Fire on Upper Deck on the Ecstacy

[tbowman]

At 2.30am I got a wake up call that I did not request....I woke up to the fire alarms going off. I got up and immediatatley smelled smoke, I heard yelling in the hall. I opened my cabin door which was E189 on the Empress Deck and there was a lady in her undies yelling that the ship was on fire and for us to evacuatate. I got dressed, grabbed my purse, sail and sign card and my life jacket.

There was NO crew members anywhere to be seen! No one telling us if the fire was up or down, foward or aft. All I knew was that the Deck was hazy with smoke and that the smell was horrible. I ended up following others up to the Atlantic Deck to our muster station. Still no crew. It was more then 15 minutes after arriving at the Starlight that the first crew member showed up. She just told us basicly to shut up and sit down. An elderly lady was injured during the movement and another had an asthma attack due to all the smoke.

Fianaly the crew started showing up with medical help. I do not know for sure who or what started the fire, but I was told that some guy set towles afire in his cabin. I did see someone (a male) being arrested before debarkation and being led away in hand cuffs off the ship by Customs agents.

What makes me mad was that during the fire drill on the first day, they said that in emergency that crew members in florescent green hats would be there to direct us...they did not show up until about 5 minutes before we were allowed to go back to our cabins on the E deck.

I will say that the Cruise Director, Steve, was great. He did try to keep us up to date, after the fact. I never saw the damage myself as I did not have any business on that deck, but I heard it was pretty bad. I was told that Cabin U223 was pretty much gone.

[spencercoop]

Wow! The Ecstasy had another fire. They had one back in the late 1990's or the early 2000's.

[msshawn]

I'm glad to know that everyone was ok.

[Trip]

Boy, nothing scarier than a fire at sea! It sounds like the crew needs to be retrained....thankfully, no one was injured.

[Marc]

Where is the report on CruiseMates news page? This is not even on Events at Sea yet.

Are you making up the report? If not, you need to provide a report to CruiseMates, CNN, etc.

[tbowman]

Originally Posted by Marc

Where is the report on CruiseMates news page? This is not even on Events at Sea yet.

Are you making up the report? If not, you need to provide a report to CruiseMates, CNN, etc.

I am NOT making this up. You can call Carnival to confirm. And I dont know why its not listed yet, I did look for it when I got home this afternoon but was not able to find it. It happend this am at around 2.30 on the Upper Deck in Cabin U223. I am sure that there will be MORE people to post, once everyone gets home. I just happend to live closer to Galveston then some.

I called Carnival and spoke with a sup. I was told that it was a small fire (how small I dont know, it did cause quite a bit of smoke and several cabins on that deck were not available to their occupants for at least 3 hours and at least one passenger had to be moved - I was in line behind her at the pursers desk - and one couple in line to disembark were not allowed back into their cabin right away and thier carpet was soaking wet). Carnival is stating that they are trying to keep it quiet. I suppose it would be bad plubicity. So I suppose that is why there are not any reports about it.

[Marc]

Thanks for the follow up. Fires at sea are a serious situation. It is amazing that it has been almost 24 hours and there has been nothing reported.

Glad you survived it fine and it didn't ruin a wonderful cruise.

Again, thanks for the follow-up.

[tbowman]

It was an overall good cruise. I do have a couple of complaints.

The first has to do with the check in. No lines, great folks. I was asked for the card that I booked with, I told the lady that I did not want to use that card for anything, she told me that it was being used to verify my ID. I gave her the card and she swiped it. I told her again that I did not want ANTHIING on that card as I had cash to establish an account. I went aboard and went immediatly to the pursers desk to do that. A couple of days later, I checked my account, and lo and behold Carnival was holding $50. I went to the pursers desk to ask why and was told it was for gratuties. But they also took $50 from my cash account. As I was traveling alone, I knew that I should only be $50 total. So it took about 10 minutes to get it fixed, the hold was released today.

2nd complaint: I never NOT ONCE saw my cabin steward. I had booked a 1A and did not have any clue about the bed. I kept hitting my head at night, I talked to another cruiser who told me how to pull the bed out. I had tried paging my cabin steward on at least 3 different occisions and tried to find him/her in the hall or by asking other crew. Never saw him. I did get my cabin cleaned daily and I got the turn down so I know he was there somewhere.

I will say that the cruise director was awesome. The table service was very good. I have a food allergy and they bent over backwards to make sure that I was taken care of. The entertainment was very nice. I loved every aspect of my trip. I did not care much for Cozumel, I did love Progresso however. Nothing above will stop me from crusing on Carnival again. I left the highest marks on the comment card. I just wish that the crew had of been more visable during the fire.

