Carnival Vista power outages

[Unstitch]

Vista suffered at least two ship-wide power outages last night. The first was around 10pm and lasted about 20 minutes. Some areas of the ship had emergency lighting. The captain made an announcement effectively saying everything was fine, and he'd update passengers if they needed to know anything. Once power was restored, the Cruise Director announced the outage was not related to propulsion issues and there was no danger to the ship from "the storm".

 

One or more other outages were much later. TV's that were left on overnight were off in the morning, and one of our devices that was charging reported that it had again lost power.

 

The crew basically left us with the impression that power outages are of no concern on cruise ships, but we're not convinced. Communication to passengers has been sorely lacking on this voyage, which has us a bit concerned. For example, there has been no communication at all about the hurricane we've been rushing to avoid.

 

Are power outages routine issues that don't indicate larger problems with the ship?  I'd appreciate any thoughts.

[BlerkOne]

Even if the ship lost power for days, I don't see how Vista could possibly be impacted by the storm.

[mz-s]

Power outages are not routine that's for sure.

[Colorado Cruzer]

I don't think power outage is routine but the crew also can't cause everyone to be in a panic by saying something else about it if the ship isn't in any real danger.

[BlerkOne]

Power outages are not routine but also not unheard of, and not limited to Carnival.

[vwrestler171]

We had 2 power outages on Mardi Gras last November.  Too many people start panicking over any little thing.  These ships run nonstop, its only natural that things happen from time to time.  Yes Vista seems to be having an issue more often with its propulsion, but it seems to be the curse of this class of ship.  

[chengkp75]

4 hours ago, Unstitch said:

Vista suffered at least two ship-wide power outages last night. The first was around 10pm and lasted about 20 minutes. Some areas of the ship had emergency lighting.

A ship-wide power outage would have resulted in ship-wide emergency lighting.  Since you say this was not the case, then I doubt it was a complete power outage.  Did the ship slow down?

 

"Blackouts", or total power outages are not common, but not rare either.  If one of the generators has a problem, it can take the whole system down, before power can be restored.  This sounds more like low power (less than 440v, i.e. lighting and outlets) failures in certain parts of the ship.  Each fire zone has a separate power supply for 440v, 220v, and 110v circuits, so power to things like outlets and TV's can be lost in some areas and not others.  This could be simple circuit breaker failures, or transformer failures, or automation problems as all of these separate power supplies are each fed from two possible sources, only one of which is active at a time, and the other is back-up.

 

If the ship did not slow down, or if the ship did not get real quiet, from the AC fans shutting down, then the power outage was not a major issue, and not a safety concern, as main power was still on.

[Unstitch]

15 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Even if the ship lost power for days, I don't see how Vista could possibly be impacted by the storm.

 

At that point, the hurricane wasn't an issue. We were at top speed to get through the gap between Cancun and Cuba before Ian made it there. I think it was due east of us at that point and headed away.

 

15 hours ago, Colorado Cruzer said:

I don't think power outage is routine but the crew also can't cause everyone to be in a panic by saying something else about it if the ship isn't in any real danger.

 

I'm sure that's their plan. For me (and I assume at least some others), the worst possible thing to say is, "trust us, everything is fine, but we're not going to tell you anything."

[Unstitch]

13 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

If the ship did not slow down, or if the ship did not get real quiet, from the AC fans shutting down, then the power outage was not a major issue, and not a safety concern, as main power was still on.

 

The AC was definitely off. It was completely silent in the cabin until the Captain made the announcement. I walked around the ship a bit during the outage, and no areas I visited had power.

 

13 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

A ship-wide power outage would have resulted in ship-wide emergency lighting.  Since you say this was not the case, then I doubt it was a complete power outage.  Did the ship slow down?

 

I couldn't say if the ship slowed down. We looked outside, but couldn't see the water below.

 

My comment about emergency lighting in only some areas of the ship was likely a poor assumption on my part. It was based on other passengers telling me they couldn't navigate the casino to leave without a flashlight. That was probably more related to adjusting to the difference between the brightness of the casino lights, slot machines, etc. and the much dimmer emergency lighting.

[chengkp75]

Then the first would have been a total blackout.  What you refer to later in the night may simply have been them resetting power from backup to main supply in each area.

[Unstitch]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

Then the first would have been a total blackout.  What you refer to later in the night may simply have been them resetting power from backup to main supply in each area.

 

That makes complete sense. I'm the type of person who loves information. I really appreciate your expertise!

[Lee Cruiser]

We are on the same cruise. There was the one full outage. If there were anymore during the night, they were extremely short. I sleep with a cpap with a full mask and would have known quickly if the power was out.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

21 hours ago, Unstitch said:

Vista suffered at least two ship-wide power outages last night. The first was around 10pm and lasted about 20 minutes. Some areas of the ship had emergency lighting. The captain made an announcement effectively saying everything was fine, and he'd update passengers if they needed to know anything. Once power was restored, the Cruise Director announced the outage was not related to propulsion issues and there was no danger to the ship from "the storm".

 

One or more other outages were much later. TV's that were left on overnight were off in the morning, and one of our devices that was charging reported that it had again lost power.

 

The crew basically left us with the impression that power outages are of no concern on cruise ships, but we're not convinced. Communication to passengers has been sorely lacking on this voyage, which has us a bit concerned. For example, there has been no communication at all about the hurricane we've been rushing to avoid.

 

Are power outages routine issues that don't indicate larger problems with the ship?  I'd appreciate any thoughts.

One Carnival cruise we were on we had no idea there was any hurricane. When we returned my son asked about the hurricane. I said what Hurricane. I would not want to know about a hurricane while on a cruise unless it would effect us. Why get the guests worried for no reason? 80+ cruises never had a power outage.