News reports are saying that the cigarette was on the balcony. Not in the room. There has to be more to it than that though. I can understand how quickly the fire would spread from a balcony. Easier and quicker than inside a room. There must have been a lot of 'stuff' on that balcony to ignite.
Possibly it ignited the "astroturf," assuming the balcony is carpeted with it. And since the ship was underway, the wind would have easily spread it.
I agree, I'm thankful the damage to the passengers - as well as the ship - wasn't worse.
Wildwon, you may want to make sure to keep in touch with Princess - not this week, but in a few - as they will have lots of passengers to contact. I'm sure they'll start repairs as soon as they can.
On Thursday night, Lim reported that Princess Cruises had sent letters to passengers stating that full cruise fares and air transportation will be reimbursed. Passengers who booked air transportation separately were advised to fill out a form and state their destination cities. Princess will arrange flights for Friday and Saturday, Lim reported.
i was on that ship just last week!!!soooo scary, we had a wonderful time and it is so sad to think of all those vacationers who time was cut short and couldn't enjoy the rest of their cruise...
I am certainly no expert on fires and this is just my opinion, but it seems to me that if the fire had started inside a cabin, the sprinkler system would have put it out. If it did start inside and the sprinkler system did NOT work correctly, there would have been more loss of life. Thank God their wasn't.
It looks to me like it started on a balcony. I read a first hand account that said they woke up during the night to the alarm and found their balcony was a wall of flames. I have been on four Princess cruises (never on the Star) and the flooring on the balcony is some sort of plastic mat. It must be flammable.
Like I said, I am no expert and this is just my opinion.
I smoke, but NEVER in my cabin. I smoke only in designated areas of the ship and do my best not to annoy others. Anyone who throws a lit cigarette off any deck or balcony is not thinking straight, drunk or not!
So far, no determination of the cause has been made (as of 3/24)
Just my $.02
Dennis
At this time it looks like the ship will sail The only one canceled so far is the cruise that leaves on 3/26/06. I have been offered an upgrade onmy 5/15/06 sailing date. So at this time it appears they will be sailing :-) They didn't say if my cabin on the Lido deck was effected. I don't care. they have a room on the Dolphin deck it is fine. I AM READY TO SAIL! My thoughts and prayers are will those that lost their loved one and those injured. We all must be very careful . Personally I alwyas have cabins with a balcony and I can not see how it could have spread... there is nothing to really burn. I am not sure we will every know the true cause. Happy Sailing to all
Wanda
Don't mean to rain on anyone's parade or cruise for that matter but I think you're going to see the Star Princess out of action for atleast a month or two in order to complete repairs. The ship will NOT sail with passengers damaged like that due to SOLAS regulations and for insurance reasons. For those of you that are booked in the near future I would start making the necessary arrangements.
As far as the fire is concerned I am very doubtful that it started solely on a balcony. I would more likely believe either a cigarette or someone knocked over a candle. Either way, I am also very suprised how much the fire spread.
Bottom line, they are very, very lucky that they didn't lose the entire ship.
For all those that booked with Travel Agent's you TA's should be able to get the most updated status on the sailings. They most likely with offer refunds, or future cruise credit, or possibly fit you onto another ship.
The original report on the news the other day stated it was started by a cigarette and the fire was so hot it melted the sprinkler heads.
We live on a barrier island. A house fire during the winter with strong winds is a lost house in minutes, so I guess I am not surprised that underway winds would whip up a pretty nasty blaze. You know, I was in a hotel fire once, I really feel for those people, it is no fun at all.
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north beach nj
major celebrity fan, but
i miss the norway
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