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

[caribill]

I read where there are 500 McDonald employees on board the Triumph. Dunno if they are hamburger flippers, or what their positions are, but doubtful they can afford to lose any wages. Teachers and nurses here make more than $15/hr.

 

Per the news article cited in another post, they are franmchisees and executives. I bet they do not lose any of their pay.

[Greg222]

I believe that was it's location on Feb 8.

http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shipposition.phtml?call=C6FN5

 

It should be close to Mobile by now

I think the key is to track the two tug boats.

 

Given all Carnival's problems (Splendor, Triumph and Costa), and since they have a relatively small cruising footprint, why doesn't Carnival keep a ship in reserve (since the older ones are being rehabbed anyway) -- or at the very least ask sister ships in the vicinity to assist with accepting passengers who are in dire need (elderly, families with small children, handicapped, etc).

 

In looking at this map, Carnival is criss-crossing itself all over the Caribbean at the height of the season.

 

http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/cruiseships.phtml

 

It's understandable if their ships were thousands of miles apart...but they are not. Why are they putting people though this misery?

[caribill]

If they had kept their phones turned off, they should have some battery life left.

 

But then they could not be taking the pictures that so many posts here have hoped would be posted when possible.

[pbsteve]

The Coast Guard is not nor has not been on the ship since this ordeal started. They are on a separate vessel ready to offer assistance if needed

 

Also, the USCG is not the ruling authority. The ship is flagged in the Bahamas

 

What do you think the guys in the raft were doing in the pictures from Monday... I hope you dont think that is our coast guard ship. Also, the next day, they removed someone who needed dialisys, Wednesday I'm sure they were there if for nothing else than to plan how to land the generator, today, they landed the genertor, people will have been on the boat to assist in directing the helichopter pilot. I'm sure around this time they're inspecting the cruise ship before it docks when the sun comes up.

[berryberry]

I would be very surprised if nobody from the USCG has been on the ship. If nothing else then to assist with the generator and cables they delivered. The Bahamas will lead the investigation, but they certainly have nothing in the vicinity of Triumph to assist.

 

It was reported in a previous new article today that the Captain of the Triumph had not asked them to board. They need permission to do so

[caribill]

Thanks for that info. I came away from watching CCL's press conference with the understanding that the rooms would be in a combination of Mobile and NOLA. Now it looks like NOLA only. Wonder why?

 

Crew in Mobile.

 

Extra personnel brought in in Mobile.

 

Some family members on their own booked rooms in Mobile.

 

Not sufficient rooms still left for all the passengers.

[DizzyDallasDi]

My question is what jurisdiction would a US court have for a lawsuit against a foreign flagged ship for activities that occurred in international waters?

 

If this then has to go to the International court, does this change anything?

 

I am sure someone is a legal expert that knows the answer to this.

 

Maritime law is a horse of a different color and there are not many attorneys that specialize in this. If we were talking about suing people or companies incorporated in the USA, I could point you to the proper jurisdiction. When things are complicated with ships flagged in various ports around the world and international / maritime laws coming into play....well, that's going to require an attorney with that type of specialization. I'd be surprised to find one on this board. ;)

[broberts]

Given all Carnival's problems (Splendor, Triumph and Costa), and since they have a relatively small cruising footprint, why doesn't Carnival keep a ship in reserve (since the older ones are being rehabbed anyway) -- or at the very least ask sister ships in the vicinity to assist with accepting passengers who are in dire need (elderly, families with small children, handicapped, etc).

 

In looking at this map, Carnival is criss-crossing itself all over the Caribbean at the height of the season.

 

http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/cruiseships.phtml

 

It's understandable if their ships were thousands of miles apart...but they are not. Why are they putting people though this misery?

 

Not sure what you mean by a "relatively small cruising footprint".

 

I suspect that holding a half-billion dollar ship and crew of over 1,000 just for the odd emergency would add a chunk to every cruise fare.

 

The on scene USCG captain said in an interview that transferring passengers was not worth the risk.

 

I've seen two reports of people who were evacuated. Both for medical reasons.

