By Adriana Gomez Licon

Bahamian authorities say a cruise ship that was set to dock in Miami this weekend remained in the Bahamas on Monday, avoiding a U.S. judge’s order to seize the vessel.

Crystal Cruises had announced last week that it was suspending operations through late April, canceling or cutting short itineraries for the Crystal Symphony and two other ships.

Sgt. Kareem Woods with the Royal Bahamas Police Force said the Crystal Symphony is still docked in Bimini and that authorities currently do not have plans to seize the vessel.

“It will be allowed to stay in Bimini,” he said, adding that he did not know if any staff was aboard the ship.

The arrest warrant for the ship is part of a lawsuit over $4.6 million in what the suit said is unpaid fuel. The ship was scheduled to arrive in Miami on Saturday. But a federal judge issued the warrant for the ship Thursday, a maritime practice in which a U.S. Marshal boards a vessel and takes charge of it once it enters U.S. waters.

Cruise trackers show Crystal Symphony currently docked in the Bahamian island of Bimini.

The ship's passengers were taken by ferry to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday. It is not clear how many were traveling, but passengers said there were about 300 of them.

A musician who has toured on and off the ship said that between 30 and 50 crew members disembarked because their contracts had ended, while another 400 crew members didn’t know when they would get off.

Passengers on another Crystal Cruises ship that departed Miami a week ago said the ship has had to cancel port calls at last minute, but have not been told the reason.

The Crystal Serenity, now docked in Costa Rica, will stop cruising in Aruba on Jan. 30, cutting short a three-and-a-half month expedition for about 200 passengers.

Travelers were told of the change only two days after leaving Miami, and some said it would have been better to return to South Florida instead of ending unexpectedly in South America.

“People are very upset, shocked and distraught because Aruba is not very convenient,” said Barry Shulman, 75, a passenger from Las Vegas on the long expedition originally set to return in late May to California. “It’s an absolute mess.”

Shulman said a few days ago after departing from Cozumel that the ship's captain made an announcement that there was an order to impound the ship in Cozumel.

“He said ‘I am glad we got out of Cozumel before they had a chance to arrest us,'” said Shulman. “My eyebrows went up. If it was a joke, it was pretty inappropriate.”

Crystal Cruises did not responded to questions about the Crystal Serenity.

_______

Associated Press writer Danica Coto contributed to this report from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Share:
More In Business
Michigan Judge Sentences Walmart Shoplifters to Wash Parking Lot Cars
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
State Department Halts Plan to buy $400M of Armored Tesla Vehicles
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
Goodyear Blimp at 100: ‘Floating Piece of Americana’ Still Thriving
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
Load More