Fire onboard Carnival Sensation last night

[Doggielover68]

7 hours ago, Shaggi said:

While things definitely happen at sea, I’ve not experienced something like this in 32 cruises on them. The sound of people screaming fire and running down the hall with life jackets through a wall of smoke is not something you’d like to see outside of your door.  Being also at 3 a.m while it’s dark is frightening all in itself. (Why does fire only seem to happen at night on ships?😬)  thinking you might need to jump in the dark waters from a burning ship can give you a heart attack in itself! They contained it well but certainly no notification on their part to let us know other then a hallway announcement, not in our room, what if we were heavy sleepers? Being notified early would be smart, fires can get away from you so fast! We had a worker trying to tell us we didn’t need our life jackets! Really? Definitely not a plan in motion for this ship as everyone was just standing around not knowing what to do.  My adrenaline finally slowed down after a couple of hours once we were back in our rooms but at first from 0-100 you start shaking and I remember trying to dial my daughters room on the same floor but on opposite sides to tell her to get out and grab their life jackets because no one was going to tell them but us (they were right down the hall from the storage room that was on fire) and she had my 9month old grandson with her, but it took me a million tries to remember how to dial out in my awaken state of shock! If you have never been in this position then the comments are null! Trust me we thought we were dead! I believe Carnival needs to get together on what to do in case of emergencies, those drills are for us not them, save yourself, they aren’t going to!!

While I wasn't there and can't predict my own reactions in this situation, but my rule of thumb is to go based upon the crew members reactions to events. If the ship seems to be rocking a ton, are they worried or are they doing business as usual? If they were to make a mass announcement there would have been complete hysteria, with people jumping overboard in life jackets. They had it under control and I am thankful for that. The rest was just an inconvenience but you weren't in any danger. Leaving the area was all that was needed.

[cheezfrys]

Did the smoke alarms go off?  Seems like passengers were notified by people banging on their door.  

[SwordBlazer Cruising]

I see it like this. The guest did what he or she wanted to do and once again did not follow what was written about what is prohibited or not. The cruise lines take a lot of flack ( some justified) about their polices and procedures but this just reinforces why guests can't simply do what they want or try and skirt past policies. This could have been far worse that it turned out.

[Jmp4965]

Ok so the smoke was in a storage closet not in a cabin according to Carnival. Carnival has issued all cruisers from this cruise a 15% discount based off this cruise on a future cruise. The discount was given due to the change in ports and not the fire.  The pictures people posted of the incident do confirm it was a storage closet and not a cabin. 

[CdrescherRBL152]

Okay after reading thru the post here for the what is worth is my opinion.

First fire from smoldering ashes, be them from cigarettes, cigars, pipes or whatever. Are just as likely on a ship as on land. Although the walls and floors harder to start burning then wood at home. The furnishings are the same as you buy locally at home. And a fire on a ship is always more dangerous as there as not a lot of places to go.

As for the Captain saying the fire was contained and Carnival’s statement not calling it a fire.  Being that the cause was electrical, smoke could have been spreading without any flames. Which the Captain at the time of announcement. Any pictures could show heavy smoke and water damage without there having been accurate flames. 

[chengkp75]

4 hours ago, CdrescherRBL152 said:

Okay after reading thru the post here for the what is worth is my opinion.

First fire from smoldering ashes, be them from cigarettes, cigars, pipes or whatever. Are just as likely on a ship as on land. Although the walls and floors harder to start burning then wood at home. The furnishings are the same as you buy locally at home. And a fire on a ship is always more dangerous as there as not a lot of places to go.

As for the Captain saying the fire was contained and Carnival’s statement not calling it a fire.  Being that the cause was electrical, smoke could have been spreading without any flames. Which the Captain at the time of announcement. Any pictures could show heavy smoke and water damage without there having been accurate flames. 

I'll disagree that the furnishings are "the same as you buy locally", as everything is treated with flame retardant on a ship.  I also don't think most folks have a sprinkler system in their homes.

