The 3/9 cruise

[warrot]

Hello This was my first WDW cruise and I have to say it was interesting. My 4 year old really enjoyed herself . I though he boat was ok a bit small but nice. The characters were reallt accessable and Tea with Wendy was awesme. The clubs were ok I had an ssue wher my daughter woke up during movie time and she was the only one there and she was crying all by herself in the club and the councelers were chatting at the front.I was a bit peeved....I dont think she had been like that long and it was only 10:30 or so.
The fire well...I was not as impressed as others who have posted. First the fire was not discovered by sensors..but by teenagers who were out late on the ship. They went to a deck phone but no emergncynumber was posted so they tried 911. When this did not work they went in seek of an employee and when they found one they were not taken seroiusly. One boy literally ad to drag the guy to show him the fire. IT took 10 min to get any help at all. I think the fire did not have to gt to the point it did but they did do a good job once everything was reported. I dont beieve this o be a rumor as my verandah neighbor was at a table with one of the kids and their family and they had a meeting with the captian on Friday. I also did not like that the captian came out and said Loyd ofLondon inspected he ship thouroughly. They di not land till 4:30 on castaway key ( I watched the helecopter) and he was saying tis at 6:30..No way a thourough ispection could be done in 2 hours. THey also knew that the coastguardwould not be alowed on in internatioal waters they really did not want them on the ship until we were at port as they did not ant to get stuck with us out ...obviously the ship was not allowed to run as is due to the massiv scramble Sat to repair stuff to get her seaworthy.I also had issue with the " cover up"They were repairing before the coast guard was on and they still did not know the cause of the fire. They did keep all the damaged stuff in barrels I also felt bad for the oncoming passengers. There was time to notify them yet they were not. It seems Disney was a bit more concerned about their image rather than customr satisfaction and maybe even safety.
My station was in animtors palate and thingswere calm there the employees did a good job...I felt though for those who were out on deck on the port side as the could see the fire and see the guys climbing up to lower the boats..I heard kids were throwing up it must have been scary to see...
I also thought the 100 credit wasa bit on the lame side. We were in real danger and VERY close to evacuation ( 10 min) I t was nice they did do something but I think they should follow up with the passengers in the nextweek or so.
They also need to work on how they transport the handicapped. THere was a para I spoke to who said they did not know at all what they were doing and he had to instuct the guys how to carry him and they were carrying folks in their wheelchairs which is a HUGE NO NO..that is dagerous. I am sure they will learn from this at least I hope they do.
Oh also Jacki the cruse director really sounded panicked during the announcements..and they woul say things like it seems like the fire is contained....SEEMS..LOL
I am a HUGE disney fan....LOVE THEM . might cruise agian...we
will see. I was thinking of the vacation club but I might wait on that as well.
I hope the passegers this week have a good cruise. I doubt micky's slide wil open as it is right below where they are working and lots of stuff was falling on it. The pool was all sooty as well but that could be cleaned quickly. They needed to lower the water in Goofys pool as it was too deep for the little ones maybe they did I know that was suggested.
The shows WERE awesome..Disney Dreams the best...
ill have pics of the damage by tonight..Ill let you know how they turn out

 

[RellingTwin]

Thanks for your reort. I am looking forward to your pictures, as it was hard to see anything on the port camera. I also hope the issue of phycially impaired passengers is addressed for the safety of future cruisers.
Thank goodness the teenagers who saw the fire acted quickley!Shame on the CM who did not belive them. ANY report of fire should ALWAYS be taken seriously.

 

[mmouse37]

Very interesting to hear another side of the story. Thanks for posting.

MJ

 

[Niagara2]

I try to imagine how I would react and feel if we went through this on the Magic. Us die hard Disney fans usually feel very safe in Disney hands and probably let our guard down a bit more than we should. If our family was woken up in the middle of the night to embers flying off the ship and the smell of smoke in the middle of the ocean as the seven bells are ringing...well, yes I would be really scared for all of us.
I think that some guests experienced the fire in more detail than some others thus the difference in opinions. I am sure Disney is one of the better prepared for these type of emergencies.
Children seeing fire and being dragged out of bed to a deck and CM's climbing to maybe lower life boats can be a very scary experience to say the least. My kids have watched parts of Titanic and it would be really bad for them I am sure.
I was glad to hear three ships were there to help and imagine, nine more on the way!!! I guess we are never really alone out on the ocean are we.
In summary, I am sure Disney did most right. I feel for the guests on this cruise and the one right now. I do not feel that Disney did enough ($100 credit). Many children and adults may never cruise again or if they do ever feel completely safe while cruising. The shut down areas were bad enough on their own to warrant the credit much less an expereince with disaster.
I think that other cruiselines might not of did as much but that doesn't make it right. I hope that the cruiseline industry learns from this and things are safer in the future. Another board poster said they thought the inciderator buring garbage was not working right and garbage on fire went up the funnel and started it on fire. Only one stack is a real stack and the other is for looks. Not sure if correct but I am sure alot of new safeguards will go into burning the garbage from now on.
To all who expereince the fire on the Magic, I can only say I am so glad it all worked out and you are all home safe and sound. Most of the trip as grand and you all certainly deserved that. To those on the damaged ship now, enjoy, and I hope Disney does something for you too. I also hope Disney does more for the affected cruisers from last week.

