Never Hang Anything on the Fire Sprinkler!

Well it was quite an eventful last night for us on the Regal. For some reason my 15 year old decided that the fire sprinkler was a good place to hang up her top. I noticed the hanger in there and thought "oh no! I'm sure THAT'S not a good thing!" I was right. When I went to remove the hanger... ever so carefully... wouldn't you know the thing started spraying everywhere. Our cabin steward was right outside so I went to get him to call for help, and within minutes the cabin had about 10 people- security, clean up crew, maintenance guys, etc. I was mortified- they took turns holding buckets up to catch the water but there was still water everywhere. The carpet was soaked as was the dresser and part of one of the beds. They shut a main valve to cut off the water. We had to change cabins because they needed to bring in these super powerful vacuums and fans to dry it up. Thankfully we were mostly packed up anyway. I felt terrible- I apologized up and down and kept asking to please let me help clean up. They were all laughing at me- (except for the cabin steward- he was SO angry with me! I thought he was going to choke me.. Yikes!! He didn't even have to clean up the mess- a bunch of other guys did, but he was still so mad) They said that this has happened many times! Apparently they said the sprinkler heads are very sensitive. No kidding!! I removed that hanger like I was trying to take the pin out of a grenade and BOOM! So lesson learned. They did reassure me that the cabin would be fine for embarkation today... and one guy had a point- he said "Miss, this is a ship. If the cabin can't withstand a little shower we are in trouble!" Everyone (except of course the fuming cabin steward) was so nice and calm and making jokes. I was absolutely mortified!! What an... explosive ending to a wonderful cruise!

That is one of the funniest cruise stories I have ever heard. Thanks for brightening up my day.

On the Island there was a sticker on the ceiling next to the head saying

"DO NOT HANG ANYTHING ON THE SPRINKLER!".

On the Island there was a sticker on the ceiling next to the head saying

 

"DO NOT HANG ANYTHING ON THE SPRINKLER!".

Agree. Every Cruise ship or hotel room we've ever stayed in has had one of these stickers (or similar) by each sprinkler head. I not sure how much more warning anyone would need.

http://cdn.compliancesigns.com/media/prohib-symbols-triangles/150/Fire-Sprinklers-Label-LABEL_PROHIB_90_150.gif

Well it was quite an eventful last night for us on the Regal. For some reason my 15 year old decided that the fire sprinkler was a good place to hang up her top. I noticed the hanger in there and thought "oh no! I'm sure THAT'S not a good thing!" I was right. When I went to remove the hanger... ever so carefully... wouldn't you know the thing started spraying everywhere. Our cabin steward was right outside so I went to get him to call for help, and within minutes the cabin had about 10 people- security, clean up crew, maintenance guys, etc. I was mortified- they took turns holding buckets up to catch the water but there was still water everywhere. The carpet was soaked as was the dresser and part of one of the beds. They shut a main valve to cut off the water. We had to change cabins because they needed to bring in these super powerful vacuums and fans to dry it up. Thankfully we were mostly packed up anyway. I felt terrible- I apologized up and down and kept asking to please let me help clean up. They were all laughing at me- (except for the cabin steward- he was SO angry with me! I thought he was going to choke me.. Yikes!! He didn't even have to clean up the mess- a bunch of other guys did, but he was still so mad) They said that this has happened many times! Apparently they said the sprinkler heads are very sensitive. No kidding!! I removed that hanger like I was trying to take the pin out of a grenade and BOOM! So lesson learned. They did reassure me that the cabin would be fine for embarkation today... and one guy had a point- he said "Miss, this is a ship. If the cabin can't withstand a little shower we are in trouble!" Everyone (except of course the fuming cabin steward) was so nice and calm and making jokes. I was absolutely mortified!! What an... explosive ending to a wonderful cruise!

So,just out of curiosity, what did your daughter think of all this? Bet she never, ever comes close to a sprinkler head again! Look at the bright side of all this, she (hopefully!) learned a very important lesson from all this that will remain with her for the rest of her life at a relatively early age! This was one of those times when the parent doesn't have to mete out any punishment at all! At least it happened at the end of the cruise and not the start! :o

Hope you all have a safe trip home!

