Royal Caribbean may be set to implement a policy of nonsmoking staterooms, but a couple of weeks ago there was one stateroom on Enchantment of the Seas that just didn't want to go along.
About 7pm on August 30, a small fire broke out in the closet of a stateroom on the ship's starboard side. The sprinkler near the closet activated and a fire alarm was sent to the bridge. The high velocity fog spray system completely contained and suppressed the fire. When the fire crew arrived, all that there was for them to do was spray a couple of shots of water to cool the remaining hot spots. The affected and adjacent staterooms were checked for structural damage and none was found.
Damage was limited to the closet area in the stateroom. Contrary to the urban legend growing on the internet, only the one stateroom was damaged, although passengers in nearby staterooms were moved that night due to the smoke smell. Repairs were not begun on the stateroom where the fire occurred so the cause could be thoroughly investigated when the ship returned to Ft. Lauderdale. Once the information was collected, repairs were made during the following cruise.
Obviously the system worked well detecting the fire, setting off an alarm and extinguishing it, all while it was so small that no passengers or crew were aware of it.
