When The Lights Went Out on Spirit

[raudacruise]

Sung to the tune of "When the lights went out in Georgia".

 

I can't believe how many threads bring up the fact that at 2:00am for 15 minutes the electricty went out. Yeah, maybe the ship drifted a little, yeah it was dark and scary but what happened - nada.

 

How many folks really even knew about it? 2am?

 

Seems like there are a few out there trying to make a mountain out of a pimple on their butt.

 

FYI, this doesn't come from a NCL cheerleader, waiting until December to decide on that. More from a cruiser who figures that disinformation or sour grapes gives cruising (and cruisecritics) a bad name.

 

And for those of you that want compensation for this - well I'll let your peers decide.

[Chipster2]

C'mon now, don't be so hard on those poor unfortunate cruisers that were soooo worried that their ship would get lost out there.:D

 

Kinda like those folks that went on a three hour tour!;)

[AuntieBarb]

Perhaps it's because the slot machines quit working and they were on a roll? :p

 

If I were sleeping, the last thing that would wake me up is complete quiet. LOL!

[Luv4dacruise]

trying to make a mountain out of a pimple on their butt.

 

This is one of the greatest lines ever....Never heard it before....HAHA :p

[JeterND93]

Sung to the tune of "When the lights went out in Georgia".

 

I can't believe how many threads bring up the fact that at 2:00am for 15 minutes the electricty went out. Yeah, maybe the ship drifted a little, yeah it was dark and scary but what happened - nada.

 

How many folks really even knew about it? 2am?

 

Seems like there are a few out there trying to make a mountain out of a pimple on their butt.

 

FYI, this doesn't come from a NCL cheerleader, waiting until December to decide on that. More from a cruiser who figures that disinformation or sour grapes gives cruising (and cruisecritics) a bad name.

 

And for those of you that want compensation for this - well I'll let your peers decide.

 

People including myself that were on the Spirit when this occured were terrified. We knew that the Spirit already has engine problems and had a gut feeling that this wasn't a good thing that the engines have failed knowing that there's problems to begin with. We didn't know how long this was going to last, we didn't know if we were going to have to evacuate the ship, we knew nothing, and I believe that's what terrified us the most. The captain informed us twice about what had happened; once right after we started to move again and again in the morning when everyone was awake. Maybe we overreacted on something that turned out fine, but I would rather freak out and have nothing happen, other than forget about it, and then have to evacuate the ship. We just missed hurricane gustav and hanna at our ports and the last thing we wanted was for them to catch up to us when the engines were not working. We were very lucky that the seas were calm when we were drifting, although I don't want to think about what it would have been like if there were huge waves. People who posted things about this topic weren't complaining because the crew on the Spirit got everything up and running fairly quickly, and all of the passengers were thankful for them. I know I posted a question on if it was common for this thing to happen. I wanted an answer to why this happened, I was nowhere near complaining. I would never complain if the crew did an awesome job to get us up and moving again. We just wanted to know what happened exactly to cause the engines to fail and the power to go out. It was scary waking up to a pitch black cabin and not knowing what was going on with the ship. No one was looking for compensation either. What did we lose when this happened? We lost an hour of sleep, big deal. This wasn't fun, especially happening at night, and I'm sorry if you were bothered by me and others posting things about this; we just wanted to have answers.

[newmexicoNita]

People including myself that were on the Spirit when this occured were terrified. We knew that the Spirit already has engine problems and had a gut feeling that this wasn't a good thing that the engines have failed knowing that there's problems to begin with. We didn't know how long this was going to last, we didn't know if we were going to have to evacuate the ship, we knew nothing, and I believe that's what terrified us the most. The captain informed us twice about what had happened; once right after we started to move again and again in the morning when everyone was awake. Maybe we overreacted on something that turned out fine, but I would rather freak out and have nothing happen, other than forget about it, and then have to evacuate the ship. We just missed hurricane gustav and hanna at our ports and the last thing we wanted was for them to catch up to us when the engines were not working. We were very lucky that the seas were calm when we were drifting, although I don't want to think about what it would have been like if there were huge waves. People who posted things about this topic weren't complaining because the crew on the Spirit got everything up and running fairly quickly, and all of the passengers were thankful for them. I know I posted a question on if it was common for this thing to happen. I wanted an answer to why this happened, I was nowhere near complaining. I would never complain if the crew did an awesome job to get us up and moving again. We just wanted to know what happened exactly to cause the engines to fail and the power to go out. It was scary waking up to a pitch black cabin and not knowing what was going on with the ship. No one was looking for compensation either. What did we lose when this happened? We lost an hour of sleep, big deal. This wasn't fun, especially happening at night, and I'm sorry if you were bothered by me and others posting things about this; we just wanted to have answers.

[i am sure it wasn't fun, I don't think many people would think that, but it was not that long, the seas were not rough, you said it yourself and no one was injured I would also bet a majority of the passengers didn't even know anything happened until they heard about it. As for no one looking for compensation, this isn't true. One thread yesterday mentioned seeking a refund on the cruise. Blackouts do happen, in fact they happen many places. Most of us roll with the punches. If it had been hours, that may have been a little different. Of course I guess we all react in different ways.