Edited February 16, 2019 by chengkp75

[Expat Cruise]

Just now, chengkp75 said:

I'll disagree that the furnishings are "the same as you buy locally", as everything is treated with flame retardant on a ship.

On this I need to agree with chengkp75  while many things may look the same as on land they are not, most are very different.  On my small pleasure boats I had cushions that looked like plain vinyl & foam, but they would not burn. Marine is very different from land, no one wants a fire at sea. 

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, BoDidly said:

Flame retardant on a ship   Doesn't mean it won't burn . Just means it takes longer to ignite .

Hell ,even steel will melt .

Yes, but there needs to be fuel to sustain a flame to melt the steel.  And while you are correct that flame retardant material will eventually burn, again, there needs to be a fuel source to provide that continuing flame to get the material to ignite.  Where and what are those fuels?  As I said regarding the Star Princess investigation, the investigators attempted, in laboratory conditions, to ignite a towel taken from a Princess ship, and not treated with a flame retardant, with a cigarette, and were unable to do so.

[BoDidly]

53 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Yes, but there needs to be fuel to sustain a flame to melt the steel.  And while you are correct that flame retardant material will eventually burn, again, there needs to be a fuel source to provide that continuing flame to get the material to ignite.  Where and what are those fuels?  As I said regarding the Star Princess investigation, the investigators attempted, in laboratory conditions, to ignite a towel taken from a Princess ship, and not treated with a flame retardant, with a cigarette, and were unable to do so.

I knew you would pop up eventually  Working in the steel mils tells me you're correct , it would take quite a bit of heat to melt steel .  Some of the fuels are Alcohol form the bars and also stored in cabins becomes fast igniters.   Even the ships fuel along with  the non retardant clothing and luggage that the passengers bring on board . Even the material that they hang on their doors for decoration.  Alcohol form the bars and also stored in cabins becomes fast igniters.  Any ways  I thought they stopped that as it was stated as being a fire hazard and not allowed. But I see it every cruise. 

Edited February 16, 2019 by BoDidly

[momof4boys]

On 2/11/2019 at 9:19 AM, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

Why would Carnival sell over 30% of their current revenue producing ships?  That makes no sense at all. I understand you may not like the Fantasy class ships, but a lot of people obviously still do, not to mention people who prefer the older, smaller ships. 

We love the Fantasy Class for many reasons. Most importantly, we always get a suite and end up looking at a deck with people on it in the Dream class.  We dont care about have more than a thousand food options. Lol!!

[glrounds]

On 2/11/2019 at 7:04 AM, NoName said:

I agree....these old boats don't represent what I think of when I think of Carnival.

 

But they provide unique 4-day getaways for us cruisers that like to "sandwich" them in between longer cruises. My experience, they are in immaculate shape and I always enjoy the "good old days". New ships catch on fire all the time. Don't blame this on her age, especially when it was on deck 6.

Edited March 16, 2019 by glrounds

[BlerkOne]

On 2/16/2019 at 1:15 PM, chengkp75 said:

Yes, but there needs to be fuel to sustain a flame to melt the steel.  And while you are correct that flame retardant material will eventually burn, again, there needs to be a fuel source to provide that continuing flame to get the material to ignite.  Where and what are those fuels?  As I said regarding the Star Princess investigation, the investigators attempted, in laboratory conditions, to ignite a towel taken from a Princess ship, and not treated with a flame retardant, with a cigarette, and were unable to do so.

 

Being unable to duplicate a theory does not prove it didn't happen or happen in a different way.

[drgonzogoo]

Just another clear example of cutbacks! Fires on a ship are because of the constant nickel and diming by big corporate Carnival to increase profits and make us pay more. And, dare I say, if they still put chocolates on the pillows after the 3rd cabin service of the day, there wouldnt have been as much smoke in the hallway. I heard that they are going to start to charge to use the elevators next month. It's shameful. We deserve a refund, 50% off our next cruise, and to be able to steer the boat if we ask nice and make a happy plate at dinner.

 

Im glad everyone is safe. Safe travels everybody