Fire on Carnival Triumph. No engines, running on emergency generators.

[nbsjcruiser]

Agreed. There doesn't seem to be a crisis management team acting on behalf of the passengers and their families like you'd find after an air disaster. The only crisis team seems to be the one behind closed doors protecting the companies bottom line.

 

I keep hearing about how Carnival is sending a team of engineers, etc to the ship. It's all about the ship. If they actually cared about their passengers, they would announce that they will have an extensive emergency management team waiting for the passengers at the port and that they will be immediately bused to the hotel rooms that have been secured for everyone so people can bathe, they have made arrangements to have clean clothing available (sweats or scrubs would work) to those who request it, and they have already booked return flights for people, etc. Additionally someone on a C-level in hotel operations or guest services should be present when that ship docks to personally manage the whole thing.

 

If they had any brains at all, the CEO would be there too to personally apologize. Set up a private meeting area and go there and take your licks Mr Cahill instead of letting a few underlings do it.

[laxlove6]

The problem with never leaving the United States, is that your tend to believe everything is better in the US and its not. Same could be said for any citizen not venturing out of their home country.

[Aquahound]

The CG can only board the ship with the Captains permission. It is still in internatrional waters.

 

Wrong! Very, very wrong. This is a ship with itinerary beginning and ending in the United States and falls under U.S. jurisdiction. Just for the mere fact the ship intends to enter the U.S., the CG can board at any time.

[cruiseflyer38]

So Carnival did not know the ship would drift in open seas without power?

 

That's ridiculous and points to the incompetence of the crew and the people back in Miami.

 

Modern technology could have forecast exactly where the ship would be after 24 hours... 48 hours.

 

Is Carnival this incompetent or was it a plan all along to go back to Alabama, which would save the company $$$$

In the next few days people are going to be dying on that ship, especially those with ill health when the ship departed. If Carnival lengthened the time this floating jail remains at sea they should face criminal charges.

[hott_michelle2001]

Spoke to my pvp about my april sailing on triumph and he said there making repairs to the engine during the two back to mobile and once in port cleaning and additional repairs will be done. Assured me shed be ready to sail in april w a new engine..... Just sharing the info i was told

[nbsjcruiser]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/12/travel/cruise-ship-fire/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

 

Sewage in hallways and running down the walls, people vomiting. Who was it that said a day on any cruise ship is better than a day at work, even this ship?

[TxBubba]

First, my prayers are with the good crew and the passengers enduring this hardship now. I pray the folks leading the rescue and making the decisions make the best ones for the people on board.

 

Secondly, I sailed the Triumph back in July of last year. They had installed a large cargo container on the top deck that I later found out was an emergency generator. I bet they are thankful for that now.

 

Good luck Triumph crew and passengers.

 

TxBubba

[laxlove6]

In the next few days people are going to be dying on that ship, especially those with ill health when the ship departed. If Carnival lengthened the time this floating jail remains at sea they should face criminal charges.

 

why would anybody be dying? because there's no buffet?

[lampskies]

Why do Americans not like passports? Is it a freedom thing? You travel to another country, you should have a passport.

 

Probably the 175 bucks....lol

[MarkBearSF]

I really can't imagine what you expect Carnival to say in its releases.

 

From what I can gather, everything they've said in this rapidly-changing situation appears to be true. Yes, they changed destinations. In such fluid circumstances, things WILL change. Of course it took some time to arrange for tugs and for the tugs to get to the ship. The sea changes and if they later determined that Mobile was more appropriate, that's a sign of flexibility and a net positive.

 

What else did they say? Oh yeah - that all passengers and crew are safe. This is the MOST important thing and should be their (and everyone else's) primary concern.

 

Sanitation and sewage? Well, they said that they were able to get some toilets working. That's likely true (and I'm sure a top concern of the engineering crew aboard). Now, can that change? Of course. Even on a fully-functioning cruise (on any line - even luxury ships) the toilet lines can clog and go out of service. Their reports of some toilets functioning and passenger complaints of others not functioning aren't really at odds. Would they say that some passengers are pooping in red plastic bags in their press release? Of course not. When directly asked about it, I suspect that they'd reply that emergency sanitary bags were provided. (And with a situation of many non-functioning toilets - what alternative would you prefer? Pooping in a bag might be distasteful to imagine, but's probably the best solution)

 

Passengers getting into altercations in the food line? No surprise, to be frank. (In fact, one of the most unruly situations I encountered was for passengers jostling to get into the Queen's Room for afternoon tea on a 3 day cruise on the QM2. They were climbing over each other to get their scones and tea sandwiches. Of course the situation is very different, but given a crowd and limited access, no matter how highfalutin - competition and unruly behavior will occur.) I have no doubt that the skirmishes are the exception, and most passengers are acting appropriately in a difficult situation. What's the truth? Passengers are getting food in difficult circumstances. Are they getting irritated? Are there long lines? Have some tempers boiled over? Of course. But what's the big picture? People are being fed to the best ability of the ship and crew in difficult circumstances.

 

I feel for the family of passengers and crew. However, again - what would you expect from their communications department? 5,000 passengers and crew. Would a customer service agent on the other end of the phone have specific information on each person aboard? Of course not. As much as I'm sure that shoreside friends and family would love to hear that Grandma and Grandpa Jones are just fine and napping in their uncooled cabin, that's not reasonable.

 

Finally, don't underestimate the propensity of a crowd to spread misinformation. Not on purpose, but guesses, rumors and misunderstandings can quickly become facts. I've seen this first-hand on multiple occasions aboard. (Among them - I was on the Rembrandt when Premier Cruises went bankrupt and aboard the QE2 when she scraped bottom in the Panama Canal)

 

I am FAR from a Carnival apologist. (In fact I've only taken one short cruise on them out of 24 total) However, I think they've done a good job on handling the situation both at sea and from a communications standpoint.

