Update from 3/16 Magic Cruise - Fire

[dizneykids]

of course, disney is not going to publicly admit that its sensors did not pick up the fire...that in fact it was a teen who'd fallen asleep on deck who spotted it and tried to notify a crew member who would not believe the teen.

anyway, as i posted in another thread, the head of wdw risk management was on board and from her we heard that the fire is believed to have started in the incinerator. now, i don't know for sure where the incinerator is on the magic, but i'm guessing with good certainty that it is NOT located up near the top of the stacks, but more likely down on decks a, b or c (my guess is for deck c).

phones are located in the elevator areas, but i don't believe the emergency number (7-3001 or 7-3000) is located on the phone. i read it somewhere in all the papers in our stateroom. in my follow-up letter to dcl (which i do after all my cruises), i will suggest that the emergency number be posted.

the news report is correct about the times. i was awakened at 4:26 a.m. by people running up on deck 9. the first alarm was calling the "red team" or firefighters to the aft funnel. that was about 4:30 a.m. guests in staterooms around the aft funnel were evacuated shortly after that, but the 7 blasts of the ship's whistle didn't occur until closer to 5 a.m. we were back in our stateroom by 6:15 a.m. i've read some posts that suggest we were on deck anywhere from 4 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., but that's just not right.

my guess is the fire ran all the way from the bottom of the ship to the top of the stacks and was much more significant than disney wants its guests to know. i highly doubt, though, that lloyds and the coast guard would allow disney to sail this week had the damage been so significant as to affect the integrity of the ship, 2500 guests or not. disney just doesn't have THAT kind of clout. we will not hesitate to sail again on the magic, but i, for one, will want to know that disney HAD identified the source of the problem and taken the necessary steps to ensure that it never happened again, regardless of whether it was a structural or a human error.

just my two cents...

 

[KenP]

disneykids,

Another improvement suggestion you could include: If someone dials 911 on a ship phone the phone computer should interpret this as an emergency and redirect the call to 7-3001.

 

[garnet73]

Hi, i have been reading all the information provided on these boards and have noticed no one seems to think it strange that teenagers were out of their cabins at that hour!!!! I mean it seems kind of pecular to me! At 4 am in the morning those kids should have been in their room! Am wondering how much truth there is to that story... and why their parents would allow teenagers out at that hour EVEN on a cruise ship! If it was in the incinarator they probably had nothing to do with it! But if it started up on deck.... I would be looking in their direction for explanations!

Maybe its just living in Boston, kids at that hour are up to something!

Just my opinion! I try to be skeptical and question things that seem odd rather than take them at face value!

 

[Hopkins]

quote by dizneykids:
"we will not hesitate to sail again on the magic, but i, for one, will want to know that disney HAD identified the source of the problem and taken the necessary steps to ensure that it never happened again, regardless of whether it was a structural or a human error. "

I agree 100%. I guess they aren't incinerating any trash on the Magic for a while.

Tina
Magic Western 306 days

 

[plutospup]

Good question re: "I guess they're not incinerating any trash on the Magic for awhile".

During the galley tour we were told that all trash not incinerated was unloaded at Port Canaveral. No trash was unloaded at any other port. The Magic produces a LOT of trash each week. I wonder if incineration is continuing, or if a lot of trash is being stored for the week?

 

[taswira]

If they are not incinerating, they had better be unloading at other ports. To keep a week's worth of trash for more than 2,000 people, if they even had room to do that, could be an extreme fire hazard in itself.

And garnet73, I also wondered about teenagers being on deck at that hour. I could accept 2a.m. but not 4. It does sound like a mischievous situation. However, if the details thus far are correct, I don't see how they could have had anything to do with it. Yet if it DID start in the incinerator, why weren't crew members doing the incinerating the first to detect it? And did the Captain meet with the teens privately to thank them, or for something else? Oh, let's not think the worst . . .

 

[dizneykids]

garnet73 wrote:

At 4 am in the morning those kids should have been in their room! Am wondering how much truth there is to that story... and why their parents would allow teenagers out at that hour EVEN on a cruise ship! If it was in the incinarator they probably had nothing to do with it! But if it started up on deck.... I would be looking in their direction for explanations!

well, i don't have teenagers (yet!), but know enough of them and saw enough of them on the ship to believe the story we heard directly from the boy's father (the "boy," by the way, is 18).

i highly doubt that the teens involved had anything to do with the fire. if you've ever seen the design of the ship, you would realize that there is virtually no way for them to get up to where the fire was on top of the stack without going through areas only accessed by cast members. in fact, as they were cleaning up debris thursday, the cms on top of the funnel were having to lower debris in trash cans down the side of the funnel with ropes to other cms standing below. and, if the teens had been involved, given the design of the stacks, there's no way that they could have sent the fire down so that the captain was forced to evacuate the lower decks around the stacks. everything points to the fire starting below the guest decks and spreading upward.