Tom

On the Island there was a sticker on the ceiling next to the head saying

 

"DO NOT HANG ANYTHING ON THE SPRINKLER!".

That should be by all sprinklers!!!! :D;)

Cato :)

Completed Cruises !

Pre-cruise Days - The Big Red Boat, 1993 ??

1st cruise - Coral Princess, 19 November 2008, 10 day Panama Canal, FLL to ACA

2nd cruise - Coral Princess, 15 May 2009, 3 day Repositioning, Los Angeles to Vancouver.

3rd cruise - Sapphire Princess, 25 November 2009? 7 day Mexican Riviera.

4th cruise - Golden Princes, 12 June 2010, 7 day Alaska. (Golden Anniversary Cruise)

5th Cruise - Island Princess, 04 October 2010, Vancouver - Los Angeles, Repositioning

6th cruise - Sapphire Princess, 05 January 2011, 10 day Mexican Riviera. LA to LA.

7th cruise - Golden Princess, 11 May 2011, 3 day, LA to Vancouver, Repositioning

8th cruise - Sapphire Princess, 14 May 2011, 1 day, Vancouver to Seattle, Repositioning

9th cruise - Coral Princess 19 May 2011 2 day, San Francisco to Vancouver, Repositioning

10th & 11th cruises - Coral Princess 02 July to 16 July 2011, round trip Vancouver - Whittier Alaska, B2B

12th & 13th cruises - Sapphire Princess, x2, Cabins, 18 Sep. 2011, 1 day, Seattle to Vancouver, Repositioning

14th & 15th cruises - Golden Princess, x2, Cabins, 24 Sep. 2011, 1 day, Seattle to Vancouver, Repositioning.

We have now reached Elite status with Princess Cruise Lines

16th cruise - Oasis of the Seas, 26 Nov. 2011, 7 day, Western Caribbean, Ft. Lauderdale, Ret.

17th & 18th cruises - Crown Princess B2B, 03 - 10 Dec & 10 - 17 Dec 2011, 14 Days, South & western Caribbean

19th cruise - Grand Princess, 31 Mar. - 07 April 2012, 7 Days, Eastern Caribbean, FLL - FLL

20th cruise - Island Princess, 06-16 June 2012, 10 day cruisetour Vancouver - Wittier

21th cruise - Emerald Princess, 16 day, 10 - 26 Sep. 2012, TA, Copenhagen - New York

22nd cruise - Carnival Ecstasy 10 - 14 January, 2013, 4 Day Bahamas, Port Canaveral Ret.

23rd cruise - Sapphire Princess 30 March - 06 April, 2013, 7 Day Coastal LA - LA

24th cruise - Coral Princess, 19 May - 22 May, 2013, 3 Day Repositioning Cruise, LA - Vancouver

25th cruise - Royal Princess 16 June - 05 July, 2013, 19 Day Inaugural cruise, Southampton - Venice.

26th cruise - Emerald Princess, 06 - 16 October, 2013, 10 Day Canada - New England, Quebec city to New York

27th cruise - Royal Princess, 24 November - 01 December, 2013, 7 Day,Eastern Caribbean, Fort Lauderdale Ret.

28th cruise - Sapphire Princess, 20 - 24 Jan, 2014, 4 Days, California

29th cruise - Crown Princess, 03 - 10 May 2014, 7 Day, LA to Vancouver.

30th cruise - Pacific Princess, 05 - 12 Aug. 2014, 7 Days, Vancouver RT, Alaska

31st cruise - Golden Princess, 13 - 17 Oct. 2014, 4 Days, LA - Mexican Riv, RT,

32nd cruise - Crown Princess, 20 - 27 Dec. 2014, 7 Days, LA - Mexican Riv, RT.

