Tag Archives: Grand Bahama shipyard

Grandeur of the Seas Returns

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Grandeur of the Seas Returns

Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur returns to Baltimore

By: Marilyn Green

Grandeur of the Seas was welcomed her homeport of Baltimore flying an historic flag. // (c) 2013 Royal Caribbean International

Grandeur of the Seas was welcomed her homeport of Baltimore flying an historic flag. // (c) 2013 Royal Caribbean International

On July 12, Royal Caribbean International’s Grandeur of the Seas was welcomed back to her homeport of Baltimore, after six weeks’ recovery from a May 27 fire in the Bahamas, which is still under investigation.

Grandeur previously had a five-week, $48 million revitalization last year, adding balconies and Oasis-class features including flat-screen televisions, an outdoor movie screen and a redesigned atrium equipped for aerial shows, which received heavy applause as guests captured the Four Seasons spectacular. There are also new digital signs by the elevators that take guests through the daily schedule, give directions and display restaurant menus, all in several languages.

But only a few weeks after the ship started service out of Baltimore, the fire broke out. It was extinguished without injuries, although the passengers were called to their muster stations as a precaution. The ship never lost its power, propulsion or communications.

As Grandeur sailed back into Baltimore in July, the ship flew the historic Star-Spangled Banner flag as it passed Fort McHenry, as well as the U.S. Navy’s “Don’t Give up the Ship” flag flown by Commodore Perry during the War of 1812. Clearly, agents took up the message: Royal executives hosted 1,600 travel partners on a July 12 sailing prior to the resumption of revenue service, and attendees were warm in their praise.

The city was even more enthusiastic in its welcome for Grandeur in the wake of the announcement that Carnival Pride would be leaving the homeport in 2014. Grandeur of the Seas is committed to year-round cruises from Baltimore until at least April 2015.

Passengers refunded as Grandeur of the Seas repairs continue

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Passengers refunded as Grandeur of the Seas repairs continue

Passengers refunded as Grandeur of the Seas repairs continueRoyal Caribbean has been forced to re-accommodate a number of guests due to embark on tomorrow’s Grandeur of the Seas sailing as work on the ship continues following a fire.

A blaze, which engulfed part of the ship on May 27 and took about two hours to extinguish,caused several sailings to be cancelled.

The ship is setting sail from Baltimore to Bermunda tomorrow but the occupants of the 78 staterooms affected by the fire have be given a full refund with finishing touches still being carried out.

A spokeswoman for Royal Caribbean said: “In the past weeks, Grandeur of the Seas staff and crew and many others have worked tirelessly to restore the onboard spaces that were affected by a fire in May.

“Every member of Grandeur of the Seas’ staff and crew demonstrated a heroic response that night and has since been dedicated to bringing the ship back into service.

“While Grandeur of the Seas is ready to welcome guests again, there are still a few finishing touches that remain to be done. We unfortunately had to re-accommodate some guests on the July 12 cruise to later sailings so that additional needed workers may stay onboard in order to complete these remaining tasks as quickly as possible.

“We sincerely appreciate our guests understanding as we ensure that Grandeur of the Seas continues to deliver an unmatched vacation experience from Baltimore, Maryland.”

The affected guests have also been given a 25% cruise credit for future sailings.

Carnival Triumph returns to duty!

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Carnival Triumph returns to duty!

The Carnival Triumph has successfully undergone repair-work following its ill-fated engine failure and subsequent problems in Alabama, and is now ready to return to active duty.

Extensive work was required to address damage caused by the engine room fire that left 3,143 passengers and more than 1,000 crew stranded for five days without power in February.

Originally, this work had been scheduled to take place at the BAE Shipyard in Mobile, Alabama. However, the ship ran into further problems here, undergoing extensive exterior damage after a freak storm caused the vessel to break free of its moorings and drift into a dredger.

Following these various setbacks, the Triumph was moved to Grand Bahama Shipyard in May, where it could finally undergo the repairs that were required.

As well as being fixed up, the vessel has also been equipped with new emergency power capabilities to avoid a repeat of the February incident, when Carnival came under severe pressure from the cruise industry press after passengers stranded on the ship were left without running water.

It has also been fitted with improved fire safety technology and new operating redundancies that were developed as part of the $300 million (£190 million) fleet-wide review that Carnival carried out after the Triumph incident.

According to Seatrade-Insider, Carnival also took the opportunity while the ship was out of action to give it a bit of a makeover as well, with enhanced dining and bar venues, including a new Guy’s Burger Joint, BlueIguana Cantina, Alchemy Bar and EA Sports Bar.

Upon returning to Galveston in Texas today, the Triumph will now resume its schedule of cruises to Cozumel and Progreso in the Caribbean.

But while the ship may look as good as new, it appears that passengers have not yet forgiven and forgotten. In fact, a recent poll of US adults by Harris Interactive indicated that people are less trusting of major cruise lines than they were before the Triumph incident. Unsurprisingly, faith in Carnival Cruises appears to have been shaken the most.

How do you feel about the state of the industry and its major players following the Triumph debacle?