[billet]

Crew in Mobile.

 

Extra personnel brought in in Mobile.

 

Some family members on their own booked rooms in Mobile.

 

Not sufficient rooms still left for all the passengers.

 

The lawyers have bought all the rooms up in Mobile :D

[kennaree]

I don't think it reasonable to assume that passengers would not share their functioning shower.

 

If water is running then the waste system is also working so the chances of waste backing out of a shower approaches nil. Towels might have to be reused, but each person should have a beach towel and a bath towel which would account for two showers.

 

Cold is a relative term. My experience in the Caribbean is that even on a perfectly running ship the water out of the "cold" tap is warm to the touch after the first few seconds. With no air conditioning I would expect the water to be quite warm. Certainly showers will not be great without hot water, but they won't be cold.

 

 

Omg no... on the splendor I think those were the coldest showers I have ever taken!! Lol. Very cold but very welcome non the less once they got it working again. And even with the hot room it was still freakin cold! Fastest shower of my life haha.

[Sargent_Schultz]

It was reported in a previous new article today that the Captain of the Triumph had not asked them to board. They need permission to do so

 

I don't doubt that all kinds of things have been published, including conflicting reports. What is that saying? Believe none of what you read and half of what you see? Or something like that ;)

[broberts]

Omg no... on the splendor I think those were the coldest showers I have ever taken!! Lol. Very cold but very welcome non the less once they got it working again. And even with the hot room it was still freakin cold! Fastest shower of my life haha.

 

Nice to have first hand knowledge added to the mix. Thanks.

 

You'll note I live in Canada, not the cold part but a cold shower here at this time of year is close to ice cubes.

[caribill]

ABC just advertised that Good Morning America would have Triumph passengers "and their horror stories" tomorrow (Thursday) morning.

[kennaree]

What I do not understand with this newest fire and subsequent disaster at sea - people living in sewage on their dream vacations and standing in line for four hours at a time for a bit of food - is why these big ships are not prepared to take care of the large number of people in their care. Ok, so the fire was put out,and no one was hurt. But what about the days that have followed? I'm speaking of the horrible reports of how these people are living not to mention the disease they could contract.

 

1. Why would it be so hard to have a large area that contains "survival food and equipment?" Dried foods like dried milk, and foods that have a long shelf life could easily be kept on a ship in case of an emergency such as this, and SHOULD be. Tons of bottled water should be kept in case of an emergency.

 

2. And why has nobody tried to evacuate these people from this ship during the week they have been out there living in garbage and sewage with no power? It seems to me the entire ship could have been evacuated by helicopters and even the Coast Guard by now, but no one has even attempted to "rescue" these people.

 

3. And what about all the overflowing toilets? What should happen in an emergency. Shouldn't the water be shut off immediately? The crap is going to go into the ocean anyway despite the best efforts to avoid it, and we all know it. Why not shut the water off and provide some vaguely civilized way for people to relieve themselves?

 

4. And why can't they keep tents and air beds and blankets, etc. on hand in the "doom room" so that those who prefer sleeping on deck can do so comfortably.

 

It just seems to me that these are just the basic things that a cruise line should do to try to ensure that the passengers are fed and are comfortable. And for God's sake, buy some LED lights for the ship. Those things that stick on the wall last for quite a few hours. Put those sucks high on the walls so they don't get wet, and put them all over the ship so there is light. Even better have really great back up generators that can provide power for lighting and cooking and the basics of what we have come to know as life.

 

This entire situation is the most botched mess I have ever witnessed and in spite of having gone on right at 20 cruises, right now I don't have much desire to ever set foot on another ship. We had just gotten off the Splendor the day before she caught on fire. We dodged a bullet. And that's the last cruise we have been on.

 

I have not been too crazy about cruising in several years - once the viruses caught on they never got the ships really clean of them, and every cruise I went on I ended up sick after about 2005. It was very disappointing.

