A Second Cruise Ship Just Booked It For The Bahamas & Kicked Out Its Passengers

You hear about car chases but rarely do you hear about cruise ship chases, let alone two in a month.

A large cruise ship offloaded its passengers in the Bahamas, cutting its trip short, because of a case involving millions of dollars in unpaid fuel.

About 200 passengers were expecting to spend several more weeks at sea on the Crystal Serenity, but the ship headed to the Bahamas and sent them all back to Florida by ferry on Monday night. The ship is now docked in Bimini, out of reach of U.S. authorities.

It's the second Crystal Cruises vessel to make a break for it in recent weeks, rather than docking in Florida as planned.

"There are simply no words to express our deep regret and disappointment," Crystal Cruises said in a statement. The company added that all passengers will be reimbursed for any changes to their flights because of the move.

Crystal Cruises is accused of failing to pay $4.6 million for fuel in the U.S., according to the Associated Press. A judge issued a warrant for another one of its ships, the Crystal Symphony, last month.

The Crystal Symphony was also supposed to dock in Florida but headed to the Bahamas instead after the warrant was issued. A warrant has not been issued for the Crystal Serenity.

The Crystal Serenity was originally scheduled to take its voyagers on a two-and-a-half-month trip, but just days after departing, the cruise line announced that it would be suspending all operations through April.

The company said that "suspending operations will provide Crystal's management team with an opportunity to evaluate the current state of business and examine various options moving forward."

Initially, passengers were told that they would end the trip in Aruba. However, local authorities denied the ship permission to dock, so the ship diverted to the Bahamas.

Once it arrived in the Bahamas, the cruise ship ferried all the passengers to Fort Lauderdale, where they were taken to hotels.

From the sounds of it, some passengers were more than happy to get off early, according to 10 WBNS.

"I'm delighted to be off that ship," said 75-year-old passenger Barry Shulman.

Public tracking sites show the Crystal Symphony and the Crystal Serenity were both docked in the Bahamas as of Wednesday.

The only other Crystal Cruises ship in use, the Crystal Endeavour, is currently on an Antarctica tour with no scheduled stops in the U.S.