KenP: great idea...i'll include it in my letter with your permission.

hopkins: great point. i am trying to find out what i can from a cm friend at dcl what they are doing this week. i've left a message, but mondays are bad for her, so i didn't expect to hear from her. am hoping i'll hear tomorrow.

 

[cruiser]

Originally posted by Joe & Joanne
Hi Folks
This does not sound too good? I have been watching the cam all day and was wondering what the cranes were doing? Does anyone out there know what would cause this type of fire?
I would say scarry to say the least at 4AM?

Cam? What camera were you watching, is there a URL for it?

 

[albiats]

cruiser -

there is a Webcam at Port Canaveral and they vary the direction of the camera. Sometimes it's pointed so that we get a view of the Disney Ship that's in port, sometimes we get a view that we can't quite tell what it is.

Here's a link to the site:http://www.mycfnow.com/cameras/portcanaveralcam/campopup.html

While it was pointed at the Disney Magic on Saturday, we would have been able to see the crane that was used in the repair effort.

 

[mmouse37]

garnet73......In regard to the teen issue of being out late. I have no problem with teens being out late as long as they are not causing problems or being loud. We have been on 5 DCL cruises and my three teens have all been out very late. It is actually a "tradition" that most of the teens stay up all night on the last night of the cruise (heard this from many teens and cm's on many sailings). DCL does not seem to have a problem with it unless they are causing problems. Most kids just want to experience the freedom of being able to stay up as long as they want. They are busy all day with school, after school activities, work, sports, etc. This is their vacation also, so if they want to stay out late with new friends that is fine with me. My kids know if they get in any kind of trouble that would be the last time they had any type of freedom. So far, so good. The teens are hard pressed to get into any kind of trouble, they mostly just hang out on deck and talk....yes, I am sure some at some time have had incidents, but the majority are just looking to get away from the day to day pressure of school and work. The same reason adults want to get away.

I would never even hint at the idea that those teens were involved....to me it sounds like they were trying to help, not hurt.

MJ

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by dizneykids
my guess is the fire ran all the way from the bottom of the ship to the top of the stacks and was much more significant than disney wants its guests to know.

I'd really like to know exactly how extensive the fire damage is. According to press accounts on March 15, "Mark [Jaronski, spokesman for Disney Cruise Line,] said he did not know what caused the fire, which caused minimal damage."

Was it just that very hot, burning debris emerged from an incinerator pipe, landed on the top of the funnel structure, and started a fire -- so that the visible damage is really the only damage?

Or did a fire actually run from the bottom of the ship to the top of the stacks, so that there's signficant, though hidden, damage?

Again, I'm not concerned for my family's safety next week, but I am concerned about the reliability of the ship if there's been a significant fire that may have damaged or destroyed other systems within its path.

I would feel better if DCL were now to issue a factual statement that doesn't just use the word "minimal" but that describes exactly what they found on Saturday when the ship was in port.

 

[DisneyKids]

"Again, I'm not concerned for my family's safety next week, but I am concerned about the reliability of the ship if there's been a significant fire that may have damaged or destroyed other systems within its path. "

I would think that if DCL and the Coast Guard agree that the ship is sea worthy and that all systems are a go, then we have to assume that it is. More detail would be nice, and perhaps comforting, but I think it sounds safe and that things are operating OK. Safety is a major concern for Disney as is the whole experience while being a guest. That would be damamged if problems still remained. I don't think they would take a chance.

 

[Joe & Joanne]

Hmmmmm?

 

[mikeymars]

Ten more cents: I'm with Garnet on this issue of "ahem....by the way, just exactly what were these "teens" doing out on deck at 4am?" I'm not implying that they caused the fire, and if they did discover it, fine, but come on people - anyone implying it's "business as usual" for teens on a cruise ship to be hanging around an open deck at that hour is stretching things. Also, as for this supposed "tradition" that teens stay up "all night" on the last night of the cruise, only one problem: Friday night is the last night of the cruise. The fire happened on THURSDAY night.

 

[wdwgoose]

big or small i do believe the coast guard would have had to check the ship out being it sails from U.S.A. the ships now with all saftey equipment and state of the art ect. i believe its safer than drive on our roads anyways could have been from sout build up inside the stack just be on the aft. deck when the ship powers up or just cruiseing at 22 knotts you will get the ideal

on secound thought anyone want to trade cruises ????? we still have 52 days 21 hours 33 mins. till we leave :~{

gaRry

 

[johnf]

My God people get a life!! I've been following the threads about the fire for a few days now (I even started one) and all of you who are questioning why teens are on the deck at 4 am are WAY off base. I was on the 3/9 cruise and every teen that I saw on that ship were well behaved and polite. These were NOT trouble makers. My wife and I had our High Tea at Palo's on Thursday afternoon and sat next to the parents of the teen (17 year old) who reported the fire and according to them, their son had fallen asleep on the deck with some friends and immediately when they saw the fire did all that they could to get it reported. After he got the fire reported, he immediately called his parents' room to let them know he was ok.