 

Just my thoughts. I'm not getting (1) why the ships are not prepared for emergencies, and (2) why no one has put forth any effort to evacuate the ship. And I'm not getting why they can't take these ships out of service and clean them up if they know there are viruses on them that are going to make people sick.

 

 

Sorry this is really gross but the toilets are overflowing because people keep using them until they overflow... Not because they are backing up but because the vacuum system that flushes them is not functioning so they cannot flush and just fill up instead. And then when you add in the tilting of the ship from the tugs pulling it and the no stabilizers.. Yuck...

[MarkBearSF]

Showers are likely also available in the spa.

[caribill]

The Mayor of Mobile, Sam Jones, said the city's airport was quite capable of accomodating flights to Houston and that Mobile has 7,000 hotel rooms. He said the city did not have input into CCL's decision.

 

 

If Mobile has 7000 vacant hotel rooms, then the hotel industry had beem severely overbuilt.

 

Did the mayor say how many rooms in decent hotels were actually available?

[MsSoCalCruiser]

ABC just advertised that Good Morning America would have Triumph passengers "and their horror stories" tomorrow (Thursday) morning.

Thank you Caribill, my DVR is set.

[caribill]

Not sure what you expect from the phone bank people, but it's obvious that Carnival did not learn any lessons in media communications from the Splendor incident.

 

Every several hours Carnival makes an official statement.

 

I am not sure what news people think is available that Carnival is hiding from them.

 

This is not a case where there are injuries and relatives need to know if their family member is OK.

 

No need for updates on how many onion sandwiches have been served.

 

The people who have been listed as emergency contacts by the passengers have been getting recorded updates of status. Many who say they do not know what is happening were not listed as the emergency contacts.

 

Mothers saying they are concerned about their young children ("Mommy, I'm scared.") obviously have adults on the ship who sailed with those children.

[dheianevans]

Good article about the issues in the industry:

 

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/13/opinion/walker-cruise-ships/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7

[caribill]

Regarding going to NOLA for airport choice as opposed to Mobile. I was looking up the difference between the two airports.

MOBILE

regional airport, only handles about 60 flights a day and 700,000 passengers per year

NOLA

international airport, handles approx 9 million passengers a year

 

Based on that info it would seem that people would get out of NOLA much quicker for flights than in Mobile.

 

Since these are charter flights, I would assume the Mobile airport could handle the flights themselves if there are an appropriate number of gates available.

 

But I think the airport would be stressed to process 3200 people in a relatively short period of time. Probably the terminal area could not hold a great many people, luggage handling facilities might not be up to the task, and TSA would not be staffed normally for this type of demand.

[RNGALNG]

I just found this thread. Haven't had time to read through the 184 pages yet. I have been watching on TV what I can and also reading the updates that CC puts out from the line.

 

My husband and I have a question. If a ship or two have been able to stop by and deliver food, why not take some of the passengers off the crippled ship and then go back to port with them? Let them bring their carry-on things, lock up the rest in their room, and let them get back to land?

 

Wouldn't it be better for them to get off this ship and spend a night or so on a moving ship that could get them back quicker? They could sleep on deck like they are now anyway. But they could be back 'home' sooner.

 

Has this been discussed already? Has anyone brought this up?

 

Thanks for filling us in.

[caribill]

500 buck isnt alot of money to keep a person outta court. Besides, one or two family members could take it and the other could sue and possibly get a judgement for large enough for all of them.

Did the paxs on the Splendor sue? Anyone know?

 

 

http://travel.usatoday.com/cruises/post/2010/11/carnival-splendor-cruise-ship-fire-lawyer-lawsuit/131515/1

[broberts]

I just found this thread. Haven't had time to read through the 184 pages yet. I have been watching on TV what I can and also reading the updates that CC puts out from the line.

 

My husband and I have a question. If a ship or two have been able to stop by and deliver food, why not take some of the passengers off the crippled ship and then go back to port with them? Let them bring their carry-on things, lock up the rest in their room, and let them get back to land?

 

Wouldn't it be better for them to get off this ship and spend a night or so on a moving ship that could get them back quicker? They could sleep on deck like they are now anyway. But they could be back 'home' sooner.

