Grandeur Fire - My experience 100% positive

[webteach]

For some reason this report moved me to tears. I guess because you are such a positive person and because no one knows what cruising is like around here and can't imagine ever setting foot on that dangerous ship!!! Glad you found the glass half full!

[akcruz]

Let me add my thanks for providing your experiences on this ill fated cruise. So glad you made it through and still have such a great positive attitude.

[drarill]

Thanks for sharing your story and the pictures!! Glad you are safe!!

[The BarCarres]

For some reason this report moved me to tears. I guess because you are such a positive person and because no one knows what cruising is like around here and can't imagine ever setting foot on that dangerous ship!!! Glad you found the glass half full!

 

I am glad I am not the only one. Always best to find the positive in life... sometimes it's hard but as someone that is a front line worker I take the brunt of people's rage and frustration, so during difficult times I always like to take a deep breath and think before I rant about something.

 

LOVE LOVE LOVE this post, RCI should send a letter of thanks to you and the other postive poster - Dharma. If they don't, consider this other Loyal to Royal cruiser very appreciative of your report. :)

[wolfganghowell]

Thank you for your story - perception is everything. Sure there were inconveniences but ALL souls were safe, including the brave crew who rose to the occasion.

[Twibes]

Enjoyed reading your blog about this, very nice write-up. I'd give my hats off to the crew who fought the fire as well, very nice job given the environment.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

THANK YOU!!! I loved your blog, such positive and wonderful comments about the crew.

 

Thank you for sharing your story, welcome home!! :)

 

***

[MAHA]

Glad to hear everyone on this cruise was safe. That is the main priority. From another post, they said that cabins on Deck 3 & 2 Aft had fire damage as well as smoke and water damage. Can you confirm this happened? If so, the fire went interior fairly far as those cabins are not all the way towards the Aft. Did the MDR suffer damage more than smoke &/or water? The galley is further Aft, so I am figuring there might have been at least water and smoke damage there.

 

We sail August 30 for a B2B and can't wait. Sounds like the crew did a wonderful job getting everyone to safety and keeping them safe!

 

Mary Anne

[watermusic101]

We were on Deck 3 fore and did not realize the fire was as bad as what it turned out to be. The staff on the Grandeur was amazing and did a fantastic job keeping us informed and calm. We could not have asked for better treatment or knowledge than what we were given. Royal Caribbean and the Grandeur crew answered the need royally. We were so impressed with the actions, we booked a cruise while on board even after the fire. We will be back on the Grandeur in November.

 

Thank you Royal for taking such good care of us during this crisis.

 

We were also on deck three forward and I couldn't agree with you more about the crew. They were exceptional. We actually have two more RCCL cruises booked for the year and look forward to them.

[PSCruiser]

Talked to my brother, who was also onboard, and he had high praise for every aspect of the way the crew handled this emergency.

He said that shortly before he left the ship to catch his charter home, there was a ceremony in the Centrum to recognize the crew, and that it was very moving.

[alligeek]

He said that shortly before he left the ship to catch his charter home, there was a ceremony in the Centrum to recognize the crew, and that it was very moving.

 

That's great to hear. I hope that they're further recognized for their efforts by RCI. From every account I've read/seen, they really demonstrated excellence in a situation that could have been a lot worse.

[Scotty G]

The staff was amazing. I cannot say that loudly enough.

I've posted my experience here:

 

http://staynegative.blogspot.com/2013/05/on-23rd-we-headed-down-to-baltimore-for.html

 

Judy

 

Like! You guys were great and thanks for your input!!!!

[jchiefs13]

Just wanted to say I love the "Get Well Soon" message marked out in the soot :)

Thanks for the positive post and pictures of the ship. What did someone write on the outside of the glass? It almost looks like Get Well Soon. But can't really tell.

