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

[Naomi John]

Brent Nutt on again. Said he has not spoken to his wife since yesturday. So no updates.

[grozas]

This discussion is funny

 

Does anyone know anything about ocean currents here? Does anyone know anything about towing large ships?

 

As a former tugboat deckhand, this stuff is not easy. I seem currents so strong that you can't get 3 lbs lead shots down to the bottom. Then try to tow 90,000 tons against that current. You would be lucky to make progress.

[waldocruiser1]

Imagine how much technology goes into building a floating city like the Triumph....things are bound to go wrong every once in awhile. Just like a house fire that starts from electrical problems....you never know.

 

I heard the crew watching the engine Saturday night/Sunday morning was doing his laundry, ironing his clothes (with a confiscated iron) wheil doing his hair with a hair dryer also confiscated. He had a few to many drinks from the Rum Runner that was confiscated from a CC member who thought Smuggling an Iron, Hair Dryer, and bag of jack would be ok.

 

He grabbed the wrong container and sprayed Jack D on his shirts, and when the Iron (plugged in to an old frayed extention cord) hit the booze it started smoking, so to try to blow out the flames he turned on the hair dryer after plugging it in the Frayed extention cord also, and started trying to put out the laundry fire. But he pulled on the cord and nocked over the bottle of Jack and poof, the engine room is unfire.

 

They shut off the engines because it is all a big cover-up so people on CC don't find out the crew keep all of our stuff they confiscate, and use it them self.

 

Just thought a little humor was needed at this time.

[ducklite]

Besides finding that hard to believe, did they even attempt to state a source of that statement?

 

What's the old saying? "Your lack of planning is not my emergency." I think it applies here quite well.

 

Awesome, then the rates will go down in Galveston and I can afford to do more than 1 cruise every 2 years. Works for me. :rolleyes: I seriously doubt most sane people with common sense will be reluctant to book a cruise with Carnival after this. But hey, it you're right, then it works out well for me with that economics 101 supply and demand.

 

Unless CCL does some serious damage control, I think they are going to lose a measurable customer base to RCI.

[broberts]

Within the last 30 months TWO Carnival ships have had fires in the engine room that knocked the ships power out and left passengers stranded.

 

That, my CC friends, is a pattern.

 

Not an act of God, and not a "oh shucks, that stuff happens sometimes."

 

Hardly a pattern. Especially when one considers the fact that the ships were built nearly a decade apart.

[bugtig]

Wow that really stinks. Carnival just keeps getting worse and worse, I am so glad we decided after our last debacle on Carnival to never cruise them again. Let me tell you, we took a Disney Cruise this winter, and it was by far the most awesome trip we have ever taken. The Service was impeccable, and you could see the difference in every aspect of the cruise, from the attitude of the employees to the quality of every encounter, whether it was eating, entertainment, etc... There is a reason why Carnival is Cheap, and as the saying goes, You get what you pay for, although I am sure the people on the triumph right now don't feel that way, as I am sure they didn't plan to pay for this mess. I bet a lot of people on that ship will NEVER cruise Carnival again, free or not!

[Rasvar]

I think they could have had everyone pack their luggage, pick 1 bag per person to take with them and do a transfer to another ship, for the ride back to port. that way everyone is off the water, and safe.

 

It could have happened if they had delayed the magic sailing 1 day, and put those people in hotels for the night, the cost of their rooms and food would have been less than all the extra fees they are going to have now.

 

They could have used tender boats that they can tie to the side of the ship for the transfer.

 

We were on the Paradise in 2003 and they transfered a sick passenger from the ship to a tender boat, while moving, with his family and their luggage 4 people one on a gearny and this all happened in about 3 minutes, without stopping, at midnight near Cozomel.

 

 

A tender boat. You do know that the tender boats are not transported with the ship? They are in the ports. You would have to use lifeboats. They are not as easy to load since they are designed to be loaded from the lifeboat stations and not the tender dock. It's not safe and it's not practiced either. How many trips will it take to transfer 3000 people and one bag? Time to use the KISS method here. If it was going to take seven days to tug the ship to port, I would say it was worth a try. It is just not a safe option. That is why they won't do it unless they absolutely have to do it.

