Carnival Ecstasy Back In Port After Brief Power Failure

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – On the same day that Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines announced a $300 million upgrade to emergency power systems, fire systems and engine rooms, the company's Ecstasy cruise ship experience a power failure at sea, but it was a brief one.

The power outage on the 2,056-passenger Ecstasy occurred late Wednesday and only lasted for about 12 minutes, according to Carnival officials.

The ship was sailing off the coast of Florida at the time of the incident and was at the end of a five-day cruise that began on Saturday.

Carnival said the power loss was caused by a mechanical issue that was quickly repaired.

The ship returned to its home port of Port Canaveral on Thursday.

The brief power loss on the Ecstasy comes two months after an engine room fire knocked out power on the Carnival Triumph as it was sailing in the Gulf of Mexico, leaving the 2,758-passenger ship dead in the water. Passengers described miserable conditions as the ship was towed to Mobile, Ala., and the much-publicized incident has dealt a significant blow to the line's reputation.

In an effort to rebound from that wave of bad publicity, the company announced plans Wednesday for a $300 million program to

add emergency generators, upgrade fire safety and improve engine rooms on all 24 of its ships.

Carnival said the first phase of improvements involves installing an additional emergency generator on every ship. Carnival is also installing high-pressure upgraded water mist systems on all ships to improve fire safety.