A fire occured this afternoon on the Icon of the Seas, while the Royal Caribbean cruise ship was docked in Costa Maya, Mexico.

As predicted, the cruise line promptly released the usual talking points that: (1) the fire was “small,” (2) caused “brief” power loss, and (3) was “quickly extinguished.” Fortunately, no one has stated that there were any injuries to passengers or crew members.

The popular Cruise Radio reports that “power failed throughout the ship, impacting elevators, air conditioning, service stations, and cabins.”

A Royal Caribbean spokesperson spoke by telephone to Cruise Radio and covered all of the usual PR bases, stating that “a small fire occurred on the Icon of the Seas on Tuesday. The fire was quickly extinguished, and the ship also experienced a brief loss of power.”

A PR announcement was also made on the cruise ship which stated, in part: “There has been an incident on Icon of the Seas on the lower decks, non-technical spaces. Our highly trained crew members are dealing with the situation at hand . . .”

It is curious that the “Only In Dade” site reports, “according to one of the passengers, a loud explosion occurred . . . ” I wonder exactly what that was about?

This is the second power loss of the Icon of the Seas with the first occuring on May 19th, according to Cruise Hive and Cruise Radio.

If you are on the Icon of the Seas, as a guest or crew member, and have details about the fire or images of the fire team responding to the incident, please contact us.

If you have any comments or questions, please join the discussion on our Facebook page.

June 26, 2024 Update: Crew Center reports that according to an unnamed source, the fire was “in the engine room.” Also, “shortly after the initial incident, a second emergency was announced with an Alpha code for a medical emergency at the aft gangway. Some passengers aboard the Icon of the Seas reported that the first emergency calls were for the forward engine rooms . . . ” 

Most “coverage’ by the usual newspapers contain hyperbolic, over-the-top nothing-to see-here cheerleading, with virtually no facts, like this: “There were ‘no injuries‘ and the ‘small fire‘ – which was ‘isolated to a crew area‘ – was ‘quickly extinguished.’ The ship’s backup power was ‘activated immediately,’ and the main power systems were restored.”  https://www.usatoday.com/…/royal-caribbean…/74214662007/

Image credit: Icon of the Seas – Chakie2 CC BY-SA 4.0 commons / wikimedia; fire team on cruise ship descending stairs – Only In Dade.