 

Nita

[caribbean blue for me]

Personally I would have been very frightened if I were on a cruiseship that suddenly was all dark. Especially in the middle of the ocean. It sounds very creepy.

[angelsx4]

Sung to the tune of "When the lights went out in Georgia".

 

I can't believe how many threads bring up the fact that at 2:00am for 15 minutes the electricty went out. Yeah, maybe the ship drifted a little, yeah it was dark and scary but what happened - nada.

 

How many folks really even knew about it? 2am?

 

Seems like there are a few out there trying to make a mountain out of a pimple on their butt.

 

FYI, this doesn't come from a NCL cheerleader, waiting until December to decide on that. More from a cruiser who figures that disinformation or sour grapes gives cruising (and cruisecritics) a bad name.

 

And for those of you that want compensation for this - well I'll let your peers decide.

 

ITA, I don't even visit one of the boards anymore because there are too many negative "opinions" out there, it's no longer helpful. I loved CC when I first discovered it about 6 years ago. But, I'm finding myself spending less and less time on here now. I know I can come here to find what I'm looking for, but I don't peruse(sp?) anything else now. I just noticed your post because I was thinking the same thing.

[AFAMILY]

Sung to the tune of "When the lights went out in Georgia".

 

I can't believe how many threads bring up the fact that at 2:00am for 15 minutes the electricty went out. Yeah, maybe the ship drifted a little, yeah it was dark and scary but what happened - nada.

 

How many folks really even knew about it? 2am?

 

Seems like there are a few out there trying to make a mountain out of a pimple on their butt.

 

FYI, this doesn't come from a NCL cheerleader, waiting until December to decide on that. More from a cruiser who figures that disinformation or sour grapes gives cruising (and cruisecritics) a bad name.

 

And for those of you that want compensation for this - well I'll let your peers decide.

 

Too funny!

 

I would calculate total compensation of an OBC/refund of $3.75 per cabin. This is just an estimate of course, based on a 7-day cruise for 2 at a cost of $2500 and their "loss" of 15 minutes of cruisetime.

 

Total compensation may vary based on cabin category and # of guests per cabin. :D

[newmexicoNita]

Too funny!

 

I would calculate total compensation of an OBC/refund of $3.75 per cabin. This is just an estimate of course, based on a 7-day cruise for 2 at a cost of $2500 and their "loss" of 15 minutes of cruisetime.

 

Total compensation may vary based on cabin category and # of guests per cabin. :D

and you know what< we will never hear again from those who think they should be compenstated or I don't think we will.

[cusyl]

That's why it's a good idea to always take a flashlight with you. I have one that never take batteries, you just crank it up.

 

When the Star fire happened it was suggested that everyone have a bail out bag next to the bed and I have done that since. What you can grab if you have to leave the ship

[danceman]

People including myself that were on the Spirit when this occured were terrified. We knew that the Spirit already has engine problems and had a gut feeling that this wasn't a good thing that the engines have failed knowing that there's problems to begin with. We didn't know how long this was going to last, we didn't know if we were going to have to evacuate the ship, we knew nothing, and I believe that's what terrified us the most. The captain informed us twice about what had happened; once right after we started to move again and again in the morning when everyone was awake. Maybe we overreacted on something that turned out fine, but I would rather freak out and have nothing happen, other than forget about it, and then have to evacuate the ship. We just missed hurricane gustav and hanna at our ports and the last thing we wanted was for them to catch up to us when the engines were not working. We were very lucky that the seas were calm when we were drifting, although I don't want to think about what it would have been like if there were huge waves. People who posted things about this topic weren't complaining because the crew on the Spirit got everything up and running fairly quickly, and all of the passengers were thankful for them. I know I posted a question on if it was common for this thing to happen. I wanted an answer to why this happened, I was nowhere near complaining. I would never complain if the crew did an awesome job to get us up and moving again. We just wanted to know what happened exactly to cause the engines to fail and the power to go out. It was scary waking up to a pitch black cabin and not knowing what was going on with the ship. No one was looking for compensation either. What did we lose when this happened? We lost an hour of sleep, big deal. This wasn't fun, especially happening at night, and I'm sorry if you were bothered by me and others posting things about this; we just wanted to have answers.

 

i think it depends on what your own individual experience of the event was. While most wont have noticed it, i believe it could have been quite frightening for some.....i think its easy to make light of the situation after the event having not even been on the ship themselves.....but thats the ncl fan base for you! I was on QM2 having dinner one dark night, the seas were choppy when the ships emergency signal went off to go to the muster stations.....it lasted for about 5-7 mins and we were on our way to get our life jackets when the captain announced it was a technical fault that had set the alarm off......it still unnerved us and made us feel quite shaky for quite a time and put us off our dinner....and that was only mins.

