Fire on Carnival Triumph. No engines, running on emergency generators.

[PurpleDog]

On 8 November 2010, at approximately 06:00 Pacific time, on the second day of a voyage from Long Beach to the Mexican Riviera, the Carnival Splendor experienced a fire in her engine room, cutting all electrical power.

 

The fire was extinguished by the afternoon, and no one was injured. Nearly 4,500 passengers and crew members were on board at the time. The crew was unable to restore power to the engines, and the ship was towed by tugboat to San Diego. Without power for air conditioning and refrigeration, passengers were fed rations delivered via U.S. Navy helicopters from the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.

 

Splendor was escorted by, and received aid and security assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau. Carnival Splendor arrived in San Diego under tow around sunrise on 11 November, and docked around noon.

 

SOUND FAMILIAR ???

[kwbound]

Does anyone actually read the official Carnival statements or do you just make it up?

 

Carnival has already stated that everyone on this cruise gets a full refund (minus gift shop and casino) and a credit for another cruise. I think that's excellent (granted, I do not want to be in the situation that warrants that). They've said they are going to fly folks back to Houston. I'm sure those who don't need to travel to Houston but another airport will be accomodated. Yes, I bet buses will be used between Houston and Galveston. They are towing to Mobile because the ship drifted....anyone know how long the anchor chain is? I bet it isn't long enough to anchor the ship in the Gulf. Thank GOD it drifted north and not south!! At least they are closer to the US. And another blessing this happened in February and not during hurricane season.

 

Why all the negativity? Stuff happens. Yes, these ships are run hard. Something is eventually going to break. Yes, I WILL be on the Triumph in June IF she's back in service. If she's not, I'm sure Carnival will be accomodating to get me and my family on another ship. I'm not worried about it.

 

Stop speculating and wait for these people to get back to tell us their story.

 

Really, you think this falls under the "stuff happens" category? Running out of warm chocolate melting cake or, God forbid, drink if the day ingredients would fall under "stuff happens". Missing a port due to weather falls under "stuff happens". This is a little more serious than just "stuff happens".

[broberts]

It seems the concensus is that there will be a fine, how much is yet to be determined.

 

I have seen no consensus on this point.

[crusinpsychRN]

And a few hundred sets of oars!

 

Carnival's new theme song;

 

"Row, row, row your boat,

Gently down the stream.

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,

Life is but a dream."

 

Change dream to triumph.

[douglinc@msn.com]

Perhaps they would not leave port with an inopoerable engine as reported.

 

We got off the Triumph the same day this cruise started, there was no problems with the engine at that time, in fact we go into Galveston about an hour earlier than scheduled. Stick to the facts.

 

Doug

[davids68girl]

Hey Pete, RCI Oasis Class and Celebrity's Solstice Class are covered with solar panels....top of Viking Crown on Oasis, and top of Solarium on Solstice. They create enough power to light the larger public areas of the ship.

 

This seems really smart to me.

[Rasvar]

The current reports are that they're being towed at less than 10 knots per hour and won't reach Mobile until Thursday at best. Yeah, I think getting a ship to them and getting them out of there would definitely have been faster, safer, and much more comfortable for them though at this point it's probably moot. I don't think this has been handled well by Carnival. Again, that's just my opinion, though, and results may vary by user :D

 

I could not see such a passenger transfer at sea being safe. Are you going to make the transfer by lifeboat? Think how long and chaotic that transfer would be. Trying to get luggage transferred also. I'm not sure it would save a lot of time. It would probably lead to some significant injuries and not to mention another whole ship of passengers pissed off because their vacation is now ruined. If there would be a significant time savings, it might make sense but I don't think it would save more than about 12 hours. If the ship were much further from shore, it would make a lot more sense. It probably made more sense to do it with Splendor, which had zero power, than it does Triumph.

 

I'm going to wait for people to get back to port and give first hand accounts of what is going on before I judge what is going on. Plus, one persons hell is another persons minor inconvenience as can be seen in the drastic difference between reviews of the same ship on the same cruise. There are always some drama llamas. What really happened will come out in the stories when everyone is back home.

[ducklite]

And you know all this, how?