 

[wfp]

I was also on this cruise and I spoke withe the teenagers who first spotted the fire on the ship on Thursday morning. I was very disapointed that no one on the crew even thanked them for reporting the fire. They did not want anything from Disney or the crew other than a thank you. I am sure the fire would have been worse had they not reported it. I am curious to know about their meeting with the captain on Friday.

 

[RellingTwin]

I'll bet the Capt. thanked him at the meeting on Friday.When people are scared "manners" often go out the window.

 

[MartyP]

I was also on the 3/9 cruise. I too believe the fire was much worse than Disney led anyone to believe. I was unaware until reading this report that teenagers first reported the fire. My cabin was located midship deck 2. As I looked out the window and realized we had completely stopped in the water, I looked up to see much smoke and large chunks of ash falling. We then decided to get dressed in warm clothing and wake our three children. About this time they called for the general alarm. We proceded to put on our life vests and leave our stateroom. As we entered to hallway we could already smell the smoke. With our children 13, 10, and 2(who cried and refused to wear her life vest) we walked to our assembly station. Our station was on deck 4 2 stations toward the aft of the ship(toward the fire). The closer we got the more smoke we encountered. We got in our lines with the 10 yr old then the 13 yr old then my mom and then I was at the back with my 2 yr old. My husband was at the back of the line next to me. After about 20 minutes I finally had to sit down with the 2 yr old who was still crying, she finnally laid down and went to sleep. After we had been out there about 1 hour my 10 yr old told me she had almost thrown up twice because of the smoke. I was far enough back that I didn't realize the smoke was so bad. After we were able to return to our cabin we passed several areas where someone had thrown up. Later when my daughter was still coughing she told me that the smoke was so bad that a crew member at our assembly station had told her she would get her a wet wash rag to breath through but when she brought it back she gave it to the wrong person. The evening after the fire I asked one of the crew in white if they had had any reports of people still coughing he said the ask at guest services. I did that immediately and was told no but if I was concerned that I could have the ships doctor come to my stateroom. Then he proceded to ask me if I had insurance because I would have to pay the dr and take it up with my insurance when we returned to the states. I could not believe they were not concerned that my child had been in the smoke and was still having problems. I didn't take her to the doctor on the ship but she is still coughing now and I guess I will have to take her to the dr tomorrow. I believe the firefighters did a wonderful job putting out the fire. I was told that at the heat of the fire there were 4 firefighters standing between the stacks spraying water on it. I was also told that if the fire had reached the 8th deck the ship would have not made it. Understand that I love Disney and will probably cruise again. I had tears in my eyes as we said our goodbyes to our wait staff they became family in a short time, but I believe the management of Disney did a major disservice to everyone on board by not giving out complete information after the fact. We expected the story to hit national news and were shocked to find out that it didn't. We were told that a man with a digital camera had sent pictures to CNN. We decided to send an email to my aunt so they would know everyone was alright we found out later that email was never recieved, makes me wonder how many other emails never made it off the ship. Something else that bothered me was that I still heard the theme song for Titanic played on the ship after the fire, it didn't seem appropriate. Just another view point.
MartyP

 

[Casey's mom]

Wow - -this is sounding more and more scary with every post! We are cruising next saturday and I am more than a little concerned about this incident. I am little confused from the various posts about where the fire was centered -- was it down low in the ship or up high? Were other parts of the ship damaged that people could see or just the funnel?

I read in another post that teenagers reported the fire to a crewmember after trying to use a phone. Are there any fire alarms around that someone could hit if they saw something? It seems a little disconcerting that it was a passenger who reported the fire first. I hope that was really not the case.

Any more news would be greatly appreciated. I am trying to prepare for our trip as best we can.

 

[MartyP]

They never told us exactly where the fire was or exactly what area was involved. I would not be concerned about you cruise. Go and have a great time. We really had a wonderful cruise for the most part. As we were at are assemble stations I looked out and saw the other cruise ships in the area and knew we would be ok even if we had the leave the ship. The visible part of the ship that was involved was the back smoke stacks. on the port side the black was completely melted off.

