Bermuda Trip Cancelled After Cruise Ship Fire
[Updated] A Royal Caribbean cruise ship headed from Baltimore to the Bahamas caught on fire yesterday [May 27] causing the rest of the cruise to be cancelled, and the ship’s planned trip to Bermuda next week has also been cancelled.
The fire broke out on the Grandeur of the Seas at about 2:50am, and was extinguished two hours later. Royal Caribbean said 2,224 guests and 796 crew have been accounted for, and there have been no injuries reported.
The captain announced over the intercom that passengers should go to their muster stations, and room attendants began knocking on doors and telling passengers to grab their life jacket and that it wasn’t a drill, the Associated Press reports.
A statement from the Company said, “Unfortunately, due to the time needed to repair the damage caused by the fire, it is necessary to cancel Grandeur of the Seas’ next voyage, which was scheduled to depart Baltimore, Maryland, on Friday, May 31. We are deeply sorry for this unexpected development in our guests’ upcoming vacation.
“A dedicated telephone hotline has been established for guests on these two sailings. Guests may call us at 1-888-824-0012 in the U.S. or +1-408-916-9000 internationally.
“We continue to assess the situation onboard Grandeur of the Seas and gather the necessary information in order to make a decision regarding future sailings.”
According to the 2013 Cruise Schedule, the Grandeur of the Seas is scheduled to make 15 stops in Bermuda this year, with the next one listed for June 2nd.
Update 2.58pm: Minister of Tourism Development and Transport Shawn Crockwell today confirmed that the planned visit of the Grandeur of the Seas on Sunday, June 2nd has been cancelled after a fire onboard the ship.
The Department of Marine and Ports is liaising with the ship’s local agents to determine how the incident will affect the ship’s remaining 12 calls to the Island.
Minister Crockwell said: “It is unfortunate that Royal Caribbean suffered a fire onboard the Grandeur, but it is fortunate that no one was injured and the incident was brought under control quickly. Royal Caribbean is one of our valued cruise partners and we hope the Grandeur returns to service and to Bermuda as soon as possible.”
Royal Caribbean have not yet been able to determine a time frame to repair the ship and return to service but Minister Crockwell said he would keep the Bermuda public informed.
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Category: Accidents and fires, All, News
Personally ‘ I’m starting to believe that so much emphasis is placed on how fast that these Cruise Ships can get to
Sea and that much of the critical maintenance is lost – or never gets done.
Looks like money first cost them a whole lot of money!
The assumption being the fire was caused by lack of maintenance. According to the deck plans, that area appears to be around the back of one of their main dining rooms. Kitchen fire, someone smoking where they shouldn’t?? Guess we will have to wait and see what is reported.
Well that sucks for BDA…
Bring on the RCCL ‘s Oasis and Allure of the Seas! You think the NCL’s Breakaway is big….
I was on that ship in 2005. Never climbed the rock wall….