Princess Disasters

[sunshine426]

Thats classy.

:confused:

 

After a 2am muster call, all night waiting for the all clear, worrying about family and fellow passengers, sometimes you just attempt to find small areas of levity. Hope you weren't offended, none was meant.

[spongerob]

Aah, the memories this thread brings back...good times!

[bbwex]

You have to know that fires onboard ship are common events. Crews of all ships are extensively trained in fire-fighting. Of course, a large fire is a major threat to a ship, and any fire has to be treated as an emergency, but they do happen all the time, and they are usually minor events. Fires happen during construction and retrofits -- no biggie, the repairs can conveniently be made right there.

 

Minor collisions, which arguably shouldn't happen in almost all cases, are certainly not disasters -- they are minor accidents. The disaster is the effect they have on the captain at fault and his/her career.

 

Even if the Carnival picture were true, hitting a big wave in heavy seas, and having white water all over the bow is part of being a ship. Heavy seas can cause some damage, and ships try to minimize the effects, but ships are, curiously, made to be at sea in sea states that are normally found out there! I have seen green water (solid water, not spray) come over a flight deck - and the flight deck is 50 feet above the waterline. No damage, no disaster, just water.

 

Major fires, losses of life, and sinkings can, generally, be considered disasters.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

:confused:

 

After a 2am muster call, all night waiting for the all clear, worrying about family and fellow passengers, sometimes you just attempt to find small areas of levity. Hope you weren't offended, none was meant.

 

I'm with you sunshine. After going through it, we all refer to it as the Charred Princess. It is no way any disrepect to the man who died. The ship caught on fire. Instead of the Star it was called the Charred.

 

And before you brought it up, I can't believe no one else did.

[cruiserbryce]

I remember seeing the pics of the Carnival ship with its bow buried in the wave and how quickly that was debunked....but as others have mentioned...all cruise lines run into challenges from time to time. Hopefully they learn from them and continue to do what they can to prevent incidents

[cruisemom42]

I can't believe no one has mentioned the Star Princess and the fire. We refer to that cruise as our trip on the "Charred Princess".

 

Ummm, quite possibly because the date of the last post before yours was BEFORE the fire on the Star Princess ever happened.....?

 

:rolleyes:

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Ummm, quite possibly because the date of the last post before yours was BEFORE the fire on the Star Princess ever happened.....?

 

:rolleyes:

 

Oh my! I didn't even notice that! Good call!!

[DrivesLikeMario]

Wasn't it the RCI Majesty of the Seas that got stranded on a sand bar in the Caribbean around 1999? My neighbor's mother was on it and was stuck on an island (think it was St. Maarten maybe) until they could fly everyone back home.

[Colo Cruiser]

:confused:

 

After a 2am muster call, all night waiting for the all clear, worrying about family and fellow passengers, sometimes you just attempt to find small areas of levity. Hope you weren't offended, none was meant.

 

Making light of a tragic situation such as the Star fire where a passenger lost his life is just not cool. :(

[PAULNJILL]

The biggest Princess diaster is on the last day of your cruise and you realise that you have to wait ages for your next one

[beemerrider]

I must say that this is a sick thread. When you go to buy a car or a motorcycle or about to embark on a plane, do you ask about any tragedies that happened? NO!!

The last thing I want to think about when I am about to go on a trip is, has this airliNe have any incidents? Has this plane have any incidents? So on and so on.

I used to work for Princess and was on the Grand when it listed as well as the Crown. There were a lot of injuries not only with pax but with crew also. There was some damage to each ship. As someone said, there is always something happening every day. When you here over the tannoy "assessment party" to go to some place on the ship, something has gone wrong. And as for you naive passengers, it is not a party per say. I have had passengers come to me and ask me why thery were not invited to this party. When I explained to them what it was and asked them if they wanted to join that party, they quickly declined. A cruise is about taking care of the pax, but not all the time.

