Carnival Freedom Funnel Fire

[chengkp75]

6 hours ago, Brad1972 said:

Now freedom is moving at 17 knots.  That’s a bit difficult to do with 1 engine.  Must have gotten the other engine going again.

Well, technically, Freedom has 6 engines.  Even without using the engines that exhaust on the damaged starboard side, she generates 32Mw of power, and her two propulsion motors can use 40Mw combined, so she should be well capable of generating about half power to propulsion.  If she can use two of the three generator engines that exhaust on the starboard wing (and this is likely since the fiberglass "fin" gives no structural support), then she could make full speed. I suspect 17-18 knots is a decision for fuel economy and a timed arrival in Grand Bahamas.  Given their ETA Freeport, from Marinetraffic, of 0700 tomorrow, that requires about 16 knots.

[quattrohead]

In laymans terms, she can still outrun Vista with a finger shoved up one nostril !!!!

[chengkp75]

4 minutes ago, quattrohead said:

In laymans terms, she can still outrun Vista with a finger shoved up one nostril !!!!

Seen reports from people onboard that Vista has been doing 20 knots.

[quattrohead]

Yeah I saw that too, seems like she can do that when the other 5 engines are available.

[Aplmac]

Now we need a webcam
showing the shipyard at Freeport
so we can see what's going on!

[ontheweb]

8 hours ago, 40yearcruiser said:

 I returned to Port Canaveral this morning on the Mardi Gras. I was traveling with my granddaughter in a balcony cabin on the starboard side of the ship. My grandson and some friends were on the Freedom so we were on our balcony in Grand Turk to watch their ship come in. As it was approaching the dock I commented that there was an unusually large amount of black smoke coming out one side of the stack. As the ship docked we were waving to the Freedom passengers who were out on their balconies very close to us on the other side of the dock. Suddenly we were horrified to see flames erupting from the starboard side of the whaletail. Everyone on the Mardi Gras who were on the balconies facing the Freedom started screaming that their ship was on fire. My granddaughter quickly texted her brother on the Freedom to tell him they were on fire. He was having breakfast in the buffet and at first didn't believe her but when she convinced him it was real he rushed out to see what was happening. We were in constant communication with him until the fire was extinguished, which took about an hour. As the fire spread and debris was falling we were asked to stay off our balconies but we kept a close watch on what was happening. Very frightening time but we are so thankful that the crew were able to control the fire before the whole stack came down, which we were afraid would happen. Once the fire was out we got off the ship and met up with my grandson and friends briefly, but they had prebooked an all-day excursion which went ahead as planned. We talked with several other passengers from the Freedom that were able to transfer to the Mardi Gras because they had a disability or didn't have enough medication with them to wait for the Conquest to get them back to Florida. They said it was chaos on the ship once the word got around that the ship was on fire. Our grandson and his friends stayed in Grand Turk and are now on the Conquest. They are in their 20s and weren't at all upset to get to spend a couple more days on the island. We'll get the full story from him when he gets back home on Monday. I'm certainly no expert, but from seeing the extent of visible damage I expect the Freedom will be repaired and return to service in a month or less. Sorry for those of you who have had your cruises canceled because of this. We have had it happen to us and know the scramble to make alternative plans at the last minute. Good luck with finding a solution and I hope you find a fun way to spend your vacation.

 

Thank you for this first hand account. (Couldn't give both a thank you and like, so I am posting the thank you.) 

 

I'm sure you were at first horrified that your grandsons were on a ship that was on fire, and then relieved that it all turned out well for them.

[tidecat]

I I'm wondering if Carnival would take the opportunity-or even has the opportunity-to update the livery and perform a full drydock now that the ship is out of service. There shouldn't be anything from a hotel standpoint that requires updating - presumably things like new carpet would have been installed in the 2019 drydock, although it might be nice to update some furnishings. It wouldn't surprise me to see the International Lounge, Scott's Piano Bar, and 70's Night Club become Limelight Lounge, Piano Bar 88, and either Liquid Nightclub or Ocean Plaza, as these could be done relatively quickly.

