VB couple escapes fire on cruise ship

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - The parents of Virginia Beach councilman Jim Wood are safely ashore a Malaysian island, after being stranded in pirate infested seas for 24 hours.

Dorothy and James Wood, Sr. were aboard the luxury cruise liner Azamara Quest off the coast of the Southern Philippines when a fire started in the engine room.

Five crew members were injured, one critically, and the ship lost power.

As it drifted into pirate infested waters, Dorothy Wood posted the following message on Facebook:

"We are a drift off of the coast of Malaysia after a fire last night on board...so very scary when you actually have to go to your muster station with your life jacket. Our toilet was fixed this morning and we have cold water...meals of salami and cheese no ac."

Wood's son, Councilman Jim Wood, said he received a text from his mother Friday alerting him of the incident.

"My parents are prolific travelers and they've traveled in that part of the world before," said Jim Wood. "They do a lot of cruises. They've been in really bad weather on different cruise ships. They've been in a lot of situations where people got sick on cruise ships, but this is really the first time they had something like this happen."

Wood says his parents safely reached shore on the Malaysian island of Sandakan Saturday.

"She felt like she was a rockstar because of all the flash bulbs going off," said Jim Wood, after speaking with his mother. "She says she was interviewed by all different media from all over the world and she has no idea if she'll ever see any of the interviews."

Turns out her interview beat her home.

"I understand that there's some pirates in the area. But we had, as of last night we had the Philippine coast guard beside us. And I'm sure that we felt very secure then," Dorothy Wood told NBC news after she stepped foot on shore.

There were a total of 590 passengers and 411 crew members on board the Azmara Quest.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., the ship's parent company, says all passengers will receive full refunds.

The Woods are the second Virginia Beach couple stranded on a cruise ship this year.

Rick Langlands and his girlfriend Karen Kennedy were aboard the Costa Concordia when it ran aground the Italian coast back in January. Thirty-two people died in the wreck, but the Virginia Beach couple made it home safely.

It is not clear when the Woods will return home to Virginia Beach.

Stay with WAVY News 10 and WAVY.com for updates on this developing story.