[coka]

When the Star fire happened it was suggested that everyone have a bail out bag next to the bed and I have done that since. What you can grab if you have to leave the ship

 

In an emergency evacuation, will cruiselines let you take a bag of goods on the tender? I am not an expert by any means, but I wonder if someone has statistics on how even a few seconds can make a difference in surviving a tragedy. I would not want something bad to happen to you during the time it takes to collect valuables. Just a thought.

coka

[theshireshihtzu]

I just some people react differently then others.....we were also on this cruise and it was really not a scarey thing to us. We went right back to sleep;)

[raudacruise]

As the OP I'd like to chime in.

 

I started this thread because the 15 minute outage was recited on multple threads and a lot of time off topic. When I finally saw one post that said they thinking about asking for compensation --- well that's how this thread started.

 

Anyone that has cruised a while has their share of incidents. Heck, we got stuck in an elevator for 20 minutes on one ship. Fortunately nobody was clastorphobic but we all had various amounts of body odor after sunning (if you get my drift or not - better for you).

 

We did get compensated - the shower water was free.

 

We've missed ports and had one situation where the Captain made a run through a tropical storm (and 50% of the crew and 70% of the Pax got seasick). The latter was pretty asinine (not NCL).

 

But thats a pittance compared to what we have gone through with other parts of travel. Airlines - everyone knows. Hotels - remember the stuck in the elevator thing above. Imagine being stuck in an elevator at a Mary Kay convention hotel. Give me a gas mask ;). It really did happen.

 

So emergencies and screwups have affected about 1% of my travel.

 

Can I get an OBC?

[Gingee]

Well I certainly hope all the engines are in good working order by January when we go. Do they get new engines or what?

[cusyl]

In an emergency evacuation, will cruiselines let you take a bag of goods on the tender? I am not an expert by any means, but I wonder if someone has statistics on how even a few seconds can make a difference in surviving a tragedy. I would not want something bad to happen to you during the time it takes to collect valuables. Just a thought.

coka

I wasn't talking about a bag of goods. I'm talking about a flashlight by your bedside and whatever small valuable papers you could stick in a pocket.:cool:

[OleSalt]

Some years ago, before the diesel refit, the engine room on the QE2 "Lost the load" causing a blackout in the middle of the afternoon.

I was awakened from my afternoon nap by the announcement, "The lights are off in your cabin because of a temporary malfunction in the engine room."

My reply, "No, the lights are off because I'm sleeping."

 

Stuff happens, take a deep breath and move on.

[kontraxed]

I wonder how many times I've either been scared to death or been made absolutely miserable for long periods of time - on an airplane - and never once received compensation. One time we were loaded on a plane during the summer only to sit for two hours baking on the runway. Another time, we hit windshear coming in for a landing at West Palm Beach. The plane flipped up and the wing almost went into the water on final approach. More funny (but not really) was when we were flying back from Las Vegas and went through some pretty rough turbulence. My sister screamed out, "We're all going to die!" I know it didn't make my wife feel better.

 

The point is, fifteen minutes in the dark on a calm sea is not a bad trauma. If I woke up and the lights were out and the ship was being rocked by huge waves and I smelled smoke, then I might want compensation or at least some clean underwear!

[JeterND93]

Well I certainly hope all the engines are in good working order by January when we go. Do they get new engines or what?

 

The engines are planned to be fixed when the Spirit goes into drydock for 3 weeks this November.

[JeterND93]

Sorry if my asking a question annoyed anyone, I was just wondering how common it was for this to happen. I never would have thought or expected any compensation, we didn't lose anything. I was just curious if this has happened before, it wasn't intended to annoy everyone, sorry. :(

[Toyz711]

it can happen any time on any ship...

things can happen or it can be a maintance issue that they are trying to take care of. the crew is working and maintaining all the time 24/7...

it's why the engineering staff is so important to the ship. losing power for 15 minutes is nothing compared to some of the stuff they have to deal with (like fires).

at any given time, there are several cruise ships with some type of mechanical problems.

[*Wink*]

Sorry if my asking a question annoyed anyone, I was just wondering how common it was for this to happen. I never would have thought or expected any compensation, we didn't lose anything. I was just curious if this has happened before, it wasn't intended to annoy everyone, sorry. :(

Jeter ~ Don't worry about annoying people with your question. It's your right to ask. If someone doesn't like it, it's their right to say so as well. Develop a thick skin and keep your great attitude.

[newmexicoNita]

Sorry if my asking a question annoyed anyone, I was just wondering how common it was for this to happen. I never would have thought or expected any compensation, we didn't lose anything. I was just curious if this has happened before, it wasn't intended to annoy everyone, sorry. :(

No you didn't ask or expect compensation but a few have posted Or at least one they are asking for a refund. You did just ask a question, but questions always bring out all kinds of responses. You have no reason to apologize...

 

Nita

[fkwok]

Sorry if my asking a question annoyed anyone, I was just wondering how common it was for this to happen. I never would have thought or expected any compensation, we didn't lose anything. I was just curious if this has happened before, it wasn't intended to annoy everyone, sorry. :(

 

hey, don't let the reaction of some worry ya. it ok to express your feelings. i am sure you and my friend were very scared and it didn't help that the capt did not make more announcements.

 

go boston!