Sixty passengers sustained minor injuries after the Carnival Ecstasy made a hard turn to avoid a large buoy, said Carnival Cruise Lines.
The incident happened Wednesday afternoon at about 1:55 Eastern time in the Gulf of Mexico, while the Ecstasy was on the final leg of a five-day cruise out of Galveston, Texas. The maneuver resulted in the ship listing 12 degrees to the starboard side, Carnival said.
Carnival said the buoy was adrift and mostly submerged, which prevented it from being detected by the ship’s radar.
The Ecstasy docked Thursday morning in Galveston as scheduled, said Carnival, carrying approximately 2,340 passengers and 900 crew members.
The cruise line said it notified the U.S. Coast Guard about the incident.
"Carnival sincerely apologizes for the distress and discomfort this occurrence has caused our guests," Carnival said in a statement.