Royal Caribbean International is now in the unwelcome position of having a public relations problem, in the wake of Carnival’s difficulties. On 27 May, three days into a seven-day cruise from Baltimore, a fire broke out on the aft mooring deck on Grandeur of the Seas, causing damage to the stern.
At about 0230 the alarm was sounded, calling passengers to their muster stations, where they spent four hours while the ship’s crew extinguished the fire. Grandeur sailed to Freeport in the Bahamas, where the cruise was terminated, and the passengers were flown back.
Initially, the following cruise was cancelled, but once the damage had been assessed it was decided that the ship would be out of action until her 12 July departure. She was moved to the Grand Bahama Shipyard for repairs, and at the time of writing the cause of the fire had not been disclosed.