33rd cruise - Coral Princess, 27Apr. - 02 May.2015, 5 Days, LA - Vancouver, Repo

Bisous, don’t be surprised if you get a bill for the cleanup. Same thing happen when my wife was chaperoning a group of school kids to Washington DC a few years ago. They were staying in a large national chain hotel. There were 35 kids on the trip. 4 kids per room. One of the girls hung a sweater on the sprinkler head and in the night it went off. Total cost of the cleanup was $43,900. When the parents got the cleanup bill that’s when it got real ugly. The hotel chain ended up suing the parents and won a judgment against them. It’s not really a laughing matter.

Bisous, don’t be surprised if you get a bill for the cleanup. Same thing happen when my wife was chaperoning a group of school kids to Washington DC a few years ago. They were staying in a large national chain hotel. There were 35 kids on the trip. 4 kids per room. One of the girls hung a sweater on the sprinkler head and in the night it went off. Total cost of the cleanup was $43,900. When the parents got the cleanup bill that’s when it got real ugly. The hotel chain ended up suing the parents and won a judgment against them. It’s not really a laughing matter.

Why did they admit anything? Just say the thing malfunctioned and leave it at that. ;)

Hi All

A hotel room, what about a whole medical centre,

men working out side at a newly opened medical centre asked if they could use the fire house located just inside the front door, girl at reception said yes why not,

so guys turned hose on result fire alarms go off, fire police and ambulance all get automatic alarms, but the sudden surge of water at high pressure blows a weak joint in the ceiling so large volumes of water comes crashing through ceilings,

so patients various stages of undress, very wet folks, very upset doctors and staff, loads of blue lights all out side this new building with a river flowing out of it with folks trying to work out how to shut the water off.

my part in this I had to phone the director of the company that built the place and tell him what happened.

yours Shogun

Why did they admit anything? Just say the thing malfunctioned and leave it at that. ;)

Yep, lying is always the best policy...

Suzanne-

Between the luggage fiasco at the start of your cruise and "Sprinkler-gate 2015" at the end, I hope you had a little time for some rest and relaxation in the middle!

Thank you for sharing the story with us. Lesson learned!

Tracie-Lynn

Just to explain how they work (and why a malfunction claim also wouldn't be realistic most of the time). Most of these units have some variation of a small polymer tube that is calibrated to melt at a certain heat point. When it does, a spring is released that opens the valve and a stream of water shoots out at fairly high pressure, distributed by the head.

The mechanism is so simple that it's really hard to malfunction, 97 times out of 100 its either a heater issue or someone tapped it (the tube by nature is not very strong).

Be glad that the ships don't use a chained system, wherein when one is set off, the pressure drop triggers alarms and possibly other sprinklers in the area (which is probably what happened in the hotel above, since not having steel walls between rooms they tend to use zone systems).%2

I still would hate to be the next passengers in that cabin.

Cabin # please.

You're lucky Princess did not ban you from ever cruising on their ship again. You're also lucky that the carpet and everything in the cabin (including the TV) didn't have to be gutted and everything replaced at your expense. There was a family on a Carnival cruise who were banned from ever cruising on Carnival due to damage they did to their cabin. You got lucky!

You're lucky Princess did not ban you from ever cruising on their ship again. You're also lucky that the carpet and everything in the cabin (including the TV) didn't have to be gutted and everything replaced at your expense. There was a family on a Carnival cruise who were banned from ever cruising on Carnival due to damage they did to their cabin. You got lucky!

This is a tad extreme. imo

Ship happens......

This is a tad extreme. imo

Ship happens......

Yea, I thought so too. I watched the video on youtube not too long ago. The cabin steward claimed the guy opened up a beer bottle using the edge of the desk and took a chunk out of the desk. The people claimed the damage was already there, blah, blah, blah.

So,just out of curiosity, what did your daughter think of all this? Bet she never, ever comes close to a sprinkler head again! Look at the bright side of all this, she (hopefully!) learned a very important lesson from all this that will remain with her for the rest of her life at a relatively early age! This was one of those times when the parent doesn't have to mete out any punishment at all! At least it happened at the end of the cruise and not the start! :o

 

Hope you all have a safe trip home!