 

[txtara]

There was a cutter type vesel that docked at Castaway Cay around noon on Friday....That might have also been engineers....
The people from Lloyds were also engineers....I dont believe the
Captain would lie to us about requesting the Coast Guard to
meet us at CC....he might not have been aware that they would
not be able to be there because of international maritime issues...
all in all I feel the crew did a great job....I also heard about the
teenagers finding the fire....There are many sensors in the bridge
to report fire....When announcements were made you could hear
the fire alarms going off in the background....I dont feel my life
was ever in any danger....had the capt not blown the general alarm then that would have caused me concern....everyone acted in a very professional manner where we were.....unfortunaltely
people did have to deal with alot of smoke inhalation....I bet if you
had gone down to the infirmary to get checked out they would
not have charged you....just my opinion

 

[magic]

We also were on the 3/9 cruise. I woke up smelling smoke, our cabin was 6098, and I am extremely allergic to smoke and can smell any hint. I woke my husband and son (11 years old) and made them get dressed as the first alarm went off. When I looked out on our veranda, I saw pieces of burning material float by our veranda and then smoke billowing out that side, if the wind had not blown it away from our window the smell would have been horrible.

When the alarm to go to deck 4, station P went off we were prepared to leave, alot people were still getting dressed. What disturbed me the most was a couple standing by us had several very small children, one a baby. This baby did not have a life jacket, and even after the parents requested, one was not given until almost time to leave the deck. This really upset me and I could tell the parents were very concerned as I was of what to do if we had to abandon the ship.

We were standing by the crew, many of whom looked very concerned, especially at first. The smoke was bad and caused all of us to be congested for the rest of the trip, my husband and I both woke up with a bad headache.

We also could not go back to sleep at first and when we finally did we slept till lunch as did several other people we talked with.

But even with this incident, we all really had a wonderful time and I am sure we will cruise once again with Disney. I felt very comforted by the fact that I could see other ships close to us waiting to help if necessary.

 

[warrot]

I realize the Lyodd of London folks were engineers..my point was the captian stated they had made a thourough exam of the ship when in fact they had only been ON the ship less than 2 hours when he made that statement. I find that hard to believe. I also really think that they knew good and well the coast guard would not come in international waters ( at least I would hope a captian of a major cruise line would be aware of such rules). They wanted us to get back and not risk being told they could not cruise her back with all of us on it. I think they felt it was "safe enough" to drive back. I have no real complaints about how the incident was handled once reported but rather the massive spin factor that occured after it. I would also be highly annoyed if I were cruising on 3/16 and was not notified of the damage ect ahead and given an option to cancel. BTW I got photos back will scan tomorrow how do I send those.

 

[txtara]

Warrot, I hear Ya..DH here..I thought the same lame thing..that the only thing Disney is concerned about was the appearence(image) of the very proud..I got in trouble from my family and Parents that were on board w/us..that I said, that looks really bad..that Loyds of London is here..did a FLY-BY with a Heli..and that all they cared about is there precious ship and Name..and get the insurance company to look at it..I think that was Poor..and yes they had to have know that the US Coast Guard would not..could not come..IF soo they would have been there from Miami by helicopter also...Like in a Plane crash..or insident...the NTSB arrives..and arrives fast..no matter the crash site or location..(juresdiction) if you will...and yes as an airline employee..if something like this happens on any carrier..you can expect the passenger(s) to walk away with a piece of the company...but hey this was just bonus fun....right..they do need to get some life vests in there to fit infants-5year olds..my 2 year old refused to wear it..until she fell asleep in our arms...and I heard that the life boats did get atleast unhooked...and we played bingo that afternoon..sailaway from st thomas..in rockin bar d..and there where several of us that mentioned that someone was smoking in there...but who knows if it could have started that early...and all day from CA CAY..you could see the smoldering coming up from there...but no it wasn't that bad....And don't bash me for this..but some jobs just aren't made for a woman..and Jackie..which I'm sure isn't the one that was supposed to make the PA..but the captain had other things going on..but Jackie scared the Heck out of us more then the fire..the way we couldn't under stand her..and her cracking up a litte..BAD POKER FACE..comes to mind....and the get some warm clothes and your medication and procede didn't help...But come on Disney was not have put mud on there face by lowering us into the water..just keep holding us..10 minutes..then 10minutes...and then who would've know...thank our lucky star second to the right that nothing happend...I did ask about the crew..if anyone got hurt..they said no...thankfully...well enough of my gripes...sorry if it hurt anyone..but you all wanted to know...