[Aerogirl]

I would say Carnival has some explaining to do. Who's minding the store?? I would be on the phone 27/7 making waves not for anything free but for the protection of the passengers. Thank the lord that it was something that could be controlled.

[Pocono Pug]

As Marc has said fires at sea or anywhere for that matter are dangerous. Thank god noone was seriosly injured or killed. Thanks for the report

[briguy]

Originally Posted by tbowman

It was an overall good cruise. I do have a couple of complaints.

The first has to do with the check in. No lines, great folks. I was asked for the card that I booked with, I told the lady that I did not want to use that card for anything, she told me that it was being used to verify my ID. I gave her the card and she swiped it. I told her again that I did not want ANTHIING on that card as I had cash to establish an account. I went aboard and went immediatly to the pursers desk to do that. A couple of days later, I checked my account, and lo and behold Carnival was holding $50. I went to the pursers desk to ask why and was told it was for gratuties. But they also took $50 from my cash account. As I was traveling alone, I knew that I should only be $50 total. So it took about 10 minutes to get it fixed, the hold was released today.

2nd complaint: I never NOT ONCE saw my cabin steward. I had booked a 1A and did not have any clue about the bed. I kept hitting my head at night, I talked to another cruiser who told me how to pull the bed out. I had tried paging my cabin steward on at least 3 different occisions and tried to find him/her in the hall or by asking other crew. Never saw him. I did get my cabin cleaned daily and I got the turn down so I know he was there somewhere.

I will say that the cruise director was awesome. The table service was very good. I have a food allergy and they bent over backwards to make sure that I was taken care of. The entertainment was very nice. I loved every aspect of my trip. I did not care much for Cozumel, I did love Progresso however. Nothing above will stop me from crusing on Carnival again. I left the highest marks on the comment card. I just wish that the crew had of been more visable during the fire.

If there was a fire on board with little or no assistance from staff I certainly wouldnt have left high marks on the comment card. Also, no cabin steward to help you would also cause me to mark down the card. Somebody ought to be fired for the lack of direction on a shipboard fire. There is simply no excuse whatsoever for this serious event. Keep in contact with Carnival and voice yours concerns until you are satisfied.

[tbowman]

Originally Posted by briguy

If there was a fire on board with little or no assistance from staff I certainly wouldnt have left high marks on the comment card. Also, no cabin steward to help you would also cause me to mark down the card. Somebody ought to be fired for the lack of direction on a shipboard fire. There is simply no excuse whatsoever for this serious event. Keep in contact with Carnival and voice yours concerns until you are satisfied.

I turned the card in before the fire. Trust me, had I not have turned it in, they would not have gotten such a high remark. I did note on the card about my cabin steward.

[Dave the Wave]

I was on Sensation once and never saw my steward. I kept trying to find him to get more ice and was always told he was off duty. I also had a 1A with a single and a bunk.

[Galveston]

As of 3:49 CST there is still no mention of what happened after doing 20 min. of thourough searching on google news etc...

[briguy]

My guess it was such a small fire that its not worth the negative PR to report it. Somebody burning towels would make a small time news story. If there is no serious damage then it will be kept under wraps.

[Elaine515]

I don't know if this is "legal" but here are more posts from others who were on this cruise with her...

'I was on this cruise, we had just returned to our cabin not long before this happened.
I heard some alarms and an announcement, but did not really understand what they said. We had our balcony door open (Cabin V3), I saw a lot of crew members shining flashlights into the water.......so we were thinking someone was overboard.....then a few minutes later they announced there was a fire but everything was under control. Then a few minutes later they said they were evacuating part of the deck where the fire was. About 45 minutes later they gave an all clear.
I personally did not talk to anyone directly affected, it was a little scary for a few minutes not knowing, but I think the cruise director Steve Cassel did a good job informing as much as needed.
There was a lot of people that didn't even know anything happened.......like my husband.....slept right through the announcements and sirens. '



"This is my first time posting, so please forgive me if I make any "forum etiquette" mistakes. I was also on the 2/7/09 - 2/12/09 Ecstacy cruise. I was in the casino and at approx. 2:30am the floor supervisors went to all tables and told everyone to leave. No explanation at all as to what was going on. When I asked for more information, I was simply told that I had to leave and return to my cabin. As I was returning to my cabin (Empress deck) I encountered many confused people with life jackets, luggage, etc. There was no sign of crew to direct any of the passengers. By the time I got to my cabin the smell of smoke was very strong and it was easy to figure out that something was on fire. I woke my wife, grabbed our passports, credit card, & lifevests and proceeded to our muster station. Again encountering many confused passengers and no crew to be found. Once on the Lido deck, many individuals wandering aruond asking each other what was going on, still no crew pressence. Finally, approx. 20 min. after leaving the casino, Steve Cassell came on the speakers and informed us that there had been a fire in a cabin on the Main deck (M-223 I think) and it was extinguished. Still have yet to see any crew on Lido. Several conversations with other passangers and no indication that anyone recieved any information or assistance from crew. The Ecstacy crew really dropped the ball and their lack of presence contributed to an increased sense of panic for the passengers we encountered. I hope someone at a higher level than the Captain of this ship will get involved and deal with the issues that occured. Reprimands and re-training, at a minimum, seem appropriate. It was a great cruise up to our exciting ending, and despite the horrible mismanagement of this incident, we am still booked for (2) more Carnival cruises this year and plan many more. "