 

Tom

She was terrified! She was actually in the teen club when it all went down and when she got the message that she needed to come back to the cabin ASAP she knew that wasn't good. When she got there she was confused because she didn't even realize what she'd done. She was completely freaked out and rightfully so. So was I! Let's just say she won't ever hang anything on a sprinkler again!

Yea, I thought so too. I watched the video on youtube not too long ago. The cabin steward claimed the guy opened up a beer bottle using the edge of the desk and took a chunk out of the desk. The people claimed the damage was already there, blah, blah, blah.

Well vandalism versus an accident by a teenager.

One end of the spectrum to the other. :(

Here are some of my thoughts- My husband and I have stayed in hotels,resorts and have been on cruise ships.

I have noted the warning signs posted near the safety sprinklers, asking guests not to hang anything from the sprinklers.

That always catches my attention because I cannot imagine that anyone would try to use the sprinkler head as a clothes hook.

But, apparently , it could happen.

The OP said that she apologized for the resulting mess in the cabin.

I am wondering if the daughter who was responsible for hanging her clothing from the sprinkler head also apologized?

As for reporting the sprinkler as malfunctioning, as another poster suggested,how would that aide a parent to show by example responsibility for actions?

I do hope the cabin was completely dry for the next occupant and that a mold/mildew situation does not develop for future passengers to experience.

Rules,guidelines and warning labels exist for many reasons.

One is that all passengers enjoy a cruise in safety and comfort .

Welp, if I'm banned, I'm banned. There's always Celebrity. :-)

Their behavior was certainly not of people who had any intention of charging me for vacuuming up the water or banning me from their cruise line so I'd be surprised if anything more happened. I was much more upset than they were!

Here's a link to the story about the family that was banned for life from Carnival. I would have removed the tip for the room steward. JMHO.

https://www.squaremouth.com/travel-advice/banned-for-life-from-carnival-cruise-lines-wrongly-accused-of-cabin-damage-squaremouth%E2%80%99s-ceo-speaks-out-about-family%E2%80%99s-ordeal/

Here are some of my thoughts- My husband and I have stayed in hotels,resorts and have been on cruise ships.

I have noted the warning signs posted near the safety sprinklers, asking guests not to hang anything from the sprinklers.

That always catches my attention because I cannot imagine that anyone would try to use the sprinkler head as a clothes hook.

But, apparently , it could happen.

The OP said that she apologized for the resulting mess in the cabin.

I am wondering if the daughter who was responsible for hanging her clothing from the sprinkler head also apologized?

As for reporting the sprinkler as malfunctioning, as another poster suggested,how would that aide a parent to show by example responsibility for actions?

I do hope the cabin was completely dry for the next occupant and that a mold/mildew situation does not develop for future passengers to experience.

Rules,guidelines and warning labels exist for many reasons.

One is that all passengers enjoy a cruise in safety and comfort .

I am sure the last thing on a 15 year old teenage girls mind is whether the thing she is hanging clothes on is a fire sprinkler etc. i am sure she had no idea what it was.

I have been wondering for 10 years what those metallic hooks are in the ceiling of my apartment (that's "flat" for you, Shogun) .

Now if we could get movie & TV script-writers to stop the long-running but inaccurate gag of someone holding a match under one sprinkler and every sprinkler in the building all go off at once.

Steve

Their behavior was certainly not of people who had any intention of charging me for vacuuming up the water or banning me from their cruise line so I'd be surprised if anything more happened. I was much more upset than they were!

I have read about cruise passengers being billed the entire cost of replacing their cabin door just for a tiny amount of tape residue left from their decorations. A self-inflicted flood is way further up the continuum.

I am sure the last thing on a 15 year old teenage girls mind is whether the thing she is hanging clothes on is a fire sprinkler etc. i am sure she had no idea what it was.

And the parent who saw it and did nothing to correct the situation? What's their excuse?