Gem Nov 8 - lost power?

[scendro]

We cruised the Gem out of Boston on November 8th.  During one of our days in port (sometime during the late lunch hour) the entire ship lost power.  I was at the buffet at that time and it went completely dark.  The power/backup generators came on about 5-10 seconds later.  It got quite smokey in the Buffett Dining Room (from the grill) as I don’t think the air vents for the grill came back on for at least a half hour or so and most of us had to move to the outdoors to eat due to the thick smoke in the dining area.  I never could find out what the cause was.  Anyone on this sailing have any clue what happened?  

Edited November 23, 2019 by scendro

[chengkp75]

3 hours ago, scendro said:

We cruised the Gem out of Boston on November 8th.  During one of our days in port (sometime during the late lunch hour) the entire ship lost power.  I was at the buffet at that time and it went completely dark.  The power/backup generators came on about 5-10 seconds later.  It got quite smokey in the Buffett Dining Room (from the grill) as I don’t think the air vents for the grill came back on for at least a half hour or so and most of us had to move to the outdoors to eat due to the thick smoke in the dining area.  I never could find out what the cause was.  Anyone on this sailing have any clue what happened?  

My best thought would be the annual "black-out" recovery drill, as required by ISM, where the ship actually blacks out and then tests to see if all systems restart as designed.  Typically done in a port where the pax count is minimal.

[NLH Arizona]

That also happened on one of my Celebrity cruises.  The power was off for about an half hour.  I was on the floor where guest services was and had so much fun listening to folks complain.  One lady actually said "I'm in a suite and you have to turn the elevator on for me".

[scendro]

43 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

My best thought would be the annual "black-out" recovery drill, as required by ISM, where the ship actually blacks out and then tests to see if all systems restart as designed.  Typically done in a port where the pax count is minimal.

That makes sense 

[BirdTravels]

I would be surprised if they operated grills and/or flat tops if the vents were not running. That would cause an accumulation of heat in the vent  Leading to the automatic discharge of fire suppressants. 

[chengkp75]

12 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

I would be surprised if they operated grills and/or flat tops if the vents were not running. That would cause an accumulation of heat in the vent  Leading to the automatic discharge of fire suppressants. 

Not really.  The fusible links in the fire suppression hoods are around 500*F before they will release.

[don't-use-real-name]

13 hours ago, NLH Arizona said:

That also happened on one of my Celebrity cruises.  The power was off for about an half hour.  I was on the floor where guest services was and had so much fun listening to folks complain.  One lady actually said "I'm in a suite and you have to turn the elevator on for me".

 

On another note:

Which raises a question does NCL empty the elevators of guests before throwing that "Black Out Switch" ?

Nothing like having a guest trapped in an elevator and then the problem gets worse !

[Oakman58]

It would be stupid to do a black out test with passengers onboard.  I would think such a test would be done at the embarkation port when departing passengers would be off the ship and they could delay boarding passengers during the test.  Just saying.

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, don't-use-real-name said:

 

On another note:

Which raises a question does NCL empty the elevators of guests before throwing that "Black Out Switch" ?

Nothing like having a guest trapped in an elevator and then the problem gets worse !

Yes, but the elevators are on the emergency generator bus, so power is restored within 60 seconds.

1 hour ago, Oakman58 said:

It would be stupid to do a black out test with passengers onboard.  I would think such a test would be done at the embarkation port when departing passengers would be off the ship and they could delay boarding passengers during the test.  Just saying.

Way too much work needs to get done during turn-around to have a black out period, especially if something doesn't come back on right away.  As I said, it's done when onboard pax count is at a minimum, kind of like when they do crew fire drills.

[Oakman58]

Crew fire drills have little effect on the passengers.  A black out with passengers onboard is stupid and I'm sure anyone caught in an elevator would agree with me.  That is my opinion.

[chengkp75]

4 hours ago, Oakman58 said:

Crew fire drills have little effect on the passengers.  A black out with passengers onboard is stupid and I'm sure anyone caught in an elevator would agree with me.  That is my opinion.

As I said, they will check each elevator, and when found empty, they will shut it off until the end of the drill.  No passengers get stuck in elevators.  And, it depends on where the crew fire drill takes place as to how much effect it has on passengers.

[Oakman58]

I'm sure cutting power for a black out drill would erode passenger confidence in a cruise line, especially if they are not told about it in advance as was the case of the original poster.

 

Any type of drill that affects passengers adversely and they are not told about it in advance is an incredibly stupid idea.  I have my doubts that what the original poster experienced was a drill.  I've been on enough cruises to know they inform passengers of upcoming events such as turning the water off for a couple of hours or they will be working on your balcony, etc.

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, Oakman58 said:

I'm sure cutting power for a black out drill would erode passenger confidence in a cruise line, especially if they are not told about it in advance as was the case of the original poster.

 

Any type of drill that affects passengers adversely and they are not told about it in advance is an incredibly stupid idea.  I have my doubts that what the original poster experienced was a drill.  I've been on enough cruises to know they inform passengers of upcoming events such as turning the water off for a couple of hours or they will be working on your balcony, etc.

And it's possible the OP did not hear the announcement.  Was the crew running around, or were they going about their business as usual?

[scendro]

9 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

And it's possible the OP did not hear the announcement.  Was the crew running around, or were they going about their business as usual?

I was in the buffet at the time and the workers actually seemed surprised/inquisitive by the blackout too.  However, once the lights came back on the workers didn’t skip a beat and kept doing what they were doing.