So instaed of concentrating on the negative, concentrate on the positive and have a good time. Just know that the crew is highly trained and will make sure that the pax and the ship will be taken care of. In closing, i just want to say that I have also come across passengers who do not attend the safety drill. They say, I have done it before!!! I ask them when was this? They say about 1 year ago...stupid stupid stupid. A heck of a lot is forgotten in 1 year. If anything would happen to these people, they woud be the first to blame Princess anf the crew. So, when you go on a trip of any kind and there is a safety drill.....ATEEND IT!!!! IT MAY JUST SAVE YOUR LIFE!!

[catergirl]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_Princess_(ship)

[shelby333]

I must say that this is a sick thread. When you go to buy a car or a motorcycle or about to embark on a plane, do you ask about any tragedies that happened? NO!!

The last thing I want to think about when I am about to go on a trip is, has this airliNe have any incidents? Has this plane have any incidents? So on and so on.

I used to work for Princess and was on the Grand when it listed as well as the Crown. There were a lot of injuries not only with pax but with crew also. There was some damage to each ship. As someone said, there is always something happening every day. When you here over the tannoy "assessment party" to go to some place on the ship, something has gone wrong. And as for you naive passengers, it is not a party per say. I have had passengers come to me and ask me why thery were not invited to this party. When I explained to them what it was and asked them if they wanted to join that party, they quickly declined. A cruise is about taking care of the pax, but not all the time.

So instaed of concentrating on the negative, concentrate on the positive and have a good time. Just know that the crew is highly trained and will make sure that the pax and the ship will be taken care of. In closing, i just want to say that I have also come across passengers who do not attend the safety drill. They say, I have done it before!!! I ask them when was this? They say about 1 year ago...stupid stupid stupid. A heck of a lot is forgotten in 1 year. If anything would happen to these people, they woud be the first to blame Princess anf the crew. So, when you go on a trip of any kind and there is a safety drill.....ATEEND IT!!!! IT MAY JUST SAVE YOUR LIFE!!

 

I really don't think that there is any debate that the crew are highly trained and I am sure that if someone was concerned about the safety aspect of cruising they wouldn't book a cruise. Yes, some passengers are naive, thats what forums like this are for so we can ask our "Naive" questions without being jumped on. Why not let other posters ask their questions and post their opinions without immediately getting on the "offensive" and assuming that peoples intentions are to rubbish the cruise line. Its just a discussion thread, thats all.

[cruisnfool]

My son worked for Princess for 3 yrs during the height of the norovirus and he nor any of the ships he was on had a major outbreak. Some Princess ships did as did other lines but over all they faired well. Says something about them.

 

 

By biggest concern about "ship disaters if thats what you want to call them is some are expected as part of a big ship existance however the Star fire from a careless passenger infuriates me!

[billco]

By biggest concern about "ship disaters if thats what you want to call them is some are expected as part of a big ship existance however the Star fire from a careless passenger infuriates me!

Me too, but

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Princess

 

While a smouldering discarded cigarette probably did cause the flames, the following items were also at fault for allowing the fire to spread as quickly as it did:

• The balconies’ polycarbonate partitions, polyurethane deck tiles, and the plastic furniture were highly combustible and produced large quantities of very thick black smoke when burned.
  

• The glass in the doors between the staterooms and balconies was neither fire retardant, to meet with the requirements of an ‘A’ class division, nor self-closing.
  

• The balconies crossed main zone fire boundaries, both horizontally and vertically, and were without structural or thermal barriers at the zone or deck boundaries.
  

• No fire detection or fire suppression systems were fitted on the balconies.
  

[sunshine426]

Me too, but

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Princess

 

 

While a smouldering discarded cigarette probably did cause the flames, the following items were also at fault for allowing the fire to spread as quickly as it did:

• The balconies’ polycarbonate partitions, polyurethane deck tiles, and the plastic furniture were highly combustible and produced large quantities of very thick black smoke when burned.
  

• The glass in the doors between the staterooms and balconies was neither fire retardant, to meet with the requirements of an ‘A’ class division, nor self-closing.
  