 

That's exactly what I wrote :)

I truly wanted to cry... not from fear or worry, but because I felt horrible for the ship. I know I'm crazy, but when I am arriving at port I always greet the ship and could get kerklempt if I let myself because I'm so happy to see them. I even hugged the ship once we got back inside after seeing the damage.

 

Thanks for sharing those--it's amazing seeing the before and after pics. Was your cabin interior damaged at all?

 

I was expecting the cabin to be wet, but nope. It was dry. Just the smell of smoke (to be expected) that cleared quickly, the power and a/c our for a while, the phone was on and then stopped working, and the tv worked, but we couldn't get channels (after the event).

Judy

[Aboat1]

What a wonderful review! Thank you so much for taking the time to put "pen to paper" in regards to the staff. I too hope that your work is shared with the crew. I hope that RCCL will share how they recognized their crew with us someday.

 

Thank you for putting everything in perspective for us here at home. I have never given one thought of canceling any of our future cruises. You have however, made me feel even better about my safety while aboard a cruise ship.

 

Enjoy your future cruises and keep that great attitude! We need more posters like you.

 

Thank You again!

[jchiefs13]

From another post, they said that cabins on Deck 3 & 2 Aft had fire damage as well as smoke and water damage. Can you confirm this happened? If so, the fire went interior fairly far as those cabins are not all the way towards the Aft. Did the MDR suffer damage more than smoke &/or water? The galley is further Aft, so I am figuring there might have been at least water and smoke damage there.

 

They did take quite a few people from decks 2 and 3 to hotels in Freeport for the night because their rooms were deemed not inhabitable. Does that mean fire damage? I don't know. I'm sure the smell was much worse on their level than ours and I cannot see how they would NOT be water logged. I didn't want to wander down there too far, as curious as I was. I did walk down on deck two however towards the front (to check out my October cabin area) and it smelled okay there by that point as well.

 

The MDR was opened back up for us the next day, and fully functional so I have to assume there was not damage in the kitchen area and I highly doubt if there was damage in the room proper that I did not see that they would have opened it back up for us. Again, I did not walk to the back to see if there was any wet carpet etc.

 

Judy

[jchiefs13]

For some reason this report moved me to tears.

 

I am glad I am not the only one. Always best to find the positive in life... sometimes it's hard but as someone that is a front line worker I take the brunt of people's rage and frustration, so during difficult times I always like to take a deep breath and think before I rant about something.

 

Aw. I'm so sorry to make you cry. It moves me as heavily to know that Royal Caribbean kept it classy and demonstrated how to take something that was out of their control and do the right thing.

 

Nothing can undo what happened, but I know now that the cruise line I've talked up to so many people (I think my current count of people I got cruising or ready to go on their first one is up to 15) is one I can be proud of and respect.

 

You're all right, there are some people who seek out the drama and take things to a place they don't need to be. I'm bummed my cruise was cut short and we missed stops. Yes, it dropped a brick in your stomach when you realized "oh my God this is real" at 3 am. I don't know about you, but I don't own a bubble. Life happens and bad/scary things happen. I'm NOT usually a "glass is half full" type of person I'm just very matter of fact and the fact is this was not remotely the horror stories played out on the news when bad things happened on other lines (thank the Lord).

 

Thank you again for all the well wishes. Another group I love as much as my Royal Caribbean family is my Cruise Critic family... you folks rule. <3

 

Ok, time for me to take a closer look at the Quantum sailings and pick one out :)

Judy

[jcl410]

Judy -

 

 

Great post ......

 

I have a couple of curiosity questions.....

 

1) Which stairwell did you use to go down to deck 5?

 

2) How did you find out that your muster station had been moved?

 

Aloha,

 

John

[windjamming]

Thank you so much for sharing your personal experience! With the tendency for the media to make everything negative, it really is heartening to hear - firsthand - so much good. Reading your account gives me even more respect for the crew. In addition to taking care of us from morning to evening (and then some), they are bona fide guardians of our safety!

[jchiefs13]

Judy -

 

 

Great post ......

