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

[DryCreek]

I can imagine the outrage if only 500 rooms were available in the city and they gave only suite passengers access and made everyone else drive to New Orleans. That would be an even larger PR disaster than making everyone make the trip to NOLA.

 

I know some posters would take fiendish delight if only the Passport holders were allowed to immediately take a room while the others were bussed of to NOLA!

 

Because, you know, you simply must have one to be in the "in" crowd.

 

 

(Disclosure - DW & I have both PP and PP card, yet I have sailed the world over and have seen probably more distant foreign ports than some of the PP snobs - all while traveling in the USN (even under the NP). Shellback, Bluenose, MM1SS)

[broberts]

It would depend on when you got off the ship, how long it took to clear customs, and how long you had to wait for a bus to leave. It's a 7.5 hour drive under ideal circumstances. I'm guessing that the last bus won't even leave the port until late afternoon--keep in mind there are no elevators for people or bags, and getting 3000+ people off that ship and cleared through CBP will be a long and arduous process. That puts it back in Galveston after midnight. Then one would still need to get in their car and drive home--which could be another two hours. After that they could finally disinfect themselves, burn their laundry, and fall into bed. Nope, I'm not seeing people being able to function at work on Friday.

 

I believe Carnival reported on Tuesday that the forward elevators were operational and they were working on the the mid and aft banks.

 

I expect just getting through the media gauntlet will take awhile.

[sanmarcosman]

they wont sell the Triumph it will eventually be a new Sunshine class ship

 

Sunshine Class, now that's funny! I can hear the names of this class already : "Carnival Leftovers" "Carnival Retread" "Carnival Has Been" "Carnival Gillette Trac II" ;)

[tinaparrotthead]

I have never been, nor do I see myself in the future being, what some would categorize as a Carnival Chearleader. HOWEVER,

 

It "irks" me (I really think it is an appropriate word for how I feel) that the news media has put the spin on the Triumph story that they have. So many of the major TV stations have talked about "Kaos" and how unorganized the crew of the ship have been.

 

And YET, I read the Carnival boards and the reports coming from my fellow CC'rs and I don't read things like, it was total Kaos...I hear that the conditions are not appealing and certainly not what they had thought their "vacation" was going to be like. The majority of the posters also talk about how wonderful the crew has been. How they (CCr's) realize the crew is "in the same boat" as they are, that when you are on a ship you are your own community and helping and supporting each other is what keeps everyone safer, more comfortable, and hopeful.

 

It is so unfair to Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and other cruise lines that the media has targeted as being some evil, money sucking, unsafe, crime ridden entity....We have no reason to believe that this situation with the Triumph was anything but a bad piece of machinery.....And until otherwise proven, we cannot and should not give the opportunity to anyone looking for an unjustified hand out to determine what is printed or reported as the truth.

 

Keep on reporting your experiences my fellow CC'rs and let's report the TRUTH. Be kind to each other....you may need that fellow CC'er to help you someday :)

[ducklite]

Here is an interesting quote in the article.

 

 

 

I find this statement funny because Carnival is not going to sell the Triumph. If the Splendor wasn't sold, why would they sell the Triumph?

 

Because of this statement, I think this article looses some credibility.

 

It said "eventually." If you look at it historically, Most ships belonging to Carnival do EVENTUALLY end up sailing the European market with a different line.

[kylenyc]

Because of this statement, I think this article looses some credibility.

I thought it lost credibility when 1) it's an opinion piece and 2) it started with the disclaimer that the author is a lawyer who's "represented passengers and crew against Carnival..."

[ducklite]

I thought they got some elevators up and running. Did they go down again?

 

What I heard was one up and running. That's not going to do a lot of good.

[Crusin6]

The issues of engine room failures and procedural errors (Concordia) by CCL certainly casts shadows over the safety procedures and policies in place and followed by this company whether real or imagined.

 

One possible way to deal with these issues and the PR problems that now overhang CCL would be to do a complete safety stand down on all vessels in the fleet. This would mean canceling cruises and a ship-by-ship and corporate wide review of policies, maintenance, and compliance.

 

This is not cheap but how many more or these incidents can be tolerated by the consumer before CCL becomes a "sail at your own risk" type of experience no matter what the compensation.

 

 

or before it becomes one of those cruise lines that your travel insurance will not cover...like Windjammer Barefoot Cruises...Aloha Airlines....

