at the Port of Miami.

This is John Zarrella, reporting live from the Port of Miami -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, John, thanks a lot.

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