 

I have a couple of curiosity questions.....

 

1) Which stairwell did you use to go down to deck 5?

 

2) How did you find out that your muster station had been moved?

 

Aloha,

 

John

 

A very interesting question! Your post brings me to a reminder of a comment I need to make back to RC. If you look at the back of the door in 7156 it tells you to use the crew stairs off to the side as your primary muster path to deck 6. Once there there are a series of doors marked, but it is way less than clear where the heck you're going.

 

When the practice muster drill went off we went that way and got stopped by staff telling us we were going the wrong way. I guess they expected us to go the alternate route which was down the hall to the centrum stairs, which is the way we went during the actual emergency. DARN good thing too eh since that set of stairs pops out a door at the back of the lounge that had windows out etc.

 

When we came out the doors onto the deck they were already pointing us the other direction which threw me off briefly but darn near every staff member we passed said 10 keep going and they guided us straight up to the doors by the other stairs and into the casino. It was VERY smooth.

 

I also have to state that there was a Bahamian ship there leaving the day we came in. I HEARD their muster drill sounding and the announcers telling them what to do, so I look over and the passengers are all sitting around on the lounge chairs etc. I just couldn't believe it. The value of the muster practice just to get your muster number in your head and to know the path is worthy to note, nevermind all of the extra practice crew gets doing this job weekly.

 

Judy

[The BarCarres]

A very interesting question! Your post brings me to a reminder of a comment I need to make back to RC. If you look at the back of the door in 7156 it tells you to use the crew stairs off to the side as your primary muster path to deck 6. Once there there are a series of doors marked, but it is way less than clear where the heck you're going.

 

When the practice muster drill went off we went that way and got stopped by staff telling us we were going the wrong way. I guess they expected us to go the alternate route which was down the hall to the centrum stairs, which is the way we went during the actual emergency. DARN good thing too eh since that set of stairs pops out a door at the back of the lounge that had windows out etc.

 

When we came out the doors onto the deck they were already pointing us the other direction which threw me off briefly but darn near every staff member we passed said 10 keep going and they guided us straight up to the doors by the other stairs and into the casino. It was VERY smooth.

 

I also have to state that there was a Bahamian ship there leaving the day we came in. I HEARD their muster drill sounding and the announcers telling them what to do, so I look over and the passengers are all sitting around on the lounge chairs etc. I just couldn't believe it. The value of the muster practice just to get your muster number in your head and to know the path is worthy to note, nevermind all of the extra practice crew gets doing this job weekly.

 

Judy

 

Aside from bringing this postive post back to the front I also wanted to add thank you again for reminding us that we cannot take our muster drills for granted. We certainly don't look forward to them but know it is so important and marvel at the attitudes of other people each and every time. We have been held waiting on most cruises for the people that feel they are "too important" attend muster. They find out that no one gets "out of muster" - meanwhile we stand waiting. Once again thank you for this post -- seems like the positive is outweighing the negative (for the most part).

[scottishwee35]

thank you for your time to write blog and showed the photos...

 

I am glad that no one got hurt

 

Scottishwee35

[Kugel]

Excellent report. Excellent cruise line. Class act on how they handled refunds. You have to give them that. So glad you are okay. Take care.

[RN4Nsy]

Excellent review. So glad you are safe. We love that ship! Add us to the Loyal to Royal group!

[smols]

This was my first time on RCCL. I have nothing but the utmost respect and praise for the crew that got us home safely. I mentioned this to every crew member I came into contact with afterwards. I'm looking forward to booking my next cruise and would never hesitate to sail again.

[TEXASMUNK]

For taking the time to post your experience!

 

But, for those familiar with the "other" thread...I bet these folks are happy about their experience only because their TV probably worked!!!!!

 

Also of interest...the fact that they kept folks at muster stations in order to guarantee these were no lingering sparks, flames or hidden hot spots.....seems the looooong wait the other thread mentioned did not mention that the Captain kept folks informed during this process.