 

I doubt a full-blown Liquid Lounge conversion could be done on short notice, nor would the additional 24-32 staterooms probably justify the cost.

[chengkp75]

3 minutes ago, tidecat said:

I I'm wondering if Carnival would take the opportunity-or even has the opportunity-to update the livery and perform a full drydock now that the ship is out of service.

The difference in cost between a drydocking and a wet berth repair is so great it wouldn't even be considered.  A wet berth would cost around $20k/day just for the berth.  A drydock runs around $400k/day or more, just for the dock time.  Unless a drydock is required by statute, or by the need to repair underwater equipment, it ain't gonna happen, certainly not in the present fiscal environment.

[KmomChicago]

On 5/28/2022 at 6:02 AM, Retiredmedic said:

I've seen better production of shows in my kids middle schools than I do on a Carnival ship.

These middle school kids are freaking awesome these days!! Well said!

Edited May 29, 2022 by KmomChicago

[Cruise till you drop]

On 5/26/2022 at 9:18 AM, lazydayz said:

Good new is the fire is out.  Our view from the Mardi Gras. 

Great news and sounds like everyone ok and on their way back to Florida

 

Just wondering though that as horrific as this looked, was anyone really shocked that this happened at all. Just wondering with the age of these ships and perhaps cutting maintenance budgets, that you kind of wondered if this was inevitable ?

[Guest BasicSailor]

19 minutes ago, Cruise till you drop said:

Great news and sounds like everyone ok and on their way back to Florida

 

Just wondering though that as horrific as this looked, was anyone really shocked that this happened at all. Just wondering with the age of these ships and perhaps cutting maintenance budgets, that you kind of wondered if this was inevitable ?

I actually think it has to do with the layoff time the ships were not being used during covid . A little less maintenance in fact . Build up from not being run at the proper speeds to rid the stacks of soot. Even though they may have attempted to clean those stacks. You may even see more ships with the same type of problems . But you can bet one thing, Carnival ships are being monitored. I'm sure the crew is being put to a task.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

7 minutes ago, BasicSailor said:

... But you can bet one thing, Carnival ships are being monitored. I'm sure the crew is being put to a task.

 

With 70+ Carnival cruises - yesterday on the Liberty, for the first time, I saw large jets of water being sprayed outward (not window washing), from what must have been fire type hoses while seated in the MDR for the sea day brunch. Not sure what was going on (I didn't go to the window to see more), but I suspect it might have something to do with the recent fire and their desire to put hoses into hands.

 

Tom

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, Cruise till you drop said:

Just wondering though that as horrific as this looked, was anyone really shocked that this happened at all. Just wondering with the age of these ships and perhaps cutting maintenance budgets, that you kind of wondered if this was inevitable ?

Freedom is only 15 years old, which while it is reaching the date where drydock costs increase dramatically, that really has nothing to do with what happened here.  And, maintenance is monitored by a third party, for all ships of all lines, so the old saw of "cutting maintenance" just doesn't apply.  RCI's Oasis class ships with the retractable funnels had similar leaks of soot, and they were just lucky this hasn't happened to them.

[chengkp75]

33 minutes ago, BasicSailor said:

I actually think it has to do with the layoff time the ships were not being used during covid . A little less maintenance in fact . Build up from not being run at the proper speeds to rid the stacks of soot.

Not really.  Even idle, the hotel load (since they need to keep the AC running anyway) will be well over 50% load on one generator.  And the reason the ships have multiple generators is so that you can optimize the load by reducing the number of generators to match the power required for propulsion.  And, even running at low load, the stacks are easily cleaned, daily, by introducing ground walnut shells into the turbocharger to "grit blast" the soot off the turbo and the exhaust pipe.  This causes the oft reported soot on aft balconies.