I for one am not very happy if indeed there were no Carnival Staff around to guide the passengers, calm the passengers, tell us what to do etc....

[Phil&Liz]

This one bothers me abit since we will be on Ecstasy March 16th, cabin R132.

We just came back from Fantasy where I learned that Capt. Scala had been on Ecstasy and that they had won an award for excellence with the crew, etc.

I suppose the early hour might account for a slow crew response, tho not excuse it.

Phil & Liz

[cmautn1]

Originally Posted by Phil&Liz

This one bothers me abit since we will be on Ecstasy March 16th, cabin R132.


Phil & Liz

Me and my Wife got married on this cruise. Cabin R132 was not affected by the fire. It was the M200-M250 (even or odd side) that was affected.

I was told from someone across the hall that two cabins were completely gone, there was a hole in the wall of the room where the fire was and the carpets were burned in the halls. Also there was smoke damage on the side of the ship and the sprinklers turned on for everyone on that side of the fire wall for that deck.

As for us.....
First, we would have slept through the "alarm" going off. My father-in-law was staying a few doors down and came banging on our door to get us up. After we were in the hall, we then heard a faint alarm. From the time we left our room until about 15 minutes later while we sat...without seeing one carnival representative...until the cruise director came on over the intercom, everyone sat without information and scared. One of the women in our muster station was crying like she was going to die. Perhaps she'd have been a little more controlled, if anyone were around from the crew to calm her.

We then heard music next to our muster station. The bar next to us was never made aware of what was happening. As a matter of fact, the security guy who was checking ids at the door would NOT let guest who had their life vests on and were trying to get in (since their muster station was in that particular bar) to the bar because they were not dressed appropriately.

Then, I notified both my parents and my sister's family in their cabins, because they had yet to hear an "alarm" and had not been made aware that anything was happening.

While the end result was luckily just a small fire that damaged a couple of cabins, the truth is that carnival could not have possibly known the actual impact of that fire when the event first started until they put it out. This would suggest that in a potentially very dangerous situation, carnival was FAR from prepared. Had the fire been worse, I believe that the lack of organization from the crew would have resulted in a very bad situation for everyone.

Finally, the comment cards had already been turned in, and Carnival was probably thrilled about that. Every passenger that I spoke to after the event felt the same way my wife and I did. Whether it was the best cruise of your life or you'd never go on one again, Carnival's lack of organization and control in an actual event of emergency was ridiculous. So next time, instead of using an hour of my time for the emergency drills, perhaps carnival should use that for their own crew's practice. As for most of the passengers, we handled our end without any help from the crew.

[mehawk]

I hope it gets cleared up immediately. I am planning a cruise in May and another in early autumn and both will be on the Ecstasy.

[shipmate]

I still can't believe how a cruise ship fire like this doesn't hit the news anywhere. TV, internet, Carnival website, nothing!!! If it wasn't for this board, you would never know this fire ever happened. Plus, you would think that the ship would have to cancel their next week or two cruises so that they can repair the damages. And how about the people who are booked in those rooms for upcoming cruises. How are they notified?

Does someone from Carnival read these sites?

[ttam]

fiore at sea is extremely scary, what would you do on a submarine
just think
bob

[green_rd]

I think the crew and pax response demonstrates the difference between a drill and the real thing. Everybody knows the muster drill is coming and yet while some crew is on hand at the very beginnig they do rather trickle in as the pax do as well. The thought of pax heading to the muster stations with luggange in hand is a little amusing. If the ship had to be abandoned so would that luggage they lugged to the muster station.

How do you drill for this? Set off a false alarm at 2:30AM? Think about it, at 2:30 there is no staff on the passenger decks those that were up were doing a job. The rest were sleeping below the water line. I'm sure CCL will do an incident review and figure out how to respond better.

While we all want to know what's going on (that's why we use fora such as this) during an emergency the best thing you can do is what you are told. The crew does not have time to disucss the incident in progress and most probably had limited information (i.e. "get everyone out of the casino").