 

Maybe you missed where I used words like "think," "not so sure,' suspect."

 

At this point I'm not seeing where Carnival is contradicting any of that.

[ducklite]

The ship is not sinking so there is no need to take drastic measures. How do you think they are going to transfer over 3,000 passengers to a high speed ferry if they are drifting? They do not have the ability to stabilize the ship inorder to load a ferry. Helicopter would be even worse.

 

Helicopters can land on the ship, making transfer perfectly safe. People could be lowered from the ship in the life boats and then transferred to the ferry while tied up alongside. Given my option of maybe falling and having to get fished out of the drink and staying on a raw sewage infested ship, I'd be donning my life vest and heading for the tender.

[txponycruiser]

Really, you think this falls under the "stuff happens" category? Running out of warm chocolate melting cake or, God forbid, drink if the day ingredients would fall under "stuff happens". Missing a port due to weather falls under "stuff happens". This is a little more serious than just "stuff happens".

 

 

Yes, I do. When you get in any kind of vehicle you are release control over your own fate. You are at the mercy of who ever is operating that vehicle (be it plane, train, automobile, or ship) and the mercy of others operating similar vehicles. I can assure you that Carnival did not want this to occur. And probably have daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance checks that you and I have no knowledge of. I seriously doubt they run these ships like they do without "changing the oil".

 

What I do know is that this thread is not helpful in anyway to anyone. There is no factual information here. There is only speculation on what's happening. You and I don't know. The media honestly doesn't know. The only people who do are the crew and passengers.

 

Yes, its horrible. No, I do not think it would be better than being at work on a bad day. Yes, I would suck it up and deal with it if it happened to me. No, it will not stop me from getting on her in June unless she is still out of service. It can't be helped, it couldn't be predicted, and there's nothing anyone of us can do now but wait. The negativity on this thread is pathetic and I think many of the posters need to get back to work instead of speculating the doom of the Triumph and her passengers.

[ducklite]

The only alternative I see to getting passengers off this ship faster is to get the Navy involved. That said I doubt even a Navy vessel can accomodate an additional 4,000 people. I am sure that Carnival and the Coast Guard are working together and doing the best that they can with the resources they have. I work in emergency management and if you don't have the resource, you can't use it, no matter how good of an idea it is.

 

What would they do if the ship were sinking? I think that they can do a lot of things, they just choose not to as the cost is more than they are willing to fork over.

[broberts]

Good luck to anyone who will get on this ship, you may need it.

 

Of course one might conclude it likely that Triumph will emerge from its repair period as the safest most vetted vessel in the fleet.

[AlanAllyn]

The top 20 posters on this thread

ducklite 162 dwjoe 64 truecruiser 43 RuthlessBoss 40 jimboridesmtb 35 nitro2448 35 berryberry 33 Loonbeam 32 Sargent_Schultz 30 Crusin6 30 deborahjo 28 dbogusch 26 Naomi John 24 Cruisin' Cool CAT 24 MrPete 22 broberts 22 MissMeggieMurphy 21 seannyice81 19 jimbo5544 18 declansdad 18

[rjackieb]

I don't take mine for a trip where I am not planning on leaving the continental US. I only once wished I had, I ended up in Buffalo on business and realized an old friend was playing a gig at a bar right across the border that night. :(

I don't normally take them for land vacations within the US, but prior to reaching Las Vegas we were going to be spending a few days visiting family in a not-so-safe part of Phoenix (Is there any really safe part of Phoenix?), where the possibility of being robbed is rather high.

[Richard & Philip]

Imagine how much technology goes into building a floating city like the Triumph....things are bound to go wrong every once in awhile. Just like a house fire that starts from electrical problems....you never know.

[cruiseflyer38]

Doesn't a tray of chocolate covered strawberries or a cheap bottle of (sparkling)wine cure all ills? ;)

 

BTW though - they are, as of the last report that I'm aware of, getting a full refund of their current cruise fare, and that same amount which can be applied towards a future Carnival cruise.

 

 

Tom

Probably conditional on them waiving any right to sue. A very cheap way out for Carnival.

[txponycruiser]

What would they do if the ship were sinking? I think that they can do a lot of things, they just choose not to as the cost is more than they are willing to fork over.

