Question bugging me about the Triumph disaster cruise

[wickedhangover]

This question has been bugging me and I figured I'd ask. I'm referring to the stories I read about the lack of food and rationed water onboard the triumph during that horrific ordeal.

 

During the life boat drill they specifically say that the life boats are equipped with enough food and water for all passengers. While they don't say how much there is or how many day's at sea the lifeboats can sustain the passengers I still wonder why didn't they crack open those C rations for the Triumph passengers.

 

I mean even if it was boxes of hard tack and peanut butter, it would have been better than onion sandwiches.

 

Sorry if this has been asked before. It's a silly question that has bugged me since that cruise. We sailed shortly after and I remember hearing them say this in the lifeboat drill and it stuck with me.

[Mysticks1]

I really think the food shortage was blown out of proportion by a few that were on the cruise. There were talks of "onion" sandwiches but then one guest that was on there said they saw people taking meat off of pre-made sandwiches to make their sandwich bigger which left some without meat thus an onion sandwich. There were reports of some hoarding food, taking much more than was necessary.

 

They had food air-lifted in and supply boats bringing food so I don't think it would have been necessary to break into the emergency rations on the lifeboats.

[belle2]

I read a first hand account from a passenger that said they had hot food by day 2 due to a generator being airlifted into the ship. The reason for the onion sandwiches is because the people in the front of the line took all the meat off the bread and left the people at the back of the line with onion sandwiches. This passenger obviously wasn't looking to sue. I tried to find the link to the article because he dispelled a lot of rumors the media was circulating but couldn't find it. I'm pretty sure it was on CC. It was interesting! I don't think they were so low on food they would need to get into the stash on lifeboats. Also, more fresh food was delivered daily if not more, from other ships.

[wickedhangover]

I kind of had a feeling that things were blown out of proportion. So it makes sense how this all played out in the media.

 

It just became this sort of burning question I had if the way the media portrayed it had been accurate, or even better than the real conditions, would the rations from the life boats have ever been considered as a viable option in the event it was not possible to airlift in food/generators, etc.

 

Also, not totally related. On my last cruise I noticed that behind the whale tale on the Breeze and Liberty there are now CAT (caterpillar) generators. I never noticed them before and wonder if this is a new backup system they've employed for all ships, if so, I wonder what capabilities they have for power generation. They're quite large, the size of a typical shipping container. In some google searching of ship images you can see that the newer images of these ships show these generators where older ones do not. I wonder if anyone else noticed them suddenly appearing on the ships and if other cruise lines have done the same.

 

On my cruise on the Breeze they were having a lot of power issues at the back of the ship, nothing that disrupted anything but like they couldn't flash the lights in the aft dining room during the dancing at dinner. The reason was that they were testing the new backup generator system on the ship.

[Pine Bluff]

The failure of the food rationing was that it seems like Carnival treated this as BAU, as opposed to food rationing like the bacon police.

 

Rumors were running rampant, leading many passengers to start hoarding food, so that the ones in the back of the lines, when it was their turn, were finding only "scraps" left. It was as if the crew was not prepared for a Ldisaster" such as this T just like the crew didn't seem to be prepared for the Concordia, which was a true disaster.

 

But there was plenty of food on board Triumph. It was beating time before anything spoiled, and they did get back to hot meals by day 2 or 3.

 

BTW, I equate this to a self serve soup station serving Lobster Bisque or clam chowder. Even when food is not being rationed, the ones in the beginning of the line will be scooping out the lobster and the clams, and those down the line will be getting just liquid.

[DKane]

I kind of had a feeling that things were blown out of proportion. So it makes sense how this all played out in the media.

 

It just became this sort of burning question I had if the way the media portrayed it had been accurate, or even better than the real conditions, would the rations from the life boats have ever been considered as a viable option in the event it was not possible to airlift in food/generators, etc.

 

Also, not totally related. On my last cruise I noticed that behind the whale tale on the Breeze and Liberty there are now CAT (caterpillar) generators. I never noticed them before and wonder if this is a new backup system they've employed for all ships, if so, I wonder what capabilities they have for power generation. They're quite large, the size of a typical shipping container. In some google searching of ship images you can see that the newer images of these ships show these generators where older ones do not. I wonder if anyone else noticed them suddenly appearing on the ships and if other cruise lines have done the same.

 

On my cruise on the Breeze they were having a lot of power issues at the back of the ship, nothing that disrupted anything but like they couldn't flash the lights in the aft dining room during the dancing at dinner. The reason was that they were testing the new backup generator system on the ship.

