Cruise Ship Hell with Carnival

Carpets soaked in urine, sewage running down walls and onion sandwiches for dinner: Passengers reveal dire conditions of US cruise ship stranded in the Caribbean

• Some 4,200 people are stranded on a Carnival cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico after an engine fire broke out on Sunday
• Passengers sleeping on the decks because of no air conditioning, the toilets won't flush and four-hour queues for food
• Guests on board have been cheering and waving to sister ships pulling alongside to drop off supplies
  
• First tugboat has arrived and boat is crawling to shore at the pace of a few miles per hour - expected to reach Mobile, Alabama on Thursday
  

By Sara Malm, Thomas Durante and Louise Boyle

 

Passengers on the nightmare Carnival cruise ship stranded in the Gulf of Mexico are using patchy cellphone coverage today to reveal that 'conditions are getting worse by the hour.'

Some of the 4,200 people on board reported that cabin carpets are soaked in urine, passengers are sleeping in tents on deck and scarce food supplies has reduced them to eating cold onion sandwiches.

The ship has been stranded since Sunday after a fire in the engine room crippled the power system.

The first tug boat reached the Carnival Triumph on Monday night and it is being towed to Mobile, Alabama at the rate of a few miles per hour. It is expected to crawl into its destination on Thursday. 

Reports say that there are only five working bathrooms for the more than 3,000 passengers on board.

The rest are being asked by the crew aboard the vessel to urinate in cabin showers and defecate in bags.

Ann Barlow told CNN: 'It's disgusting. It's the worst thing ever.'

She told the network that the staff has been helpful, but that is doing little for the putrid conditions, including the unbearable heat and long lines for food and bathrooms.

Another passenger, Debra Rightmire, texted ABC: 'Conditions are getting worse by the hour. Cabin carpets are wet with urine and water.

'Toilets are overflowing in the cabins, we are having to sleep in the hallways. Onion and cucumber sandwiches last night.'

Another Donna Gutzman wrote: 'There's no lights, no water, we can't flush. Some people were able to shower.'

Those on board were only able to make contact with land via their phones when sister ship, the Carnival Legend pulled up alongside to drop off limited supplies on life rafts. 

Holidaymakers have been forced to sleep outside as there is no air conditioning in their sweltering cabins.

Some passengers have no options other than bags or buckets for toilets with reports of 'raw sewage running down the walls'.

The news came amid claims that those on the ship have turned into 'savages' and are fighting over food, relatives said.

Passengers are reportedly queuing up to four hours to get a hamburger.

David Raynes, from New Hampshire, is on sister ship the Carnival Legend.

He took a picture of passengers on the Triumph on Monday, lined along the top deck, staring out to sea.

He wrote on Facebook: 'Our ship shuttled supplies to them, which was not an easy task due to the wind and high waves – it was hard for the boat they were using to get up close to the other cruise ship and then back to ours. They made at least two trips.

...TO READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND SEE MORE PICS go to www.dailymail.co.uk

 

Comments

[Eviscerator]

Been happening a lot during these last few years, hasn't it?

[Spritzy]

So I'll cross "go on a cruise" off the list of things that I'd ever do....but it's not on there in the first place cause large bodies of water terrify me.

[Perky]

I will freely admit that this would not stop me from going on a cruise. I love cruises. I haven't been in a long while. Some girl friends and I are thinking about going on a "Mommy only" cruise next summer. I hope we can pull it off. Or I just might go alone. No kids, no hubby, no problem. :)

[Karebear]

My mom has been many cruises, she's never had a problem with any of them. However, whenever it seems she books a new one, something about a cruise line happens. Last time, mere weeks before she left for a cruise, the one sunk near Italy (was it?) or where ever. Just told me she booked one for the summer in Alaska, and now this story pops up. I hope these folks made it back to land. Also hope they got a refund, cause that would really suck.

[Bored at the Bookstore]

I swear, every time I even *think* about a cruise, something like this happens. Norovirus, running aground, fire.... Obviously, I have to stop thinking about cruises! It's all my fault! *g*

[Jami]

I'm with Perky. I want to go on a cruise anyway. A single's cruise though. Not one like this -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUV7GH4Qidc

According to mom, if I ever do it I'll end up raped and murdered on board. Course she also says the same thing every time I say I want to go to Mardi Gras.

[PJA]

I've been on 3 cruises, 2 with Norwegian cruise line and one with Carnival cruise and had a great time on all. Since then, these incidents have become more common. So while I love going on those cruises, suffice it to say I won't be going on any more, its too risky, especially if you have an illness,I have diabetes so the though of being stranded at sea in the heat and with no a/c and no food or water is a scary thing.

[Lisa]

Wait, so let me get this straight. Sister cruise ships were pulling up alongside to drop off supplies, and no one was allowed to board the other ships?

[Shevrolet]

My understanding is that "alongside" is not actually that close. the quotation at the end suggests to me that they probably didn't deem it safe to make more than two trips or they would've run more food over. shuttling 4000 people, a few at a time because of the size of the boats that are able to get close, off that ship would take ages, even if it was safe.

[BookAce]

What Shevrolet said. Even though cruise ships move slowly and seem to stand still, they're still boats. Giant boats. Anyone who ever rafted off at an island with friends knows that it more-or-less requires your boats to bump due to current, wind, etc. Luckily then, usually the worst that can happen is you lose your balance for a second. They're small.

Two cruise ships "bumping" would not be a pretty sight. Alongside in this case would mean just getting near enough to deploy a small boat, which would barely put a dent in the people waiting to get off, and would be putting itself in danger too, getting that close to a cruise ship, even in good weather conditions, and they even stated it was windy out. I'm impressed the little boat made the trip twice.

[Bored at the Bookstore]

Maybe they should have billed it as "Survivor: Carnival" - tough it out to the end, win a free cruise and $500!

[Nocturnesthesia]

Cruises already ranked somewhere between "win a hot dog eating contest" and "be mauled by a bear" on my bucket list but apparently it's pretty lucrative... I just don't get the appeal. Interestingly, these conditions sound strikingly similar to how my grandparents described the trip from Russia to New York just before WW1.

[Skittles]

There are some pretty glaring issues here.
Shouldn't there be a back up power source other than the engine for emergencies?
Shouldn't they have emergency food and water supplies?
If people are fighting over food and what not where the heck is security?
The customers are getting all sorts of compensation what about the workers?
How is it that hard to get supplies to the boat?
Really the only option is another cruise ship sending a tiny boat over?!?!?
This story just has all sorts of weirdness around it that makes little to no sense to me.

[Techtyger]

To add to Skittles' list... you're surrounded by an ocean and you piss on the floor in your cabin? And smear shit on the walls?