[Baylee]

Free CRUISE plus FREE FUTURE cruise, plus all traveling expenses reimbursed, plus a STORY for the AGES. Suck it up for a few days, everyone is going to be just fine. To be honest, put me on that ship, I wouldn't mind the adventure. I dont think SAFETY is an issue at all. People are making a big deal out of nothing. The PAX are getting compensated nicely. So, you sleep in tents on the deck. There is no buffet, or unlimited ice cream for a few days. My golly, only 3 square meals. Heaven forbid. Send me on that ship, I'll take that compensation package any day for what the PAX are going through.

 

Honestly .. I'm with you!

[ducklite]

I know I've gone off-topic again, but would really appreciate any tips for safer parts of the city.

 

The Biltmore neighborhood is beautiful and there are a number of good hotels.

[texasmelrose2]

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

 

We are set to sail on Triumph April 4. This is good information to hear. For me, at this point I am hoping our cruise gets cancelled and we can be reimbursed and make other arrangements.

 

My thoughts are with the people on board, this has to be a horrible experience!

[MrPete]

Wow, you would almost think this fire was caused by passengers not having passports.:rolleyes:

 

You saved me a post. actually, you didn't.

 

Passports are a red herring in this thread. Kinda like having a flat tire and not having a drivers license.

[ducklite]

A tender boat. You do know that the tender boats are not transported with the ship? They are in the ports. You would have to use lifeboats. They are not as easy to load since they are designed to be loaded from the lifeboat stations and not the tender dock. It's not safe and it's not practiced either. How many trips will it take to transfer 3000 people and one bag? Time to use the KISS method here. If it was going to take seven days to tug the ship to port, I would say it was worth a try. It is just not a safe option. That is why they won't do it unless they absolutely have to do it.

 

On my cruise last summer, the life boats were used as tenders. They lowered two of them at every port that we couldn't dock.

[RuthlessBoss]

Brent Nutt on again. Said he has not spoken to his wife since yesturday. So no updates.

I doubt if anyone is getting updates from those on board. I don't think there are any ships there to transmit.

[nbsjcruiser]

What's the old saying? "Your lack of planning is not my emergency." I think it applies here quite well.

 

 

 

Unless CCL does some serious damage control, I think they are going to lose a measurable customer base to RCI.

 

They lost us but of course that was a couple years ago. Tired of the cutbacks in staff and food, shortcuts and overall declining quality. Carnival continues to push the envelope and they'll continue to do it until they sense a backlash.

[waldocruiser1]

The "precedent" cited is nowhere near such. Titanic was nowhere in site when Carpathia arrived.

 

Moving passengers between ships in open waters is a dangerous operation that would take hours to complete. If luggage was also transfered, even more hours would be eaten up. It's doubtful any meaningful amount of time would be saved. It's certain that an additional 3,000 people would have had their vacation ruined.

 

The other ship would only be needed for 1 or 2 days, and could start late, as if their ship had not come in on time, this has happened before (being delayed getting back in, and the next starting late)

 

It would have been good press, and then instead of giving the current passengers a full free cruise for later, the could have given them a discount and the ship being delayed a discount future cruise, or obc for their current cruise, which they would spend on board anyway.

[MrPete]

Passengers are also receiving refunds for gratuities (rightly so). For crew members who make the vast majority of their pay from tips, I wonder if CCL will step in and pay the crew?

 

Presuming the tip earners are not performing service duties and are now performing crew duties, one might think they are currently working for a wage now.

 

But what about the salaries of those passengers that were supposed to be back at work? Shouldn't we be concerned about their lost wages as well?

[broberts]

I think they could have had everyone pack their luggage, pick 1 bag per person to take with them and do a transfer to another ship, for the ride back to port. that way everyone is off the water, and safe.

 

It could have happened if they had delayed the magic sailing 1 day, and put those people in hotels for the night, the cost of their rooms and food would have been less than all the extra fees they are going to have now.

 

They could have used tender boats that they can tie to the side of the ship for the transfer.

 

We were on the Paradise in 2003 and they transfered a sick passenger from the ship to a tender boat, while moving, with his family and their luggage 4 people one on a gearny and this all happened in about 3 minutes, without stopping, at midnight near Cozomel.

 

So, yes they could tie off for the transfer, and get everyone off in a few hours, then return home,

 

The point of getting everyone off would be to avoid sickness, on a normal cruise they warn of germs and getting sick, what about now when the filters and water are not working, I would be afraid to touch anything, and I am not a germafoe, All they need now is a little case of Norvo from the warming food, and lack of cleanleness.

 

One question, they have all the guests staying up on the open decks area, where are the crew hanging out, up there also, or in the crew area cooking from the heat?

