Here's What You Need To Know If Your Cruise Ship Experiences A Blackout

Celebrity Cruises often earns strong reviews and appeals to travelers, but a recent incident has given it some bad press. On August 2, 2025, the Celebrity Constellation — typically praised for its small-ship feel and luxurious atmosphere – experienced a loss of power onboard when it was off sailing off the coast of Italy. There was no air conditioning (Italy and much of Europe has been undergoing a heatwave recently), and the ship had to drift for more than two hours. Royal Caribbean Group, Celebrity Cruises' parent company, described the outage as "technical issue," according to USA Today.

For some, news like this could add to the unsettling reasons for not wanting to take a cruise. However, it may be a relief to know that cruise ships are equipped with emergency generators as well as backup power systems. While they may not be sufficient to provide power for the entire ship in the event of an outage, these systems maintain navigation, communications, emergency lights, and other critical systems.

During a cruise ship blackout, you should still be able to get in and out of your stateroom since the door locks are battery-powered. For those with an interior state room or one without opening windows, consider moving to an open deck to avoid getting too hot. Most importantly, if your cruise ship does experience a blackout, always follow any crew instructions.

It also goes without saying that blackouts can be uncomfortable. On the Celebrity Constellation, passengers endured no air conditioning, food was served cold, and the toilets couldn't flush. Whether or not you get cell service depends on where you are in the world, and fortunately, the passengers could pick up a signal from the mainland. This contrasts sharply with Carnival Triumph, which infamously lost power in 2013, resulting in passengers remaining powerless and disconnected for several days.

The 2013 event, later documented in the 2025 Netflix documentary "Trainwreck: Poop Cruise," may have contributed to Carnival Cruise Line getting negative criticism from travel enthusiasts. It showed the engine fire and subsequent power outage that left people stranded for eight days. As you might guess from the title, it also showed how the toilets wouldn't flush. But one silver lining to the event is that it led to more rights for cruise passengers, as well as increased safety measures, such as installing more backup generators, so an outage that severe is far less likely to happen again.