 

Last month on the Pride my husband noticed a generator on deck 10 that we didn't remember seeing on our August cruise. I'm sure every ship was supplied with them after the Triumph incident.

[JinxyB]

I noticed a CAT generator on my January Sensation cruise up behind the whale tail...I found this an odd place to store such a thing and a little unsettling to have it in such public view. It was big, the size of a shipping container. Maybe they are putting them on all ships until they go into dry dock for maintenance? I don't know why they would put that in plain view of passengers and not down in the bowels of the ship?

[okgirl]

Carnival gets slammed so badly by all the news outlets and they can't seem to help themselves when bringing up the difficulties that occurred in the past years.

 

This last Monday the Triumph was delayed returning to Galveston due to fog. This is not an unusual occurrence in Galveston, and I have been fog delayed in both Galveston and NOLA.......However, ABC reported "Yet another problem with the plagued Carnival Cruise ship Triumph, which has been "STRANDED" again at sea." They went on to recap the whole incident regarding the old incident and then as an aside made a statement that the port of Galveston had stopped all traffic into and out of the port due to fog conditions.

 

Carnival announced plans to add redundant generator capabilities to all ships that didn't already have them to support certain hotel and galley facilities. You can probably find the news release on their website. What a lot of people don't realize is that these redundant capabilities were not required of any cruiseline until about 6 - 8 years ago.

 

And as far as I know Carnival is the only line that has committed up fully update the older ships that don't have this redundancy. Other cruiselines have these older non-redundant systems as well.......why aren't they talking about their plans?????

[Freedom2014]

How is that a disaster? No one died? Lol I'm sorry but being uncomfortable during a cruise is not a disaster! They got well compensated

[Elaine5715]

No one has mentioned that they lost XX amount of weigh due to lack of food. Also, where are the pictures?

[Georgiagolfer]

I noticed a CAT generator on my January Sensation cruise up behind the whale tail...I found this an odd place to store such a thing and a little unsettling to have it in such public view. It was big, the size of a shipping container. Maybe they are putting them on all ships until they go into dry dock for maintenance? I don't know why they would put that in plain view of passengers and not down in the bowels of the ship?

 

They did the same on Fascination.

[douglinc@msn.com]

I no longer pay much attention to what the news media says. It's to the point that most news organizations will not report news that doesn't fit their agenda...What happened to the "good old days" when networks just reported ALL the news and left their political agenda's out. Of course it's all about ratings now, so instead of just reporting the news, they try to "spice it up'.

 

Doug

[sailor_jimc]

I read a first hand account from a passenger that said they had hot food by day 2 due to a generator being airlifted into the ship. The reason for the onion sandwiches is because the people in the front of the line took all the meat off the bread and left the people at the back of the line with onion sandwiches. This passenger obviously wasn't looking to sue. I tried to find the link to the article because he dispelled a lot of rumors the media was circulating but couldn't find it. I'm pretty sure it was on CC. It was interesting! I don't think they were so low on food they would need to get into the stash on lifeboats. Also, more fresh food was delivered daily if not more, from other ships.

 

I was the passenger you are quoting above. And I will reiterate- WE NEVER HAD A SHORTAGE OF WATER NOR FOOD. We had full running water all the time. And yes it was purified. The emergency power runs the water systems. I took a shower every day. However by the third day it was getting to be cold and it was a really quick shower (no heat for the water only what is created during purification process I guess). The first day they only had cold food available... BUT WE HAD FOOD. After visits from the other Carnival ships that delivered supplies we had warm food from the other ships (won't say it was hot but it was still something that had been cooked) Then we got the second generator delivered and they fired up (sorry no pun intended) the Hamburger grill and cooked every steak/pork chop and chicken breast they could pull out of the freezer. YES THERE WAS A LINE TO GET IT.. but it was there none the less.

 

Anyone claiming "mental injury" is just looking for money. I am sure for some people the first couple of hours were frightening but they put the fire out quickly and it quickly became obvious that we were in no life threatening danger...

[maldenmusic]

How is that a disaster? No one died? Lol I'm sorry but being uncomfortable during a cruise is not a disaster! They got well compensated

I think it probably got blown out of proportion by the media. It seems like their reporting is biased against CCL sometimes.

[pspercy]

I noticed a CAT generator on my January Sensation cruise up behind the whale tail...I found this an odd place to store such a thing and a little unsettling to have it in such public view. It was big, the size of a shipping container. Maybe they are putting them on all ships until they go into dry dock for maintenance? I don't know why they would put that in plain view of passengers and not down in the bowels of the ship?