 

well, my travel guard has those on the list. I think both are bankrupt now but they were put on the list before that and when they were having problems.

 

There are other travel entities as well that travel insurance wont cover if you are booked on them. They are usually on the list because of impending bankruptcy and the like, but a poor safety record can't help...

 

sort of like being in the "assigned risk" pool for car insurance.

[Cristallo]

I agree with you that the media is going to spin the story to make it more sensationalized.....however while CC has a large membership we are only a small portion of people on cruises. So while our members would think to let CC know what's going on, other cruisers might be inclined to tell what's going on to the press.

 

So we don't have anyway of knowing how bad everything is until the ship gets to Mobile.

[cruiseflyer38]

Safety and the attitude towards safety comes from the top down in a corporate system. If you feel they (Costa and Carnival) are separate episodes and are at a small cost ($80MM for this episode and $1B for the Costa) then I respect that but I would have a different opinion. You can then accept the "sail at your own risk" model when it comes to CCL ships and compensation for failed cruises is cheaper and easier than fixing the problem even if there is a loss of life (Concordia).

P&O is not a Carnival Corp. company. It is an english company completely independent of Carnival.

[broberts]

Considering my sister is on the ship and I've heard her firsthand account, you'll forgive me for trusting her and believing what she's said. I think it's incredibly ignorant at best to trust that adults always "act like adults" (ever worked a service position? If so you should know how awful some adults can be) and just operate on that assumption, especially during a disaster like this. Lots of people are inherently selfish even at the best of times, not to mention it's not really the crew's duty first and foremost to trust that adults will behave appropriately, it's their duty to make sure all passengers are provided for to the best of their ability. Putting food out buffet style in a situation like this is beyond negligent, period.

 

I guess well just have to disagree. I don't think it reasonable to blame the crew for passengers violating the guest conduct policy they agreed to before they boarded. It seems to me that it is not unreasonable to expect people to act responsibly, especially in exceptional circumstances. That there were some who didn't is a very sad comment on our society.

[tinaparrotthead]

I agree with you that the media is going to spin the story to make it more sensationalized.....however while CC has a large membership we are only a small portion of people on cruises. So while our members would think to let CC know what's going on, other cruisers might be inclined to tell what's going on to the press.

 

So we don't have anyway of knowing how bad everything is until the ship gets to Mobile.

 

I see Cruise Critic Posts quoted frequently in the new media

[VK3DQ]

P&O is not a Carnival Corp. company. It is an english company completely independent of Carnival.

 

Not Quite correct

 

P&O Cruises Australia is a British-American owned cruise line with corporate headquarters at Carnival House in Southampton, England and operational headquarters in North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The sister company of P&O Cruises in the United Kingdom, it was previously a constituent of the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company and has a direct link in history to the world's first passenger ships. As such, it is one of the oldest cruise lines in the world, and now forms part of the Carnival Corporation & plc, under the executive control of Carnival UK. It currently operates three ships, sailing from various ports in Australia and New Zealand.

 

 

best Regards

 

John Fisher RN Retired

[Jenna1983]

What bothers me are the people who act like this couldn't happen on any line. Or when I see certain people on here acting elitist or grown adults acting like children about specifics for "how it should be" (general observation of what I've noticed.

 

No one chooses this. No one hopes for this. It happened. They're hopefully going to learn, implement and check all ships for whatever they find and implement fleet wide improvements.

[tinaparrotthead]

What bothers me are the people who act like this couldn't happen on any line. Or when I see certain people on here acting elitist or grown adults acting like children about specifics for "how it should be" (general observation of what I've noticed.

 

No one chooses this. No one hopes for this. It happened. They're hopefully going to learn, implement and check all ships for whatever they fine and implement fleet wide improvements.

\

 

"Like"

[dwjoe]

First time poster here....I've been reading thru the posts regarding the Triumph.....probably want to change the name to that ship.....I was reading that they were 150 miles off the coast of the Yucatan. Couldn't they have towed the ship back to Cozumel, and flown everyone back to their port of call?

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

The Triumph was originally going to be towed to Progreso, Mexico, but it had drifted so far north while waiting for the tugs that it made more sense to take it to Mobila, Alabama. It'll be easier to get pax home from there, too.

 

Btw, "port of call" refers to a port visit during the cruise. "Port of embarkation" is where the cruise originated from, in this case Galveston, TX.

[kylenyc]

P&O is not a Carnival Corp. company. It is an english company completely independent of Carnival.

