On Grandeur now..

[ChristianDecker]

I find it outstanding how good RCCL staff incl. captain reacted, so that - as of what I read here - the full emergency protocol was executed and followed. OTHER cruise lines, e.g. with an Italian captain, wait and wait and wait...

Incidents may happen, shouldn't though, but I feel pretty safe on RCCL and now even more by reading this.

 

I would like to pass all the best for those passengers on the Grandeur and have a safe trip.

[bigeck]

I find it outstanding how good RCCL staff incl. captain reacted, so that - as of what I read here - the full emergency protocol was executed and followed. OTHER cruise lines, e.g. with an Italian captain, wait and wait and wait...

Incidents may happen, shouldn't though, but I feel pretty safe on RCCL and now even more by reading this.

 

I would like to pass all the best for those passengers on the Grandeur and have a safe trip.

 

I totally agree. There is 2 threads running on the Costa board about that and its scary. Good to be reassured.

[Missus Makkem]

If you're leaving US waters, you should have a passport.

 

If you can afford to cruise, you can afford a passport.

 

I couldn't imagine leaving the country, for any reason, without one:D

 

I find it very strange the attitude of US citizens about passports, you could not leave the UK by any means to travel outside our borders without one.

[JasonTehGreat]

I have a question about the lifeboats and muster stations. Dharma said they were lowered and I am curious if anyone knows what the procedure would have been if the ship had to be evacuated? Would people go down to the water level by muster group and board the life boats in the same manner they do when tendering to a port? I have been on 7 cruises and for some reason, I thought people boarded the life boat from the muster station and rode it down into the ocean. Clearly, that is not the case. (Given one of our muster stations was in a lounge, I was definitely not thinking that out fully!)

 

Am glad that evacuation was not necessary, but happy to see that the procedures are all in place to be proactive during an emergency.

 

The lifeboats are lowered to the promenade deck and people board them there. Once the boat is full/ready to go, it is lowered into the water. If you have a muster station in a lounge or other place you would go from there directly to the promenade deck to board your boat.

[JasonTehGreat]

I also wondered about this. On my cruise last week, my muster station was also in a lounge that was 2 or 3 decks below where my cabin was located. If there would have been an emergency we would have had to first go to our muster station at the lounge and then make our way to the life boats. That seems like a lot of wasted time during an emergency.

 

You have to think of it this way . . . .there is room for lets say 1000 people on the deck at one time and the ship has 2000 people on it, so not everyone can be on the deck all at once.

 

So you fill a boat with 150 people, they leave and 150 more people come from the lounge or wherever and get ready to board theirs.

[DEEDIA]

I remember a statement that was made when Bush was in Power, over half of Americans do not have a Passport. IF you remember back Bush asked "and which State is Europe in". don't think he had a Passport, its a BIG enough Country to travel without leaving its shores.

 

Also so sorry to hear about the Grandeur Of the Seas. For all the people Sailing and the ones all Booked ready to go. Main thing everyone is accounted for and no Serious injuries. Thanks to RCI.

[emeraldcity]

RCCL is paying for flights back to Baltimore, as that is where the cruise departed from. My guess is that they are working with airlines as we speak to charter entire flights tomorrow. I was booked on the sailing this Friday, and they are even giving me the money back that I spent on the hotel since I can't cancel it.

 

Oh, I forgot about the hotel. I'll have to call today and see what the cancellation policy is. I'm trying to figure out how RCI will be refunding my cruise fare, since the card that I paid with had to be cancelled two weeks ago.

 

Couldn't sleep very well last night. Finally got up at 3:30 this morning and unpacked. I've never unpacked before from a trip I didn't take. Kind of depressing.

 

But we're all focusing on the passengers (current and future), despite the fact that for us this is a temporary setback. The crew just had their lives radically altered and they don't have the options we have to potentially make other plans.

 

My DD and I aren't sure if we can work a cruise into our schedules, so I may never get to use that 50% off certificate (which is probably why I'm rather glum this morning). I have a spring break cruise scheduled for 2014, but she can't go with the family for that.

[psupa]

If a passport is not required and one books an inside cabin on a Grandeur 6 night cruise, the cost of a passport would needlessly add an additional 33% of the cruise fare to the cost. Not my idea of affordable.