 

Someone mentioned the ancor a few pages back, it was not dropped to keep them stopped, probably because they would have no way to get it back up (remember little power)

 

Ship to ship transfers in open seas involve a fair degree of risk.

 

Sending a relief ship and conducting a transfer would need much more than one day. So another 3,000 people would have their vacations substantially affected. Tough call.

 

There are a host of reasons the anchor was not dropped. A salient one is that sea depths in the area are over 3,500 feet.

[WetToes]

Wow, you would almost think this fire was caused by passengers not having passports.:rolleyes:

 

 

Yesterday was the Coast Guard.

[truecruiser]

Wow, you would almost think this fire was caused by passengers not having passports.:rolleyes:

 

lol

 

You saved me a post. actually, you didn't.

 

Passports are a red herring in this thread. Kinda like having a flat tire and not having a drivers license.

 

x2!

 

It would have been interesting though to see exactly what happened in this situation had they continued onto Progreso. You have to admit, PP threads on here are frequent. Actually knowing what would have occurred would have been useful information for cruisers who tend to travel without them (not me!) :eek: :) :p

[waldocruiser1]

Tell that to the people pooping in buckets. :eek:

 

You know, everyone keeps taking about how bad it is for the passengers, that are peeing in the showers and pooping in buckets,

 

What about the crew, that lost their tips, and are peeing in showers, pooping in buckets, living in the basement, AND have to clean up the Pee in the showers, poop in the buckets and everything else.

 

Plus they are probably not getting paid for the next 2 weeks at least, because those cruises are also cancelled.

 

So, for the passengers, families, stop bellyaching, and get over it, at least you don't have to clean up the mess they are causing for free.

[rjackieb]

Besides finding that hard to believe, did they even attempt to state a source of that statement?

I think it sounds like a mix of Carnival's official statement and things reporters have read here.

Carnival has said that an added benefit to drifting closer to the Mobile port was that it would be easier for the 900 passengers currently on board without passports. Add to it something I read gobs of posts ago about how the other 2200 passengers should be upset about an extra day to get to Mobile (even though it would still take that long, if not longer, to tow the ship to Progreso against the currents IMO).

 

 

Adding a thanks to ducklite, so I'm not adding an off-topic post again. :p

[laxlove6]

Presuming the tip earners are not performing service duties and are now performing crew duties, one might think they are currently working for a wage now.

 

But what about the salaries of those passengers that were supposed to be back at work? Shouldn't we be concerned about their lost wages as well?

 

Does an airline reimburse you for missed work when you miss a flight? I think not.

[Rasvar]

On my cruise last summer, the life boats were used as tenders. They lowered two of them at every port that we couldn't dock.

 

I am assuming it was Windstar and not Carnival? You can make a ship where they are setup for that purpose. The setup of the Carnival ships do not appear to allow them to be used as tenders. The loading deck appears to be too high to safely load a lifeboat as a tender on the open sea. You are still in 3 to 6 foot seas. I can't see anyway to make loading a Carnival lifeboat for transfer from one ship to another safe enough and quick enough to make it worth it when it is just a 48 hour tow. Too many chances for someone going in the water for my liking. Plus, considering how rude people apparently are in the food lines, I could only imagine the fights in the line to get off the ship. There might be a riot.

[waldocruiser1]

Besides finding that hard to believe, did they even attempt to state a source of that statement?

 

I believe that is the real reason for going to the US instead of Mexico,

 

That is what happened on the Splendor when it was dead in the water,

 

It was to go to Ensenada first then went an extra day or so to San Diago

 

I am betting that Carnival found the extra tow charges and inconvienence was cheaper than the fine/fee for getting off the ship in a foreign port and not finishing the closed loop trip to the US.

 

Everyone says they could get a waiver, and all of that, but I think they could have gotten a waiver, for a price.

 

Like everyone has been saying, it is not a "real" emergency that they needed to get off faster by going to Mexico, so the price was better to go to the US.

[sjn911]

Makes me wonder where they're allowing the crew to sleep.

Praying for crew and passengers..that they somehow get calm and sucour through this very rough situation and that all remain well under the bombardment of hazards...fatigue, fear, immunity, and enough food, water..and a few hrs of rest each day...

 

 

One of the interesting reports I heard this morning is that the fire suppression system did put out the fire quickly and that the damage is not that bad. But because the fire suppression system is now empty, they cannot restart the engines or the main generator because there would be no method to kill a 2nd fire if one would start.

 

thank you