Oh well, I'm not sure what my poing is, other than I'm glad everyone is safe and hope the CCL will handle the next one better - and that I'm not on any ship that has a fire.

[Shirley Jones]

Originally Posted by mehawk

I hope it gets cleared up immediately. I am planning a cruise in May and another in early autumn and both will be on the Ecstasy.

mehawk I am like you I will be on her in about 47 days I hope everything is repaired and running at a normal pace again .How will they repair this while in use or will they keep this area off bounds and wait until dry dock ?this worries me that they didn't have a crew to help in any way !!!

[L Paschal]

In searching the web for news of the fire on board the Estascy, I found this web site. The fire did happen and it was far more serious than it appears to have been taken. My husband and I were only a few doors away on Main deck. At 2:30 in the morning we awoke to someone screaming in the hallway. We thought a fight might be going on but when the screaming increased and became closer my husband opened the door to see if help was needed. Our cabin filled with smoke and if you have never been in a situation like that, let me tell you that smoke does indeed affect you quickly. A Steward ran past and told us to get out that the ship was on fire. Later, when everyone was gathered together for an explanation, we spoke to the two girls that wound up saving every one's life by screaming. They were just returning to their cabins when they entered the hallway and saw the fire. Thinking the floor had already been abandoned and they had just come upon it, they turned and ran back down the hallway screaming to each other to "run, it's a fire". This screaming awoke many. Without that, no one would have woke up and these cabins have no escape other than the door. For the next two days, just from the short time that my husband and I were exposed to a cabin full of smoke, our lungs hurt from the constant cough and our throats burned with the taste of smoke and we woke both days with headaches. But on reflection, it was a better end than the alternative.

The response from the crew was lacking at best and deplorable at worst. But we are grateful to be alive and are still a little incredulous over the entire incident. It was actually a member of our tour group that played a major role in putting out the fire. Like us, he opened his door to the screaming in the hallway, but he was faced with the fire. He doused it twice with a trash can full of water before a steward showed up with a fire extinguisher. He and another passenger then helped a woman who had collapsed in the hallway to get up and out. She was unable to move without help.

We will still cruise because we love it, but we will always spend the extra money to have a balcony so we can sleep knowing that we can always JUMP!

[tbowman]

It used to be a big discussion on "edited for content", but they deleted the thread Monday with no reasons why.

I am sorry you had to go through all that too. You were much nearer the action then I was and I know you had more to deal with. I hope you are feeling better.

[tbowman]

Originally Posted by green_rd

I think the crew and pax response demonstrates the difference between a drill and the real thing. Everybody knows the muster drill is coming and yet while some crew is on hand at the very beginnig they do rather trickle in as the pax do as well. The thought of pax heading to the muster stations with luggange in hand is a little amusing. If the ship had to be abandoned so would that luggage they lugged to the muster station.

How do you drill for this? Set off a false alarm at 2:30AM? Think about it, at 2:30 there is no staff on the passenger decks those that were up were doing a job. The rest were sleeping below the water line. I'm sure CCL will do an incident review and figure out how to respond better.

While we all want to know what's going on (that's why we use fora such as this) during an emergency the best thing you can do is what you are told. The crew does not have time to disucss the incident in progress and most probably had limited information (i.e. "get everyone out of the casino").

Oh well, I'm not sure what my poing is, other than I'm glad everyone is safe and hope the CCL will handle the next one better - and that I'm not on any ship that has a fire.

The respose should be same reguardless of the time. Do you think your local fire departments have different criteria for AM vs PM fires? I will say it again, they (carnival) has a set of rules that they must abide by and they did not do so. Thankfully as we have seen it did not end up as the last fire on the Estascy did. I want to thank all those who woke me and those passengers who did the crew's job. Without yall, this story might have had a worse ending.

And I am very surprised that this did not make the news. Carnival is doing some serious downplays I can tell you that.

[bobsfamily]

Originally Posted by tbowman

It used to be a big discussion on "edited for content" but they deleted the thread Monday with no reasons why.

I am beginning to wonder about their "relationship" with cruise lines.

[green_rd]

Originally Posted by tbowman

The respose should be same reguardless of the time. Do you think your local fire departments have different criteria for AM vs PM fires? I will say it again, they (carnival) has a set of rules that they must abide by and they did not do so. Thankfully as we have seen it did not end up as the last fire on the Estascy did. I want to thank all those who woke me and those passengers who did the crew's job. Without yall, this story might have had a worse ending.

And I am very surprised that this did not make the news. Carnival is doing some serious downplays I can tell you that.

I was not trying to excuse CCL just trying to point out the difference between drill and reality.