 

Passports are good for 10 years. You do the math:rolleyes: They are worth the money and you never know if you are out of country and need to fly home because of an emergency.

[WetToes]

... you could not leave the UK by any means to travel outside our borders without one.

 

 

That's the UK ... we don't live in the UK.

 

BTW - We have PP's.

[Merion_Mom]

If a passport is not required and one books an inside cabin on a Grandeur 6 night cruise, the cost of a passport would needlessly add an additional 33% of the cruise fare to the cost. Not my idea of affordable.

 

Fascinating comment, since you are Canadian!

[KeywestK]

Oh, I forgot about the hotel. I'll have to call today and see what the cancellation policy is. I'm trying to figure out how RCI will be refunding my cruise fare, since the card that I paid with had to be cancelled two weeks ago.

 

Couldn't sleep very well last night. Finally got up at 3:30 this morning and unpacked. I've never unpacked before from a trip I didn't take. Kind of depressing.

 

But we're all focusing on the passengers (current and future), despite the fact that for us this is a temporary setback. The crew just had their lives radically altered and they don't have the options we have to potentially make other plans.

 

My DD and I aren't sure if we can work a cruise into our schedules, so I may never get to use that 50% off certificate (which is probably why I'm rather glum this morning). I have a spring break cruise scheduled for 2014, but she can't go with the family for that.

 

If you had to cancel a credit card, but still have an account (with a new card) with the same bank, the credit will automatically go to the new account. That's exactly what happened to us when we recently had to cancel credit card that was hacked.

[ehfl]

I also wondered about this. On my cruise last week, my muster station was also in a lounge that was 2 or 3 decks below where my cabin was located. If there would have been an emergency we would have had to first go to our muster station at the lounge and then make our way to the life boats. That seems like a lot of wasted time during an emergency.

 

The lounge is just steps away from where you would board the lifeboat.

[chengkp75]

Do you think sprinklers played a large part in controlling this fire?

 

Not sure what type of sprinklers the Grandeur has, but the common marine sprinklers can put out a tremendous amount of water. We frequently would get a sprinkler flow alarm from a passenger cabin where they had hung a hanger from the sprinkler head and broken the thermal bulb. By the time we got to the zone valve and stopped the water to the affected zone, the cabin would be 2-3 feet deep in water.

 

Hi-fog sprinklers are most commonly used in engine spaces, but some newer ships may have these in public areas. These are tremendous at knocking down a fire, as the fine mist absorbs huge quantities of heat.

 

Probably the most important factor in controlling this fire, is that due to the "stepped" nature of the ship at the aft end, the aft most vertical fire zone is rather small, and therefore the fire boundary limits the spread forward.

[chengkp75]

I have a question about the lifeboats and muster stations. Dharma said they were lowered and I am curious if anyone knows what the procedure would have been if the ship had to be evacuated? Would people go down to the water level by muster group and board the life boats in the same manner they do when tendering to a port? I have been on 7 cruises and for some reason, I thought people boarded the life boat from the muster station and rode it down into the ocean. Clearly, that is not the case. (Given one of our muster stations was in a lounge, I was definitely not thinking that out fully!)

 

Am glad that evacuation was not necessary, but happy to see that the procedures are all in place to be proactive during an emergency.

 

Lifeboats are stowed in their davits above the promenade deck. When Dharma said they were lowered, that means they were lowered to the promenade deck, which is also the embarkation deck, and on many ships the muster location. This is a preliminary move, and sometimes is done before the General Alarm is sounded so that the moving of the boats and davits is done before the passengers muster under them. When the Captain decides to actually abandon ship, the passengers will board the ship at the promenade deck, and where the muster stations are inside, the groups of guests will be escorted from the muster station to the boat. Once everyone is onboard, the boat will be lowered to the water. The tender ports are not usable during an emergency, as they are too close to the water, and could flood if opened at sea.

[sg1phileshipper]

Looks more than a small fire to me. I'm glad that everyone is okay and thanks for the updates

 

Cindy

[Motorman23]

I find it very strange the attitude of US citizens about passports, you could not leave the UK by any means to travel outside our borders without one.

