Grandeur of the Seas Routed to Freeport, The Bahamas After Fire On Board

Grandeur of the Seas 

All Guests and Crew Safe and Accounted for While Ship's Condition is being Evaluated

Grandeur of the Seas arrived in Freeport, The Bahamas, this morning at approximately 10:15 a.m. ET. Grandeur of the Seas was en route to CocoCay, The Bahamas, when the ship experienced a fire in the mooring area in the aft of the ship at approximately 2:50 a.m. ET. The fire was extinguished at 4:58 a.m. and the ship was redirected to Freeport for further evaluation.

Nearby at the time, Carnival Cruise Lines' Carnival Sensation was standing by to assist if the need arose.

In an abundance of caution, the Captain deemed it necessary to muster all guests to their assembly stations during the incident. All 2,224 guests and 796 crew have been accounted for, and guests have since been allowed to return to most staterooms and public areas.

The safety of our guests and crew is our top priority, and we will continue to focus on their immediate needs and concerns. Medical staff has responded to several calls for medical assistance, but none of them have been medical emergencies. The calls have included fainting, reports of high blood pressure, and an ankle sprain.

Throughout, the ship's power, propulsion and communications systems functioned uninterrupted.

Royal Caribbean International's President and CEO Adam Goldstein and a Guest Care team are en route to Freeport to meet guests.

A dedicated telephone hotline has been established for family members of guests at 1-888-824-0012 or internationally at +1-408-916-9000. The cruise line requests that only families of guests use the telephone numbers in order to help ease call volume and ensure that they can receive information as quickly as possible.

Grandeur of the Seas was on a 7-night sailing that departed Baltimore, Maryland, on May 24, and includes port calls to Port Canaveral, Florida; CocoCay and Nassau, The Bahamas. Part of Royal Caribbean International's fleet of cruise ships, the ship was launched in December 1996 and recently refurbished in May 2012. Grandeur of the Seas has a maximum capacity of 2,446 guests;measures 916 ft. long and 105.6 ft. in width; and has a cruising speed of 19 knots.

Adam Goldstein, President & CEO, and
Anders Aasen, AVP Technical Services,
inspect the damage on deck six.

Update: Grandeur of the Seas will remain docked overnight in Freeport. Some guests are staying onboard, while others have chosen to spend the day ashore. A number of guests in staterooms affected by the fire will be put up in hotels in Freeport.

Information on Grandeur of the Seas' current sailing and upcoming sailing will be announced as soon as it becomes available.

Images Courtesy of Royal Caribbean International