Beside the aformentioned links to wikipedia and investor websites that clearly state that P&O is indeed owned by Carnival Corp & plc... From P&O's own website "2003 P&O Princess Cruises merges with Carnival Corporation and plc." http://www.pocruises.com/about-po-cruises/175-years-of-heritage/ It's interesting to note in the history how the Royal Princess is moved between Princess and P&O showing how Carnival can redistribute resources among their brands.

[grandma*knows*best]

Just saw a report on Fox. First they reported most importantly, no injuries. Then gave FACTS. How novel for news media.

 

Especially for Fox News, :rolleyes:

[Loonbeam]

Actually not correct:

 

P&O Cruises is a British-American owned cruise line based at Carnival House in Southampton, England, and operated by Carnival UK. Originally a constituent of the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company, P&O Cruises is the oldest cruise line in the world, having operated the world's first passenger ships in the early 19th Century. It is the sister company of, and retains strong links with P&O Cruises Australia. P&O Cruises was de-merged from the P&O group in 2000, becoming a subsidiary of P&O Princess Cruises, which subsequently merged with Carnival Corporation in 2003, to form Carnival Corporation & plc. P&O Cruises currently operates seven cruise ships with a total passenger capacity of 14,970 and a 5% market share of all cruise lines worldwide.[1] Its most recent vessel MS Adonia joined the fleet in May 2011.

 

P&O Australia is also a CLL Brand.

 

They do operate semi-autonomously, but not independently.

 

P&O is not a Carnival Corp. company. It is an english company completely independent of Carnival.

[Cristallo]

I see Cruise Critic Posts quoted frequently in the new media

 

Yes because they are the largest website for cruise information.

 

I'll give you an example out of the 6 couples I know first hand that have taken a cruise in the last 5 years, I'm the only one who has ever posted and 2 of the couples didn't know this site existed until I told them.

[tinaparrotthead]

What bothers me are the people who act like this couldn't happen on any line. Or when I see certain people on here acting elitist or grown adults acting like children about specifics for "how it should be" (general observation of what I've noticed.

 

No one chooses this. No one hopes for this. It happened. They're hopefully going to learn, implement and check all ships for whatever they fine and implement fleet wide improvements.

 

Yes, I agree and let's hope that is what All Cruise Lines do, learn a lesson where people were inconvenienced, no one died, no one injured...a cheap lesson to learn if they ALL just will......

[ducklite]

or before it becomes one of those cruise lines that your travel insurance will not cover...like Windstar Cruises...Aloha Airlines....

 

well, my travel guard has those on the list. I think both are bankrupt now but they were put on the list before that and when they were having problems.

 

There are other travel entities as well that travel insurance wont cover if you are booked on them.

 

This is incorrect. Travelgaurd had Windstar on a temporary hold from April 2011 through June 2011 while they were going through an ownership change. They are not in bankruptcy, the new owners have poured millions into the ships, and they are quite financially healthy.

[dwjoe]

My wife and I just got notification that our cruise on the Triumph on 3/30 was canceled which wasn't unexpected. I wonder if anyone has any insight into what the condition of the ship will be after they do all their repair/cleaning work? I was considering re-booking for the end of April but I'm somewhat concerned that the ship will have lingering cleanliness or smell issues. I would guess they'll have to replace all the carpeting and even the bedding. The last thing I want to do is take a vacation on a germ-factory. I'm not terribly concerned about the mechanical issues because I suspect those will be dealt with.

 

Of course I feel horrible for those on the ship right now and I recognize that we are in luxury right now compared to those on the ship. Hopefully they'll be able to get home quickly and uneventfully.

Welcome to cruise critic.

 

My recommendation would be to look at the cruise critic reviews for the Carnival Splendor after her fire, and see if anyone mentions any lingering issues.

 

This link will take you to a starting point, but you'll have to page through to 2010.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=375

[Loonbeam]

Quick note - one thing to be very cognizant of. Until they get in range of port, any 'first hand accounts' are probably around 2 days old (from when the Legend was nearby). Some discrepancies between Carnival reports and passenger reports can be attributed to this, as Carnival is in satellite comm with the ship's officers.

[tinaparrotthead]

Yes because they are the largest website for cruise information.

 

I'll give you an example out of the 6 couples I know first hand that have taken a cruise in the last 5 years, I'm the only one who has ever posted and 2 of the couples didn't know this site existed until I told them.

 

missed the point.....