 

Has this been discussed already? Has anyone brought this up?

 

Thanks for filling us in.

 

This topic has been extensively discussed earlier in the thread.

 

The USCG captain on-scene indicated in an interview that the process of transferring passengers was too risky.

 

If you've ever tendered cast your mind back to the experience. Now increase the swells from a foot or two to six feet and add in a ship that can not control itself. That should give you a decent picture of the risks.

[hithere]

The photo was interesting.

 

Regarding not seeing people on the top deck. We were on the Dream when there was a helicopter medical evacuation. They closed all open decks. Stem to Stern. You could watch but it had to be from a covered deck. The same thing could be happening in this photo. One of the officers told me that it was procedure put in place in case the helicopter crashed into the ship causalities would be minimized.

[dadroy]

When I originally joined CC I did it for what I thought would be a reasoned discussion and recommendation site for cruising. Much like trip advisor.com For the most part that expectation has been met. Some comments though go to the extreme bias of a particular cruise line.

 

This thread is one example. I have not read all 3.000 posts but have skimmed the thread. I have read comments such as, this is an unforeseen accident and people on board should be happy with the compensation being offered by Carnival. To these comments I sort of agree. I personally believe some of the "intolerable" conditions will be disputed by many on Triumph. They will say the AC was not working but all in all it was not all that bad and they will be happy with the compensation Carnival is offering. Which I think is adequate.

 

But then I read posts from Cheerleaders!. Hey, Carnival has only had two engine room fires that left their ships adrift in the last three years. That does not mean they do not take care of maintenance, it is just "accidents will happen!" These same posters I would guess would say hey, Costa only had one ship sink in the last year, they are a safety conscious line. Their Captains would never deviate course to be near a dangerous coastline.

 

Or if things got worse, "Hey only 197 fires in the last month on a Carnival ship, what the heck, things happen". It's not a problem with Carnival, it is just an act of God. These ships sail 24/7 and things will break! Carnival is great! Those 80,000 passengers got great compensation. And that Concorida thing, those people all got a free cruise! They should be happy! And the ones who perished, well ship happens! These people are Cheerleaders!

 

At some point you have to say, enough is enough. I know the sailing contract we all agree to says we exempt the cruise lines from itinerary changes no matter what the reason is, but when the Triumph has problems with propulsion for weeks before the fire and Carnival decides to keep her sailing and in my opinion ripping people off by knowing they will not go to the destinations promised because the line refuses to cancel cruises to fix problems, there is a corporate problem.

 

This is not unique to Carnival. I follow several cruise lines her on CC because I sail a variety of lines, but you can read the same complaints about the same ships. The AC on ship A does not work in January of 2008. Then another complaint it does not work in June of 2008. Then again January of 2009, and June 2009, January of 2010, June 2010, January 2011, June 2011 and on and on, AT SOME POINT you have to say that ship A should not be on the seas. The line should dry-dock the ship and FIX the problem. But instead, they take the cheap way out and keep selling cabins KNOWING the AC does not work. And of course the Cheerleaders say, things break instead of saying, FIX THE DARNED PROBLEM.

In this case Carnival has had several instances with lost propulsion on various ships. Perhaps it is time for them to fix the problem rather than continue to roll the dice with the comfort of their passengers as their foremost concern rather than the lost revenue from canceling cruises to correctly address the problems.

 

Another fire on board a Carnival ship, another horror story on the nightly news, another 80 million in lost revenue, immense bad press and huge liability may cause Cahill to rethink his priorities. Profit is good, but you only get that profit if people believe your brand is safe.

 

I have never been scared about cruising, but when I read CC and hear a ship has had multiple breakdowns, I will not book that ship. There are other lines to cruise on that take more consideration in the comfort of their passengers than Carnival does.

 

It is time for some people to smell the roses and realize that Carnival, like all corporations, can DO SOME THINGS BETTER! In this case, maintenance on the ships and passenger safety and comfort should be priority number one!

 

Ready for the flaming I expect.:eek: