General Alarm @ 2 am-crown princess

[aquaclass]

22 minutes seem like a long time for the crew/captain to respond to an error alarm, especially at 2am.

 

I can understand the frustration

[Pam in CA]

Yes! But, have you sworn never to sail on that line again???

Nope. I've had far worse/nastier things happen to me on cruise ships/lines and still had a good time. Although I have to admit that the really poor treatment/experience I had on Celebrity really turned me off. I wouldn't cruise them again unless there were no other option for a particular itinerary.

[Dudleydog73]

On our cruise to nowhere over Thanksgiving, our first stop was an unscheduled Costa Maya port. Shortly after docking when the captain gave the all clear to start disembarking he decided that this would be a smashing time for a crew drill.

 

I have never had a longer time trying to get off a ship due to all of the craziness that ensued.

 

I wonder if that is compensatable as well? :D

[regnig]

I believe I understand the OPs real concern. It has nothing to do with being inconvenienced at being awoken or feeling as if some type of compensation is due but rather that NOT ONE Princess staff member showed up to take charge during that 22 minutes. That might not seem like a long time to most but if one has a justifiable fear of a major problem (reporting to one’s muster station is not a casual event) it can seem like an eternity. Just think of the riot that could have broken out in the muster stations with no Princess personnel present, shades of “the captain fell into the lifeboat”.

 

Ops wanting to report it to the Coast Guard is perhaps a reasonable means to having Princess, and perhaps all cruise lines, establish some kind of a procedure to employ when the alarm gets triggered in error to ensure cruisers that no real emergency exists or that it is at least being investigated. And, while I’m pretty sure that “Behind the scenes, the crew and the Captain were very busy gathering information and determining whether or not there was indeed an emergency” some staff member should have been deployed to each muster station in an attempt to quell the fear the passengers must have felt. Additionally there was no need for them to take time to get dressed as the passengers are not allowed that time and were in some state of undress too.

 

I have a feeling the OP was venting his emotions as when a “potential” life & death situation occurs (or your child goes missing for several hours) once the real emergency is over and your worry and concern is no longer an issue it oft times is replaced with some degree of anger at having been on that emotional roll-a-coaster. How about we cut this guy some slack and quit beating him up please. Most of you are normally so very compassionate but these responses certainaly seem to be lacking any caring for the emotional ride these passengers must have gone through.

[bhopal21]

Personally I would like verification from another passenger onboard Crown Princess to recant their recollection of the event.

 

22 minutes is a very long time at 2am for further instructions.

 

 

Mike:)

[AKman2495]

Personally I would like verification from another passenger onboard Crown Princess to recant their recollection of the event.

 

22 minutes is a very long time at 2am for further instructions.

 

 

Mike:)

 

That's my concern...not to put the OP down, but we have only his word for what happened. Perhaps it may not have been that bad....Not to mention that there was absolutely no staff anywhere, when you know there are 24 hr venues open that did have staff.

 

So, I am sure there was more to this than just that described by the OP.....

[bhopal21]

That's my concern...not to put the OP down, but we have only his word for what happened. Perhaps it may not have been that bad....Not to mention that there was absolutely no staff anywhere, when you know there are 24 hr venues open that did have staff.

 

So, I am sure there was more to this than just that described by the OP.....

 

Exactly my concern.

 

You and I could have been on that ship and being awakened in the middle of the night heard two completely different things.

 

Mike:)

[JF - retired RRT]

"some staff member should have been deployed to each muster station in an attempt to quell the fear the passengers must have felt."

 

That was my first thought - seems like the crew/staff should have expected some confusion and gone to the various muster stations to take charge of anyone who did show up.

[morriscats]

OP, that must have been a scary 22 minutes. We had something similar only in a high rise hotel in Hawaii. I am scared of heights to begin with and we were on the 43 floor. The fire alarm went off in the middle of the night and no one knew what to do. It took several minutes for someone to announce "malfunction". Am glad there was nothing serious on the ship. But it can happen anywhere (although I will not stay on the 43 floor again:D)

[DrivesLikeMario]

I bet the crew didn't hear the 7 short blasts and that's why they weren't up and organizing the passengers. That makes sense.

 

At least you know the alarm system (or part of it) works. When I was on the QM2, there was a fire on my deck and we were never notified to evacuate. Talk about scary seeing smoke coming down your hallway and a fire crew running towards it with no communication to the passengers whatsoever.

