Cruise ship returns; Passengers ready to travel again – Florida Today

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Video: Freedom of the Seas leaves Port Canaveral

PORT CANAVERAL _ Sharon Watkins was fast asleep in her cruise ship cabin when she was suddenly awakened by the sounds of a blaring alarm.

In that heart-flinching moment Watkins sat up more than a little stunned.

“I immediately got up, put on some clothes and went to see what was happening. I saw a crew member and they said everybody has to rush to their muster stations. I thought that maybe it was another drill,” said the Jacksonville woman, one of about 15 family members travelling aboard the Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas. “They told me don’t even worry about a life jacket, just to move.”

It was a frantic moment for many of the 3,600 passengers and 1,300 crew members Thursday morning as thick black smoke began billowing out of an engine compartment as it sailed to Jamaica.

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Dramatic video showed the 1,112-foot long ship in port at Falmouth, Jamaica, with black smoke overtaking a portion of the ship. Area firefighters were also called to assist with putting out the blaze, according to media reports.

One crew member suffered burns while trying to put out the fire, Royal Caribbean said in a statement released last week. Sunday, the 15-deck ship pulled into Cruise Terminal 1 at Port Canaveral, sporting a new paint job, along with other repairs, and ready to depart for another packed excursion to the Caribbean Sea. The U.S. Coast Guard was also slated to inspect the ship before it returned to sea.

Passengers lined up in the terminal said they were undeterred about travelling aboard the vessel and said they put faith in the ship’s crew.

“They’re continuing the cruise. We heard about the fire on Thursday and got an email from a friend,” said Bob Corriston, a city councilman for the town of Leland, N.C., before boarding the Freedom of the Seas for a seven-day trip.

“If it’s time for the Lord calls you home, we’ll go home,” he said, laughing.

Another passenger 16-year-old Bob Johnson of Miami, was travelling with his uncles on the ship when the fire broke out. “I was on Deck 11. I just saw the black smoke. I wasn’t worried because it looked like the crew was able to handle it,” he said, adding that the whole trip was “fun.”

Watkins, who has been on a dozen cruises, said she enjoys travelling by ship and plans to go on another cruise in November. She also said that the only issue she had with the emergency aboard the Freedom of the Seas was the lack of good communication with passengers.

“I can understand that maybe they didn’t want to panic anyone, but we sat there for a minute without knowing what was going on. After about 30 minutes of sitting there, we started to smell the smoke and we were like, ‘what the hell is going on,” she said, adding that overall, while the trip was probably the most memorable, she had a good time.

“We still had a nice time.”

Contact Gallop at 321-242-3642, jdgallop@floridatoday.com or Twitter@JDGallop