 

Something that large would require cutting a hole in the deck(s) for it, a job best done in a shipyard.

 

As for suing, it's started:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2568174/I-think-smell-stench-bad-things-Poop-cruise-passengers-sue-suffering-PTSD.html

[Sparky2]

I think it probably got blown out of proportion by the media. It seems like their reporting is biased against CCL sometimes.

 

Yep, that's CNN. They love picking on CCL even when not warranted.

[amminaustin]

I was on the Triumph February 1st-6th of this year and had brunch with a nice couple who were taking their "free" cruise because they were on the disaster cruise last February. They answered a lot of questions I had about the cruise and confirmed exactly what I had read and suspected - the media accounts were overblown and they never lacked for food or water. They said they had plenty of food and water the entire time. They did say a few people were hoarding food and at times the lines were long for food but they had food available to them the entire time. Obviously they were not too traumatized by the experience since they were sailing the Triumph again.

[JinxyB]

Something that large would require cutting a hole in the deck(s) for it, a job best done in a shipyard.

 

OK, that makes sense now. Maybe they can put a little sign near the generator or put something in the daily newsletter as to not alarm passengers as to why an enormous generator is sitting out on the public deck!

Edited February 26, 2014 by JinxyB

[Branman]

I noticed a CAT generator on my January Sensation cruise up behind the whale tail...I found this an odd place to store such a thing and a little unsettling to have it in such public view. It was big, the size of a shipping container. Maybe they are putting them on all ships until they go into dry dock for maintenance? I don't know why they would put that in plain view of passengers and not down in the bowels of the ship?

 

The emergency generator is always located on the top deck of the ship because that would be the last part to sink. The new CAT generators are located above the existing emergency generator housing. My guess is that during dry dock, the CAT generator and current emergency generators will be swapped out for a larger generator that doesn't need to be in an extra shipping container-- this would be confirmed if the Sunshine, Triumph, or Legend don't have the CAT containers.

[uncleg]

Just blown out of proportion, the media seek out Drama queens, its just like when they come South for a story they always pick someone with no teeth and no education to interview to make the rest of us look like inbred hicks. Its just part of the agenda.

[RuthlessBoss]

No one has mentioned that they lost XX amount of weigh due to lack of food. Also, where are the pictures?

 

Who lost weight and why? There was no food nor drink shortage.

[evanAction]

I'm sure it was horrible nonetheless. Carnival tried to make it right, and nobody died. I'd rather be stuck on a ship adrift than in an airplane trying to make an emergency landing.

 

The whole fog thing is blown out of proportion...must have been a slow news day. I'm sure people get screwed by missing flights, not getting back to their job on time etc, but that's Mother Nature and not Carnivals fault. If anyone is getting nit picky about it, maybe next time they should play it safe and not sail out of a port known for occasional fog delays, or just stay at home :)

 

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Forums mobile app

[jimbob70]

Well, depending on the source, there are anywhere from 250 to 300 active cruise vessels worldwide, which means that there are at least 100,000 "cruise days" in a year. Out of these 100,000 annual "cruise days," we're talking fewer than a hundred "cruise day"s with a power out situation. And that's probably an exaggeration. Just estimating. We had Triumph and Dream (Dream was only a backup generator, but it did cause a cruise in progress to be cancelled).

 

And the cruise industry had the two recent norovirus outbreaks that were in the news.

 

I still have people say "you mean you're going on a cruise after all these problems?" People don't have a grasp of risk vs. numbers at all. Obviously the mass media publicity has skewed the reasoning.

 

Incredible that the fog situation would be treated that way by the media. That's a very common occurrence this time of year in a lot of ports. Nature always resolves it in a few hours and life goes on. Experienced cruisers know to arrive at least a day early at the port, and to either stay a day later, or at least to book return flights in the afternoon.

[dockmaster]

I'd be pretty mad if the lifeboats got raided for food and then we really need them for another emergency.

The water in the lifeboats is in packets, not sure about the "food" but its not buffet quality. Might be along the lines of MRE's

CNN didn't report any people dieing of starvation that I'm aware of.

[Georgiagolfer]

I'd be pretty mad if the lifeboats got raided for food and then we really need them for another emergency.

The water in the lifeboats is in packets, not sure about the "food" but its not buffet quality. Might be along the lines of MRE's

CNN didn't report any people dieing of starvation that I'm aware of.

 

Agree.