[aquaclass]

I believe I understand the OPs real concern. It has nothing to do with being inconvenienced at being awoken or feeling as if some type of compensation is due but rather that NOT ONE Princess staff member showed up to take charge during that 22 minutes. That might not seem like a long time to most but if one has a justifiable fear of a major problem (reporting to one’s muster station is not a casual event) it can seem like an eternity. Just think of the riot that could have broken out in the muster stations with no Princess personnel present, shades of “the captain fell into the lifeboat”.

 

Ops wanting to report it to the Coast Guard is perhaps a reasonable means to having Princess, and perhaps all cruise lines, establish some kind of a procedure to employ when the alarm gets triggered in error to ensure cruisers that no real emergency exists or that it is at least being investigated. And, while I’m pretty sure that “Behind the scenes, the crew and the Captain were very busy gathering information and determining whether or not there was indeed an emergency” some staff member should have been deployed to each muster station in an attempt to quell the fear the passengers must have felt. Additionally there was no need for them to take time to get dressed as the passengers are not allowed that time and were in some state of undress too.

 

I have a feeling the OP was venting his emotions as when a “potential” life & death situation occurs (or your child goes missing for several hours) once the real emergency is over and your worry and concern is no longer an issue it oft times is replaced with some degree of anger at having been on that emotional roll-a-coaster. How about we cut this guy some slack and quit beating him up please. Most of you are normally so very compassionate but these responses certainaly seem to be lacking any caring for the emotional ride these passengers must have gone through.

 

 

Seems right on

Edited January 16, 2014 by aquaclass

[Ethel5]

I'm wondering if the crew didn't respond because the ALARM didn't sound-only the announcement. I'm sure in a real emergency that ALARM will keep sounding until the devil himself was awakened.

[WWCJR]

FYI, From the live thread of New grandma currently on this cruise, see post #37 of that thread.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1969552

 

"Got a wake up call at 0200. The computer blasted the captains welcome and muster information to the staterooms. About 15 min later, the embarrassed captain came on to apologize. We knew it was a glitch but many people grabbed life jackets and went to their muster stations.

Good show yesterday called It's a Swell Party or something like that. Music was good. Costumes and set were great.

Hot day today. About 86-88 degrees. Sunny and beautiful seas.

We're winding down."

 

 

So this did happen but she seemed to understand what was going on (captains welcome) and no big deal from the tone of her post.

[CruisenOne]

Deleted

Edited January 16, 2014 by CruisenOne

[pablo222]

There is, as far as I am concerned, no excuse whatsoever for failure of the crew to respond in this situation.

 

Sure there is. Was the announcement only sent to pax cabins, for one thing?

 

 

On the bridge, "tannoy all cabins" is different than the entire ship.

[New grandma]

I am on the Crown. Yes we were startled with the blast from the speaker in the room. But we immediately knew it was a false alarm. First, there were no emergency signals. Second, it was a recorded voice starting with "welcome aboard". No emergency would be recorded and worded that way.

The captain and crew did not respond immediately because it did not go off in their cabins. When the captain was advised, he made an announcement, but the communication system was messed up. Hence the false alarm in the first place.

The captain has explained everything and apologized twice. We forgive him.

Btw, another crew member said it happened last week but at 8:00 pm. They do need to get it fixed.

I understand this could be alarming to some. And if they choose to stop sailing Princess, that is their prerogative. For us, it was a badly timed mistake and that's all. Everything else is wonderful. We will keep sailing Princess.

[windsor26]

To confirm many of the posts above New Grandma posted

 

No the crew never heard the announcement. Only the passenger staterooms.

Yes it is Captain Yeomans. He was not a happy camper.

[bhopal21]

I am on the Crown. Yes we were startled with the blast from the speaker in the room. But we immediately knew it was a false alarm. First, there were no emergency signals. Second, it was a recorded voice starting with "welcome aboard". No emergency would be recorded and worded that way.

The captain and crew did not respond immediately because it did not go off in their cabins. When the captain was advised, he made an announcement, but the communication system was messed up. Hence the false alarm in the first place.

The captain has explained everything and apologized twice. We forgive him.

Btw, another crew member said it happened last week but at 8:00 pm. They do need to get it fixed.

I understand this could be alarming to some. And if they choose to stop sailing Princess, that is their prerogative. For us, it was a badly timed mistake and that's all. Everything else is wonderful. We will keep sailing Princess.

 

Thanks so much for the clarification. That answers a few questions.