I've said it once and I'll say it again...Disney did a FANTASTIC job about taking care of the problem and protecting the passengers. All I hear on this board is a lot of whining and complaining about a few minor inconveniences. THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES WHEN YOU TAKE A CRUISE! We were lucky that we weren't delayed in all in getting to Castaway Cay and that we didn't have to get off the ship. Captain Mateboer did a GREAT job and his crew performed like true professionals.

There is NOTHING wrong with teens being out all night if they want to as long as they don't disturb others. THEY ARE ON VACATION!!!!! If you don't trust your children - DON'T BRING THEM WITH YOU!

Ok.....I'll get off my soapbox now.

johnf
Palm Harbor, FL

 

[Matty02]

Ya Know, I just gotta thank JohnF...

I am a teen and having done a few Disney Cruises, there are nights that you are out late. I think there was one night that I made it to bed by 2am, and after that I was out later and later each night. Was I causing trouble? No. None whatsoever. The fact that teens are out doesn't mean that they started a fire. Maybe if they really did spot the fire, some of you on this board should be thanking them instead of accusing them. Remember that Disney said that the fire was first noticed by a castmember looking at a security camera. Why don't you all just give Disney the benefit of the doubt. For those of you who wonder how safe the boat is: Don't you think that sending out a boat that might sink is a little more liability than refunding all the cruises? Yeah. I am sure Disney would rather refund cruises than have their boat sink in the ocean.

Every cruise I have been on I have stayed out late and for some people on this board to say that teens who stay out late cause trouble just drives me nuts. There are night security patrols on the boat and ya know, they keep a good eye on what is happening. We saw the night security guard at least once every night, sometimes more. He was always VERY VERY nice to us, and never seemed to have a problem with us.

All teens don't cause trouble and I am glad some adults on this board are mature enough to realize that. For the rest of you, I am very sorry that you have such a sad outlook on teens, because really... there aren't as many bad ones as you seem to think.

 

[txtara]

DH here..and I agree w/JohnF..I myself was going to go to sleep on the upper decks..because of my back..by was just to chicken to..these are teenagers..and if there parents can afford this cruise and trust them..let it be.I walked around the deck at 1130p on the last night and saw lots of them hanging around and talking around the arcade quietly...I met alot of the teens that week..and they all seemed to be very nice....especially the ones hugging and paddling on CC..and I guess no-one here was ever a teen...its tough to be one these days..and they do deserve a vacation just like us..we flew back to dallas with a plane full of highland park school kids..they all knew my sister-in-law from hp middle..and the kids were in her gifted and talanted class..soo ease up...there are some good ones out there..

 

[@GoofyNut]

Matty02 .... I must commend you on your post. It is such a shame that a lot of adults have problems with some people (teens, minorities, etc) and never get over it. From then on they quickly judge all by the few troublemakers. I have to say I'm a middle aged person that has seen both the good and bad in all ages, colors, nationalities, etc ..... it's time we all stop typecasting.

I'm not going to object to anyone who wants to stay out late (or early) and enjoy every minute of their vacation or cruise. I remember many a vacation when I wanted to spend every last minuite with my new found friends .... we weren't hurting anyone or thing.

Disney ships have always been a place where you feel safe and can let your teens out on their own and have a good time. I's just possible that there is no place where they live that they can wander and enjoy just as safely.

It's nice that you enjoyed your cruise and met a lot of new friends. I hope you can take away many good memories and not let some "finger pointing" ruin things for you.

I'm sure Disney would never risk anyone's safety in sailing a ship that may in anyway be dangerous. I have faith in Disney cause on my last cruise I saw them in action when they had to take off one of their own for emergency medical surgery .... they were great.

OK - I vented, now I feel better. Let's all give Disney the benefit of the doubt and be glad no one was hurt. If the teens did spot the fire, praise them, don't condemn them.

 

[Matty02]

Thanks for those adults who are coming back and not insulting some of us. I also had an experience on a cruise where a girl was laying down at a dance and no one thought anything of it until she wouldnt wake up when the dance was over. Disney handled it great... i mean picture this: we all were friends and one of your friends won't wake up.

Our teen counselors called for help first and then one went took all of us out of the room and the other stayed with the girl and helped her younger sister in dealing with the problem. The ship doctor came and all ended up working out, but like it something I will never forget. Disney's staff did a great job of dealing with that situation... i mean there were a ton of kids crying and none of us could do anything... and of course there was the younger sister who was in tears.... so ya know... Disney knows how to handle things and make sure its done the right way.

Actually, on that same cruise I had a friends father pass away back home and two of the teen counselors went out of their way to make sure I was ok, because I was pretty shaken up after it happened. Heck, I was in the ocean, I couldn't do anything for the girl expect talk to her online... and a one of the Teen Counselors sat and talked with me. It was great.

Disney Is The Best!