In this photo, escorted by water-squirting tugs, the new Carnival Glory arrives in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on July 11, 2003.
In this photo, escorted by water-squirting tugs, the new Carnival Glory arrives in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on July 11, 2003.

Passengers aboard a Carnival cruise awoke to smoke and flames on Thursday morning as the ship caught on fire while docked in the Caribbean island Grand Turk.

According to Carnival Cruise Line, the fire broke out on the Carnival Freedom ship inside the funnel.

Pictures and videos of the flames and smoke coming from the top of the ship were posted on social media by users, some who claimed to be aboard the neighboring Carnival Mardi Gras cruise ship also docked in the capital of Turks and Caicos.

Carnival Cruise Line said the ship’s emergency response team activated quickly and was able to extinguish the fire while docked.

In a statement posted at 8:45 a.m. ET, Carnival said, “All guests and crew are safe, and the ship’s guests were cleared by local authorities to go ashore.”

The Carnival Freedom ship left Port Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida, on Monday on a five-day sailing.

The Carnival Freedom shop was built in 2007 and can hold over 3,500 passengers, according to CruiseMaster.

It was unclear at the time of writing what caused the fire aboard the ship. The cruise line said that it is continuing to assess the situation.

Carnival Cruise

Photo: Getty Images/Andy Newman