 

[dizneykids]

we were on deck 8 just forward of the midships elevators. i was awakened at 4:26 a.m. to the sound of lots of feet running across the deck and figured something serious was happening as they NEVER run on deck that early...even kids!

the first alarm was "Red Team Aft Funnel." well, that was a dead giveaway that there was a fire on board. we started getting dressed and waking our kids. our 3yo was in the upper bunk and thus right near the speaker, so he was already upset with the noise, but to be hussled into a life jacket at that hour was not fun. there were two more announcements before they called the general alarm, each saying basically, "there is a fire on board, but it appears to be contained."

between the first "red team" call and the general announcement, we were on our veranda filming the smoke coming off the upper deck. we also have video of the water pouring off the side of the ship from the dousing efforts. our assistant server (a former professional wrestler from bulgaria) was one of the pumpers...he helped to get the sea water up to the fire. by the end of the night on thursday (we had late seating), he was just barely standing. i can't even imagine the kind of day he had.

my 8yo got sick with the smoke. fortunately, one of the crew members ran and got him a seasick bag, allowed him to loosen him lifejacket and sit on the deck (we were on deck 4 station D). after about 45 minutes, our assembly leader let me take the 3yo's lifejacket off as he was beginning to freak out.

impressions...compared to how the captain and crew on our september 2000 wonder sailing handled that emergency (we were cruising so slowly between freeport and castaway cay, and the air was so still that night, that the diesel exhaust was sucked back into the midships ventillation and thus into all the midships cabins), the crew on the magic were poised and clearly in control. we spoke with the father of the teen who reported the fire and as described above, he had fallen asleep on deck with some friends and woke to the smell of the fire. he was not believed when he reported the fire and had to drag a crew member to the site to be taken seriously. i'm sure that's was immediately preceded the running i heard at 4:26. the teen's father also said that once the fire was reported, there were firefighters on deck within 60 seconds fighting the fire.

yes, jackie was probably not the best choice for the announcements, but her job is to interface between the passengers and the crew. the senior officers (translated...male officers), including the captain, were busy doing their jobs, and rightfully so. i'd rather know that the captain was at the scene managing the process than on the intercom. he did make one of the early announcements, stating that as a precaution they were evacuating certain cabins near the fire site.

the head of wdw risk management was in a stateroom four doors down from us. her phone was ringing with calls before we ever got on deck. from what we heard, they BELIEVE (i say that in caps because it is by no means confirmed) that the fire originated in the incinerators...either something fell out and started the fiberglass burning or there is some flaw in the incinerator or the incinerator was incorrectly loaded. we were unaware that the funnel is basically fiberglass...that's why it looks like the side was crumpled...it melted.

yes, being on deck as long as we were was scary. what was more scary was the cavalier attitude of some of the passengers who strolled up on deck, holding their sodas and videotaping the crowd as if it were a party. if a family didn't have a lifevest for their infant, they should have made that known on saturday when we did the safety drill. that's the purpose of the safety drill....to PRACTICE. what we saw on thursday morning were a bunch of whiny adults, more whiny kids (a lot more understandable) and a whole lot of inconsiderate people. the crew in our section kept having to push families back against the wall so the firefighters could get the equipment they needed off deck 4 up to the fire. yes, it was uncomfortable, but we were all in the same boat. the family next to us just didn't get the idea that they were supposed to be single file, tallest in the back, smallest in the front. the mother by the end of the hour was practically standing in my oldest son's lap because she was socializing with others too much to stay in her line. there were a lot of kids on the floor by the end of the hour and many more adults who didn't seem to notice, bother or give a damn.

as for the coast guard/lloyds/inspection issue, i can't really speak to that except to say that there was a cutter there most of the day. we assumed that the engineers and other needed to address the issue were on that. the helicopter that flew in, surveyed the damage and then landed would have held dave ouimet (dcl president) and more than likely senior lloyds people, not the inspectors and engineers dcl requested.

and as for the $100 credit, yes, it was lame, but with a full ship that still took a chunk of change from them. when we were gassed in september 2000, the most we got (months after the fact) was a "gosh, we're so sorry to hear that happened." capt. matebore is heads and tails above capt. hans on the wonder in terms on communication, empathy and sincerity. he appeared before each performance friday night to thank everyone for their patience and understanding and to introduce the firefighting team (or at least those who were able to be there). the standing ovation and rousing cheers from the audience (at least at the 6:30 show) certainly left me with the impression that most people were pleased with the crew's performance.

will we sail again? YOU BETCHA! just got to wait for the roy o. suite to become available on the magic!!

 

[mmouse37]

I was just speaking with a co-worker who used to be in the Coast Guard for several years. He said that unless it was a rescue mission, there was no need for the Coast Guard to come to CC. Since 911 the Coast Guard is spread pretty thin and as long the fire was maintained and put out there was no need for them to be there.

MJ

 

[txtara]

dh here..yes the 830p show was great..the standing O for them was spine tingling..we could have just applauded all night..we got all choked up over it..and yes we didn't have a dry eye...and as for the no vest for the child..that sure as heck should have been pointed out and rectified on sat b4 ever leaving port..but now maybe people will take all the drills a bit more serious....and act like its not just an orange dinner vest..