At that moment, I saw a security guard run past with a life jacket on. He was running past the life boats on the upper outside deck. It shocked me for an instant, and I pointed it out to everyone. We dismissed it as a precautionary drill after some thought.
It was Fathers' Day, and I told Connie that Bruce and I were going downstairs to shop for his gift. Connie asked me not to...she wanted to go first. So we decided to have a drink in the air-conditioning of the Promenade Deck while she shopped. We took the stairs just one deck below.
The place was pretty empty, and we were deciding what to order when we noticed smoke literally "billowing" out of the disco. I knew the galley was beneath and guessed the chef was burning something (big time), but then we saw a group of crew members, walking toward us single file with their life jackets on. I stopped one of them and asked what was happening. The boy told us there was a small fire below deck, and the lowest cabins had a small bit of smoke. The PFDs were strictly precautionary and there was no need to panic. He walked away quickly after saying that. I wasn't satisfied, I must have looked a little scared, because another crew member, a girl who was (I think) a dealer, grabbed my arm and said, "The fire is pretty big, and there's a lot of smoke. Go to your cabin and get your life jackets." and then walked off.
Connie and Tim walked up at that time and we all decided to go downstairs to our cabin to get our life jackets. We were almost there when the captain made an announcement over the PA system. He said there was a small fire and the lower cabins were smokey. He wanted us all to immediately go to an outside deck and that there was no need to retrieive our jackets. He also asked us not to use the elevators (I don't know if they were shut down at this point...we didn't try).
Since we were just about there, we decided to get them anyway. However, our steward was "standing guard" at our door and would not let us in. There was no smoke on our deck at that time (but the smell was stronger), and he had his jacket on...so we wanted ours. He told us we couldn't enter the room as the captain's orders were to go to an outside deck. Bruce said, he knew that, but since we were here we'd like to get our life jackets anyway. The guy was insistent and Bruce wouldn't back down...we were all a little angry at this steward for not allowing us access to our room, but when Bruce insisted a little more loudly, he relented and let us in. I sealed up our luggage tight so the smoke odor wouldn't penetrate our clothes too much, we checked the safety deposit box, got our life jackets and headed out the door to the Lido deck.
We climbed the stairs to the Lido deck. It was very crowded and some people had their life jackets with them, but most did not. I don't think anyone had them actually on...I know we didn't, we were just carrying them. Just before you enter the outside area of the Lido deck, there's a foyer/lobby with doors on 3 sides leading to the pool area. The door directly facing aft (back ship) opens directly to the pool deck. The others (port and starboard) each open to an outside "hallway" of sorts. As you stand in this "hallway" facing aft, on one side is the wall to the lobby, and the other side is railing (and ocean). Everyone was trying to get out the door leading aft and it was a real bottleneck. So we opted for one to our left. (Starboard?...Wait..."Right is red...red is the color of port wine...so, I'm guessing left is starboard. I'll have to reseach this and edit it if I'm wrong.)
We exited the lobby and started to the pool area to grab a lounge chair or a table. Then the ship tipped left (starboard). It was pretty hard, and I nearly lost my balance. She righted herself, and then suddenly the whole thing listed "sharply" port. I was thrown up against the wall to the lobby. Y'know...when you panic and everything seems to be moving in slow motion and there's this "buzzing" sound in your ears? Well, I was panicking. I had a very clear view of the pool area at this point and all I remember seeing is tables, chairs, bar-carts, dishes, and people just sliding across the deck. All I could think of was "The Poseidon Adventure". It really didn't last that long (long enough, though) and finally everything was level again. We were all together still (I'm such a Mom...the first thing I did was count us!) and we homesteaded a lounge chair and stayed together. Oh yeah...we put our life jackets on now!
Connie pointed out all the black smoke coming out of the smoke stack. We all turned to look and a big puff came out of it. Then the ship stopped...the engines were dead...and we just knew it wasn't going anywhere for a long time.
