Carnival Splendor Welcomes First Passengers since Fire

Carnival Splendor Welcomes First Passengers since Fire

The Carnival Splendor welcomed its first passengers since it emerged from dry dock to repair damages from an engine fire that crippled the ship last November. The vessel hosted travel agents and media on Saturday night at its homeport of Long Beach, Calif., before it embarked on it first Mexican Riviera cruise in three and a half months. The overnight stay (the ship remained docked) was a thank-you to travel agents, whom Carnival President and CEO Gerry Cahill lauded as instrumental in the logistics of rebooking guests who were affected by the accident.

At an onboard media briefing, Cahill also thanked the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S Navy, the Port of San Diego (where the ship docked after several days adrift following the fire) and the Port of San Francisco (where the repairs were made) for their help. In addition, he thanked Carnival employees and other who worked 24/7, including over the holidays, to get the ship back into shape.

The fire on Nov. 8 caused damage in the aft engine room and in two switchboard rooms above, and left the ship without power for several days. They were the only areas of the 3,006-passenger ship that were damaged, other than a few areas of carpeting, which sustained water damage from fire sprinklers.

The ship received a new 218,000-pound diesel engine, two 106,000-pound alternators, and 110 miles of cabling. In addition, Carnival took preventive measures, including installing insulation on its cabling and under the switchboard areas. While in dry dock, Carnival also did some routine maintenance.

Cahill noted that the Carnival Splendor has been thoroughly inspected by the U.S. Coast Guard and Lloyd’s Registry, a ship classification society, which monitored the repair process during dry docks in San Diego and San Francisco.

The line spent approximately $65 million to repair the ship and compensate affected passengers, which included refunds and a free future cruise, among other things. The amount also takes into account lost revenue from the cancelled cruises. In all, about 47,000 guests were affected.

The Splendor departs the Long Beach Cruise Terminal every Sunday on week-long cruises to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas, on Mexico’s Pacific Coast. With the Splendor’s resumption of service, combined with the Carnival Paradise’s year-round three- and four-day Baja voyages, Carnival Cruise Lines will return to its normal passenger volume from Long Beach, carrying nearly 400,000 passengers a year.

The U.S. Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board are still investigating and have yet to determine the official cause of the fire, but Cahill said there was a catastrophic failure on diesel generator No. 5. The temperature in the engine room became extremely hot, and the insulation on the cabling melted, he said. In addition, the switchboard control rooms sustained heat damage.

The fire was a first for Carnival, and the line has formed a Fire Safety Task Force consisting of shore-side and onboard employees, who are charged with detecting and preventing any future incidents fleetwide.