 

If the ship was sinking, they would be getting in life boats and that's a totally different situation because there is no access to food, water, or primitative facilities. At the moment, while it is not "cruise worthy", they do have access to the necessary resources to survive until they reach port. I'm not saying they are comfortable but they can survive these conditions.

[j1b7733]

Helicopters can land on the ship, making transfer perfectly safe. People could be lowered from the ship in the life boats and then transferred to the ferry while tied up alongside.

 

Really? Really? Wow, just wow.

[Larry22554]

The Triumph situation was just on The View Hot Topics. They said that there were reports of people acting like savages (their words not mine) and getting ugly with each other. They also mentioned the lack of working toilets and other poor conditions.

 

Interesting that they included it in Hot Topics today.

 

And I fear it is only going to get worse after two more days at sea and then attempting an orderly disembarkation.

[truecruiser]

To see the United States, Canada etc. must have been at supersonic speed:eek:

 

LOL! (*spitting coffee on 'puter*) :p

 

Anyone find a reliable site that shows where the ship currently is? The site I checked yesterday had her docked -- in Galveston -- 1.35 hrs away from sailing (with Monday's cruise) very reliable :rolleyes:

[mustangjoe]

Yes, I do. When you get in any kind of vehicle you are release control over your own fate. You are at the mercy of who ever is operating that vehicle (be it plane, train, automobile, or ship) and the mercy of others operating similar vehicles. I can assure you that Carnival did not want this to occur. And probably have daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance checks that you and I have no knowledge of. I seriously doubt they run these ships like they do without "changing the oil".

 

What I do know is that this thread is not helpful in anyway to anyone. There is no factual information here. There is only speculation on what's happening. You and I don't know. The media honestly doesn't know. The only people who do are the crew and passengers.

 

Yes, its horrible. No, I do not think it would be better than being at work on a bad day. Yes, I would suck it up and deal with it if it happened to me. No, it will not stop me from getting on her in June unless she is still out of service. It can't be helped, it couldn't be predicted, and there's nothing anyone of us can do now but wait. The negativity on this thread is pathetic and I think many of the posters need to get back to work instead of speculating the doom of the Triumph and her passengers.

 

this is much more than "Stuff Happens"! A bar server that spills a drink on me is stuff that happens. I trip over my own feet, is stuff that happens. A cruise ship that has a fire and loses power is much more than suff happens. All I can say is " Thank God I am not on that vessel>

[RuthlessBoss]

We got off the Triumph the same day this cruise started, there was no problems with the engine at that time, in fact we go into Galveston about an hour earlier than scheduled. Stick to the facts.

 

Doug

I remember posting this on another thread, but, people insisted otherwise:mad:

[crusinpsychRN]

I sure hope those way overpriced bottles of water are now free.

[ducklite]

I don't normally take them for land vacations within the US, but prior to reaching Las Vegas we were going to be spending a few days visiting family in a not-so-safe part of Phoenix (Is there any really safe part of Phoenix?), where the possibility of being robbed is rather high.

 

And you don't think they'd take your passports as well? I'm confused here.

 

By the way, there are safe areas of Phoenix. Gary, IN--now there's a city that I'd agree, there are no safe parts of.

[Rasvar]

High speed ferry would have been a plausible option. There are a number of them based about 3.5 hours away from where the ship is in the Key West area. They could have transported every passenger to dry land in the US by the end of the day today had the started yesterday morning.

 

Helicopter would have been another plausible option. Smaller loads but fast moving.

 

 

Both of these are ridiculous. 3000 pax. Any of those ferries may have a 350-400 person capacity. Assuming 10 round trips, 90 hours. Plus, there is no feature for embarking these vessels at sea. Helicopters are an even worse solution since their capacity is so much less. Triumph doesn't have a helipad, so you can't land a helicopter on deck either.

 

While it is uncomfortable and a bad situation, a tug tow is really the only practical option. Currents and weather also make Mobile a good choice. Pax are probably better off going to Mobile anyways. It would have likely taken until Friday or Saturday to get everyone back from Mexico. Yes, it does work out for Carnival too. Sometimes that does happen.