• The balconies crossed main zone fire boundaries, both horizontally and vertically, and were without structural or thermal barriers at the zone or deck boundaries.
  

• No fire detection or fire suppression systems were fitted on the balconies.
  

 

Yes, much of that information came out after the fire. Since then Princess has installed and retro installed sprinkler sytems on the balcony cabins. The plastic furniture has been replaced with a more fire retardent product.I can't speak to the other areas noted, but at a guess, they have been adressed. While many of the caribe balcony cabins suffered damage when the fire did break thru, the sprinkler system within the ship did activiate and minimize the spread of fire. As did the Captain stopping the ship to reduce the air flow to the fire"fuel" and the fire teams that were activated. I was on that ship and can tell you that everything I witnessed (and my eyes were open)was that the crew were following their training and the fire was eventually extinguished.

 

Sadly, there was loss of life and certainly loss of property, and maybe for some, affect on health.

 

My take after this trip. Attend the muster drill, if it doesn't help you, it helps with the crew's training. Have a personal plan in case of disaster. Including: Where is my passport, where are necessary funds, what else do I need for survival in the next few days, ($$$ and food), and what type of attitude will I take for survival in case of a true emergency.

 

My apologies for any offended by my "Charred Princess" comment. It was not meant to demean those who suffered on that trip, and indeed, no disrespect for the family who lost their loved one".

[5:00_Somewhere]

Yes, much of that information came out after the fire. Since then Princess has installed and retro installed sprinkler sytems on the balcony cabins. The plastic furniture has been replaced with a more fire retardent product.I can't speak to the other areas noted, but at a guess, they have been adressed. While many of the caribe balcony cabins suffered damage when the fire did break thru, the sprinkler system within the ship did activiate and minimize the spread of fire. As did the Captain stopping the ship to reduce the air flow to the fire"fuel" and the fire teams that were activated. I was on that ship and can tell you that everything I witnessed (and my eyes were open)was that the crew were following their training and the fire was eventually extinguished.

 

Sadly, there was loss of life and certainly loss of property, and maybe for some, affect on health.

 

My take after this trip. Attend the muster drill, if it doesn't help you, it helps with the crew's training. Have a personal plan in case of disaster. Including: Where is my passport, where are necessary funds, what else do I need for survival in the next few days, ($$$ and food), and what type of attitude will I take for survival in case of a true emergency.

 

My apologies for any offended by my "Charred Princess" comment. It was not meant to demean those who suffered on that trip, and indeed, no disrespect for the family who lost their loved one".

 

As my hubby mentioned above, we were on the Star for the fire, as well. And, I agree, the one positive thing I can say about the experience was that it proved the cruise line trains its personnel well. We, too, felt that every single member of the staff and crew handled themselves extremely professionally and with practiced proficiency. We were among the last off the ship and off the island and, therefore, had the opportunity to speak with many of the staff and crew, as well as the Coast Guard investigation team who boarded after the fire, and it was quite clear that they the ship's personnel did an outstanding job. I wrote to Princess afterward and told them so.

 

Finally, while I agree 100% that the loss of life, loss of property, and the upheaval many passengers experienced was horrible, I strongly feel that none of us needs to apologize to anyone who was not on that ship for our little nickname. We all went through a very stressful time. It brought out the best and the worst in some passengers, but one thing it did was create a camaraderie, a bond, among those of us who went through it. We've reconnected with several members of the staff and crew since that trip on other Princess ships, and have kept in touch with other passengers and, among other things, we all refer to it as the Charred Princess. It's just that sort of black humor that inevitably comes from such situations to help people cope. It is not intended to be, and in my opinion cannot in any way be taken as, a slight to anyone who lost anything on that cruise. It's simply something that came to life in the hours and days after the fire, and it's one of the many things that bonds us one to another.

 

BTW, it just occurred to me that I even use it in my list of cruises we've taken in my "signature" below.

 

Charred Princess alumni stand proud. ;)