the entire back end of a massive ship scorched. more than 2200 passengers aboard a bahamas bound cruise were roused by a terrifying wake-up call early monday morning. >> boats have been lowered around deck around 3:00 a.m. and our life jackets. not a drill. not a joke. everyone is freaking out. >> reporter: for the third time this year, mechanical problems caused a major cruise ship to upend a caribbean vacation for thousands of passengers. this time it was a fire aboard royal caribbean's "grandeur of the seas." passenger katie coleman told cnn -- >> it's the most terrifying thing in my life. >> reporter: in february it was an engine room fire on the carnival "triumph" shutting down power and the ship's sewage system for days. one month later carnival's "dream" lost power from a generator failure while in port. and now rival royal caribbean has its own set of problems.