When something goes wrong on a cruise ship, it can have a ripple effect that affects hundreds or even thousands of passengers.
On some of the early sailings of Royal Caribbean's Utopia of the Seas, for example, plumbing problems affected bathrooms on the pool decks and in some passenger areas.
Related: Royal Caribbean crew member shares a tour of her cabin
The cruise line never commented on what went wrong, but you could see crew members in white jumpsuits working on the plumbing. At various points some of the cabin toilets would not flush, which was followed by many of them flushing loudly all at the same time.
In that case, Royal Caribbean did a very good job handling the problem. And while passengers noticed and may have been mildly inconvenienced at times (by having to walk to a different public bathroom), the issue was contained and solved quickly.
A similar situation recently occurred on Utopia of the Seas. It was noticeable and the captain made an announcement, but it was handled efficiently by the ship's crew.
Royal Caribbean fixes a power problem; Carnival advances plans in Australia
On the Sept. 19 edition of his popular YouTube show, Cruise News Today's Doug Parker touched on the Utopia of the Seas power issues as well as Carnival's ongoing plan to drop the P&O brand in Australia.
He also got into some good news for Disney Cruise fans and took a look at where some publicly traded cruise lines stand.
Transcript:
This is Cruise News Today with Doug Parker. Royal Caribbean's Utopia of the Seas had intermittent power outages on Wednesday. We were first notified after a guest emailed and said they were stuck in an elevator.
"Sounds like things are going good there. Our technical team is working to get all the power fully restored again. I do apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused and I thank you for your patience."
That was a captain and a PA announcement. Two guests on board. The power issue did impact areas of the ship including some fire doors and the AC units.
Now by this afternoon, the power was back online but the AC was still out. The ship is currently on a four-night cruise from Port Canaveral to the Bahamas.
And the Disney Treasure has reached a major milestone as it was guided by tugboats down the River Ems from Meyerwerf Shipyard in Pappenburg, Germany to Emshaven in the Netherlands.
Getting ready for those sea trials, spectators lined the riverbanks to cheer on the ship's departure. Now over the next few days, the vessel will prepare for sea trials and then have a series of tests out in the open waters before Disney Treasure makes the transatlantic voyage to Florida for cruises this December.
And Carnival Splendor arrived in Sydney, Australia, yesterday marking the start of Australia's seven-month cruise season.
Carnival Splendor will play a key role as P&O Australia shuts down in February with Carnival Cruises taking over its operations. The ship recently underwent a dry dock in Singapore before heading back to Sydney late last month.
The Cruise Lines International Association expects a record-breaking cruise season with a global cruise passenger audience expected to reach 36.4 million by the end of this year.
ALSO READ: Top travel agents share how to get the best price on your cruise
And cruise line stocks were up on Wednesday (Sept. 18). Carnival Corporation up 2%, 18.36. Royal Caribbean up slightly 168.55. Norwegian up 0.5%, 19.84. And Viking up 2.2%, 33.57. This week's podcast, a review of Royal Caribbean's Utopia of the Seas at cruiseradio.net.
Here in Venice one last time before heading to the airport to fly home. I'm Doug Parker with Cruise News Today.
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