 

I am an American and I agree with you but we all know too many people who dont do what is advised and then complain when a situation occurs and the issue becomes a reality. Closed loop travel from and returning to the US does not require a passport, but if for any reason one must break the loop and leave from a foreign port life will become much more complicated. A US passport is good for 10 years which makes its total cost (application, stamps, photo, gas money, etc) less than $20 a year. Pretty cheap insurance in my opinion.

 

Mike

[MSAcruisers]

I am an American and I agree with you but we all know too many people who dont do what is advised and then complain when a situation occurs and the issue becomes a reality. Closed loop travel from and returning to the US does not require a passport, but if for any reason one must break the loop and leave from a foreign port life will become much more complicated. A US passport is good for 10 years which makes its total cost (application, stamps, photo, gas money, etc) less than $20 a year. Pretty cheap insurance in my opinion.

 

Mike

 

 

Perfectly said- priceless!

 

So very glad everyone made it off safely and nobody was hurt- safe travels to all!

[Aplmac]

Looks more than a small fire to me.

It's more than just a small fire!!

 

 

 

.

[cruisnseas]

I'm with you on the passport issue. Ever since I was 18 I have had one. I didn't travel outside of the US then but I figured if I ever needed conclusive evidence that I am a US citizen, my passport was my best option. Heck, I travel with it even inside the US these days.

[Bettytrouble]

I am an American and I agree with you but we all know too many people who dont do what is advised and then complain when a situation occurs and the issue becomes a reality. Closed loop travel from and returning to the US does not require a passport, but if for any reason one must break the loop and leave from a foreign port life will become much more complicated. A US passport is good for 10 years which makes its total cost (application, stamps, photo, gas money, etc) less than $20 a year. Pretty cheap insurance in my opinion.

 

Mike

 

Amen to that, Mike!!!

[bradpole]

I am an American and I agree with you but we all know too many people who dont do what is advised and then complain when a situation occurs and the issue becomes a reality. Closed loop travel from and returning to the US does not require a passport, but if for any reason one must break the loop and leave from a foreign port life will become much more complicated. A US passport is good for 10 years which makes its total cost (application, stamps, photo, gas money, etc) less than $20 a year. Pretty cheap insurance in my opinion.

 

Mike

 

I agree!! I know it is a personal decision, and the law allows you to cruise without a passport, but if you can afford a cruise you can afford a passport!

 

That's my humble opinion.

[Cru1s1ng2009]

I have an idea. Yesterday this thread was filled with us discussing the muster station issue. Why dont we start a new thread on passports so we wont hijack this one which is basically used for information on this incident and upcoming cruises for GR? Yes I know it is self serving since I have one coming up (maybe) but reading thru 8 pages of why people should have a passport isnt really what people are trying to look for.

 

Ill start it...

[setsail]

This old girl is going to need a butt lift and a new coat of paint:D

 

Hope the pax have a safe trip home,

[LauraS]

I looked for an article pinned at the top of the RC board and it is not there. I know that the they are suppose to be pinned there for 24 hours, correct? Why is it not? Every issue for carnival was pinned. Discriminate, no. Inconsistent, yes.

 

 

So here's how this works.

 

These are "auto-pinned" but ONLY if the cruise line is included in the title. The feed looks for cruise line names, picks up the article, posts it in the respective forum and "stickies" it for a period of 24 hours.

 

In this case, the news article was named "Cruise Ship Fire Forces Early A.M. Passenger Muster, Re-Routing", so it was only placed in our Cruise News & Articles forum, as well as our UK Cruising forum (as those forums get all news pieces). Unfortunately, Royal Caribbean wasn't included in the title when it was created.

 

And before some doubter says it was done on purpose, it wasn't. This news was covered by one of our newest employees (who has done a fantastic job) and it was just an oversight.

 

What I have done is drag over the article to "post" as a sticky on the RCI forum for you all. I have closed it to discussion, since I think this thread is doing just fine at this point.

 

Thank you for listening,

 

Laura

[grand isle joe]

I have an idea. Yesterday this thread was filled with us discussing the muster station issue. Why dont we start a new thread on passports so we wont hijack this one which is basically used for information on this incident and upcoming cruises for GR? Yes I know it is self serving since I have one coming up (maybe) but reading thru 8 pages of why people should have a passport isnt really what people are trying to look for.

 

Ill start it...

 

 

...or a new thread "Do you bring your passport to the muster drill?".......:D