Freedom Fire

I don't post a lot on here but really felt it was important to let everyone know what a great job RCCL did with the fire. We were on our balcony on the 10th floor and saw the smoke but did not think that much of it because we were pulling into port and thought it was just a normal amount coming out of the stacks. We could not smell the smoke but had just made a comment that I had never seen it so black before. Within a few minutes they issued the alarm and made the Bravo, Bravo, Bravo with what decks the fires were on.

The crew was excellent! They all remained calm and helped older passengers get down the stairs. I only had a slight panic because my son was still asleep and in the cabin across the hall. I banged on his door but the alarm did wake him up. The rest of my family were with me except my Mom and brother but I knew they were together and we met at the muster station almost immediately.

We stayed outside for about an hour but with a lot of updates from the Captain and then they moved us into various places on the ship but kept groups together. The had water and sandwiches available almost immediately.

Last night they had the fire crew come up on stage. If I remember correctly, there were about 80 of them. They, of course, had a standing ovation!

RCCL did allow everyone to call home and free WiFi that day. The also compensated each cabin, various amounts, for the inconvenience.

Again, we always here the negative about RCCL and just wanted to give some good news for once!

I don't post a lot on here but really felt it was important to let everyone know what a great job RCCL did with the fire. We were on our balcony on the 10th floor and saw the smoke but did not think that much of it because we were pulling into port and thought it was just a normal amount coming out of the stacks. We could not smell the smoke but had just made a comment that I had never seen it so black before. Within a few minutes they issued the alarm and made the Bravo, Bravo, Bravo with what decks the fires were on.

 

The crew was excellent! They all remained calm and helped older passengers get down the stairs. I only had a slight panic because my son was still asleep and in the cabin across the hall. I banged on his door but the alarm did wake him up. The rest of my family were with me except my Mom and brother but I knew they were together and we met at the muster station almost immediately.

 

We stayed outside for about an hour but with a lot of updates from the Captain and then they moved us into various places on the ship but kept groups together. The had water and sandwiches available almost immediately.

 

Last night they had the fire crew come up on stage. If I remember correctly, there were about 80 of them. They, of course, had a standing ovation!

 

RCCL did allow everyone to call home and free WiFi that day. The also compensated each cabin, various amounts, for the inconvenience.

 

Again, we always here the negative about RCCL and just wanted to give some good news for once!

thank you for posting something positive!

Thank you for posting this. Their abundant drills paid off.:)

Thanks for the report. Good to know that the crew handled the emergency very well.

Good to hear RCCL stepped up to the plate regarding the situation.

Nicely done and nicely said. Thanks

The local news was at the port this morning interviewing passengers as they disembarked from the ship. Nothing but praise for the staff and the cruise line on the way the situation was handled.

Thanks for the great report on the way our favorite cruise line handled the situation.

Thank you for your post! Thankfully no one was seriously injured and the ship was able to continue its itineraries

Thanks for your interesting and informative post, and for taking the time to share your experience with us

Thanks nreilly!!!

That's so good to hear, High praise to the fire fighting crew !! and to Royal

I thank you so much for your quick response on this matter! I am glad to hear how well this was handled. This so reaffirms why I sail Royal.

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Thank you for your affimative post as to how the situation was handled. There have been times when I was on a ship when a drill was being conducted and I made myself the "fly on the wall" to listen and observe what was going on. Always, I have been impressed.

Realizing this is not a Holland America Line Message Board, but there is a blog on the Holland America website that is written by a very experienced HAL Captain, Captain Albert. He currently is aboard the M. S. Statendam conducting drills and training. He has several blog posts that describes and shows photos of the drills and what he puts the crew threw. A major fire in the ship's showroom complete with casualties is included. I find it very re-assuring that, as cruise guests, we are as safe at sea as can be made possible.

This is a great post! Thank you. Glad you your family and the rest of the passengers were all ok.

Thank you for your positive post! :)

Thanks for taking the time to post this OP. I'm glad to hear everything went smoothly and there were no serious injuries.

Very nice post, Thank You ! Counting down to our cruise on her, can't wait !

Do they already know what caused the fire?

I am so glad everyone is okay. I will certainly pay much closer attention at drills and muster station orientation now.

We all complain about having to go through the muster station drill, but when it is needed, it is good to know where to go. A necessary "inconvenience" that may have prevented major damage if the fire had been worse.

I am glad they were prepared and had a good fire crew.

Thanks for your post!

Thank you for taking the time to post your positive feedback on an unfortunate event.

As of last night's Farewell show, they did not know the cause of the fire.

Thanks for sharing! I couldn't imagine how much chaos happened....glad the staff handled it well!

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Thanks for posting -- we sail on FR in 5 weeks.