[Guest BasicSailor]

6 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Not really.  Even idle, the hotel load (since they need to keep the AC running anyway) will be well over 50% load on one generator.  And the reason the ships have multiple generators is so that you can optimize the load by reducing the number of generators to match the power required for propulsion.  And, even running at low load, the stacks are easily cleaned, daily, by introducing ground walnut shells into the turbocharger to "grit blast" the soot off the turbo and the exhaust pipe.  This causes the oft reported soot on aft balconies.

So, tell us what you think really happen to the Freedom in your opinion. Or any inside news source. Thanks in advance.

[chengkp75]

4 minutes ago, BasicSailor said:

So, tell us what you think really happen to the Freedom in your opinion. Or any inside news source. Thanks in advance.

As I've stated before, I think that one of the flange joints on the exhaust pipe in the "fin" had a leaking gasket, and soot accumulated inside the fiberglass fin.  Then, when the exhaust pipe got hot enough, the soot ignited.  This, likely, was building for years, and really could happen at any time.  Those fins would be a notoriously difficult space to inspect for soot buildup, just from the way they were built.

[tidecat]

Freedom had a turbocharger issue in 2019. I'd be curious to see if it's related to this incident. Given that none of the Conquest-class sisters have had similar issues, this appears to be something unique to Freedom.

[SC2020]

I had been playing with the idea for a few months of taking a Carnival cruise, and one of those was on the Freedom. 

Do these events make anyone else have second thoughts about Carnival? Or do you think it would still be okay to sail?

[Guest BasicSailor]

10 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

As I've stated before, I think that one of the flange joints on the exhaust pipe in the "fin" had a leaking gasket, and soot accumulated inside the fiberglass fin.  Then, when the exhaust pipe got hot enough, the soot ignited.  This, likely, was building for years, and really could happen at any time.  Those fins would be a notoriously difficult space to inspect for soot buildup, just from the way they were built.

Soot buildup understood, Thanks again.

[Guest BasicSailor]

2 minutes ago, SC2020 said:

I had been playing with the idea for a few months of taking a Carnival cruise, and one of those was on the Freedom. 

Do these events make anyone else have second thoughts about Carnival? Or do you think it would still be okay to sail?

Sail, nothing to fear in life, but fear itself.

[caribill]

7 minutes ago, SC2020 said:

Do these events make anyone else have second thoughts about Carnival? Or do you think it would still be okay to sail?

 

So reports of car fires give you second thoughts about driving?

[BlerkOne]

7 minutes ago, SC2020 said:

Do these events make anyone else have second thoughts about Carnival? Or do you think it would still be okay to sail?

No. Yes.

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, Cruise till you drop said:

Great news and sounds like everyone ok and on their way back to Florida

 

Just wondering though that as horrific as this looked, was anyone really shocked that this happened at all. Just wondering with the age of these ships and perhaps cutting maintenance budgets, that you kind of wondered if this was inevitable ?

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

[Indytraveler83]

14 minutes ago, SC2020 said:

I had been playing with the idea for a few months of taking a Carnival cruise, and one of those was on the Freedom. 

Do these events make anyone else have second thoughts about Carnival? Or do you think it would still be okay to sail?

 

In my honest opinion:

 

There's a risk, Carnival or otherwise, when you travel thousands of miles through the ocean for something to go wrong.  NCL recently had an engine fire, and you see smaller private vessels have issues all the time.  

 

If you can accept the overall risk of these types of travels, incidents like these shouldn't be surprising.  If anything, Carnival will double down to be sure this same thing doesn't happen again, then offer discounts and sales to be sure it doesn't cause slips in the overall passenger count.  I'll be honest, I usually take advantage of sales when Carnival has a struggle to book cruises for the future.  

[Barry ATL]

I hope those on board will tell us a little more about the transfer between ships.  Did they have all of your info already loaded into the computer on the new shop?  What about keycards?  Same cabin numbers?  How did they handle luggage?

 

I know, a lot of questions.  I am really curious about the process.

 

I am happy the comments so far have been positive.