[cruiseflyer38]

Wrong! Very, very wrong. This is a ship with itinerary beginning and ending in the United States and falls under U.S. jurisdiction. Just for the mere fact the ship intends to enter the U.S., the CG can board at any time.

OK you would never be wrong.

[boo214]

my feeling is this. if carnival really cared about passenger safety and put that first, they would tow triumph to the closest port and get the passengers off period. not tow it where its going to be fixed because thats good for the company. why not go to tampa if you want to go to a us port. i think its closer than mobile, at least its way further south.

[MissMeggieMurphy]

for those claiming that carnival has no crisis management in place for debarkation, how the hell do you know? and for those sitting at home in their nice comfy chairs, what earthly good would it do to know exactly what is planned. no way is carnival going to leave your family members stranded once the boat is pushed into the dock. i am sure a team of people are working round the clock to get people HOME. and 3000+ passengers needing assistance isn't the same as a few hundred after an air disaster. and all those whining at home and wanting information and inundating carnival with phone calls are just using up valuable resources that could be better spent making arrangements to get the passengers, you know the ones who have actually experienced these horrific few days, the help and assistance they need.

[aberthelot]

The Carnival Victory had the same problems in January. I found out on January 14th, one day after getting off the ship that it had propulsion problems during our cruise out of San Juan. The ship did not leave until the next day and the passengers were late getting to St. Thomas. This is happening all to often to Carnival.

[ducklite]

To see the United States, Canada etc. must have been at supersonic speed:eek:

 

I've been traveling extensively since I was in my teens. I've also had jobs where I spent 300 nights a year in hotels, and for a number of years, having 3-10 hours of free time a day to explore the area I was in. I've been in the big cities and the small villages. I've seen the mountains, deserts, oceans, lakes, rivers, valleys, forests, and plains.

 

As I said, to think that the world ends at the borders of this country is provincial at best.

[cruiseflyer38]

why would anybody be dying? because there's no buffet?

Gads,

 

How ignorant can one get.

[joeyancho]

The problem with never leaving the United States, is that your tend to believe everything is better in the US and its not. Same could be said for any citizen not venturing out of their home country.

 

You are correct. For example it is difficult to surpass Italian engineering and seamanship. And the navigation skills of their captains is hard to beat.

[Aquahound]

Sewage in hallways and running down the walls, people vomiting. Who was it that said a day on any cruise ship is better than a day at work, even this ship?

 

Remember, this occured after the ship left Cozumel. Anyone who has been to Cozumel knows level of inebriation on the ship is a little higher than usual.

 

I was there in Cozumel with Triumph on Saturday and I saw the hoards of drunken people, adorned in Carlos and Charlies balloon hats, carrying their plastic yards, some of who were being escorted to the ship by pier security. Come Sunday morning without working toilets, I can only imagine had bad these people felt.

[Aquahound]

OK you would never be wrong.

 

No, not on this topic.

[leadout_kv]

I've never understood the American aversion to passports. Growing up, I lived in Europe for four years, so I've had a passport longer than a driver's license!

 

Even on a closed-loop cruise, a passport is necessary if someone has to leave the cruise early for any reason. It happened to us one year when my dad unexpectedly passed away and we needed to get home. An already stressful and emotional situation would have been much worse if we were also dealing with not having proper identification to fly back to the US.

 

Why do Americans not like passports? Is it a freedom thing? You travel to another country, you should have a passport.

 

I'm not following your reasoning behind Americans and passports. In my family we've had passports since being very young. My DD10 has had a passport since she was about 3 or 4yrs old. Oh, and we're American.

 

Let me guess, since you read about Americans and passports on Cruise Critic you believe all Americans have a different view about passports? Ok. :rolleyes:

[Tutankhamen]

Why can't they tender people to another ship like they tender in some of the ports? Water to rough? Drifting vs being anchored or use of the GPS? I know they would need a ship but that could be done by canceling a cruise or something. Just a question that I have not thought out.

[jpurdy]

for those claiming that carnival has no crisis management in place for debarkation, how the hell do you know? and for those sitting at home in their nice comfy chairs, what earthly good would it do to know exactly what is planned. no way is carnival going to leave your family members stranded once the boat is pushed into the dock. i am sure a team of people are working round the clock to get people HOME. and 3000+ passengers needing assistance isn't the same as a few hundred after an air disaster. and all those whining at home and wanting information and inundating carnival with phone calls are just using up valuable resources that could be better spent making arrangements to get the passengers, you know the ones who have actually experienced these horrific few days, the help and assistance they need.

 

a) I don't whine

b) Carnival does have the resources to put in place a crisis hotline and better communicate

c) Carnival could police the food rationing better

d) No one doubts the efforts to help the passengers once they debark. They are going to need it.

e) It is going to get markedly worse for passengers with illness the longer they are at sea

[yogimax]

 

If Carnival lengthened the time this floating jail remains at sea they should face criminal charges.

 

Modern technology, which is used every day on the bridges of all major cruise ships, would have indicated that they ship would drift with the wave currents and wind.

 

Yet Carnival persisted in the Progreso story for PR purposes, knowing all along that they wanted to tow the ship to Alabama to save money.

 

Bottom line, yes, they will save money, but it is at the peril and discomfort of those onboard!

[Dori Saltzman]

Here is the latest news on the Carnival Triumph's situation -- http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5196.

[sjn911]

My preferred cruise line had a fire that destroyed a ship. Here's a passenger account with a specific time line and photos. It seems that the cruise line spared no expense to get the passengers taken care of. https://sites.google.com/site/windsongfire/home

 

 

Thanks for posting...