 

Mike:)

[Ethel5]

The captains general alarm message came on ALL speakers at 2 am this morning louder than I have ever heard it. "If your hear the alarm, gather your life jacket, medicines etc.... and go to your muster station". We were of course sound asleep and thought we just missed the horn that preceeded it. It was bad enough to wake up the entire ship at 2 am, but the crew response was non-existent. NO ONE from the crew responded, no officers....no muster people, NO anyone. I went to the pursers desk and the young lady (being nice) behind the counter was so confused she didn't know how to respond, her phone never quit ringing. At 2:22 am the captain came on the speaker to announce that the alarm was triggered in error......thats right it took 22 minutes for them to get back on the microphone and respond, again NO crew responded. Does anyone know how I can report this total lack of emergency respons by the captain and his crew to the US Coast Guard so they can investigate why the crew responded as if nothing happened. ELITE member for some time, looking for another cruise line.

 

I am on the Crown. Yes we were startled with the blast from the speaker in the room. But we immediately knew it was a false alarm. First, there were no emergency signals. Second, it was a recorded voice starting with "welcome aboard". No emergency would be recorded and worded that way.

The captain and crew did not respond immediately because it did not go off in their cabins. When the captain was advised, he made an announcement, but the communication system was messed up. Hence the false alarm in the first place.

The captain has explained everything and apologized twice. We forgive him.

Btw, another crew member said it happened last week but at 8:00 pm. They do need to get it fixed.

I understand this could be alarming to some. And if they choose to stop sailing Princess, that is their prerogative. For us, it was a badly timed mistake and that's all. Everything else is wonderful. We will keep sailing Princess.

 

People are just so amazing in their response to unexpected events. One is ready to call the authorities and the other took it as the mistake it was. Yes, the certainly need to have the system fixed but it isn't something to quit a cruise line over.

[dylandog25]

Agreed.

 

But to discontinue cruising Princess for an obvious error.....

 

At least the boat was still afloat....

 

I worked in a large facility that had regular fire drills and we had to treat as if it was an emergency but when someone like the fire dept tested our system then it was announced it was a test only

if it was not stated in the alarm system for everyone to hear that it was a test then it should have been treated as an emergency

absolutely no excuse

[CI66774]

I worked in a large facility that had regular fire drills and we had to treat as if it was an emergency but when someone like the fire dept tested our system then it was announced it was a test only

if it was not stated in the alarm system for everyone to hear that it was a test then it should have been treated as an emergency

absolutely no excuse

 

I understand what you're saying but it was a mistake - a bad one - but a mistake. No one was hurt, etc. We all make mistakes. Princess apologized and, hopefully, it will be fixed (it should be fixed asap). This has happened to me in a hotel situation. Yes - it was alarming - it was a mistake. I forgave the hotel and still stay there.

[blazerjan]

I worked for many years in a Federal Building. We were always told to treat all alarms as real... (fire, bomb scare, tornado) What ever... treat it as real until you find out otherwise. My question is, why was the OP at the Passenger Services desk instead of his muster station???

[Ethel5]

I worked in a large facility that had regular fire drills and we had to treat as if it was an emergency but when someone like the fire dept tested our system then it was announced it was a test only

if it was not stated in the alarm system for everyone to hear that it was a test then it should have been treated as an emergency

absolutely no excuse

They couldn't identify it as a test because the message NOT the alarm went off by accident!

 

I worked for many years in a Federal Building. We were always told to treat all alarms as real... (fire, bomb scare, tornado) What ever... treat it as real until you find out otherwise. My question is, why was the OP at the Passenger Services desk instead of his muster station???

Again, the ALARM didn't go off only the message.

[regnig]

I worked for many years in a Federal Building. We were always told to treat all alarms as real... (fire, bomb scare, tornado) What ever... treat it as real until you find out otherwise. My question is, why was the OP at the Passenger Services desk instead of his muster station???

 

I believe that after a period of time and no Princess staff showing up at his Muster Station he went to the pursers desk to find out what was going on.

 

How fortunate for New grandma that she must have been awake at 200am to hear the entire announcement including the beginning starting with "welcome aboard". While I'm not a particularly deep sleeper I doubt I would have heard or comprehended every word that came across the PA.

Isn't it fortunate that no one suffered any stress related heart problems during this "mistake".

 

Since this is the second occurance of this "mistake" I still feel that a procedure needs to be put in place for staff to be dispatched to all muster stations to deal with the passengers. That procedure needs to start with all announcements being broadcast in crew quarters along with passenger staterooms.

[bdjam]

So the elephant in the room here is why would the original poster go down to the Purser's Desk and wait to speak to someone after what he thought was an emergency alarm? Right the proper emergency signal did not sound and it seemed that this was part of the overall muster announcement, but if I had been awakened at 2:00 with a "possible" alarm, the last thing I would have done is stand around the Purser's Desk. I would have been with the folks that went to muster...if it was all a mistake, finding out later would have been perfectly acceptable...my safety comes first.

Edited January 17, 2014 by bdjam