Carnival was forced to cancel the February 10, 2007 sailing of the Carnival Fantasy after the ship was hit early Saturday morning by a commercial barge. The collision left a large gash on the ship's hull.

The barge collided with a river bank before striking the port side of the Fantasy. The cruise line said there were no injuries to guests or crew members, and while there is damage to the Fantasy's hull, the ship remained fully operational and returned to New Orleans' Erato Street Cruise Terminal where passengers on the vessel were debarked.

About 2,000 passengers on its next itinerary had already boarded the ship on Sunday when Carnival said, after an evaluation of the damage, that repairs to the hull would take several days to complete. It cancelled that voyage, a five-day Western Caribbean sailing, and guests were told they could disembark Sunday night or Monday morning.

Carnival said that all guests on the canceled cruise will receive a full refund and a 25% discount off a future three- to five-day cruise. Carnival also provided assistance with air transportation changes.