Cruise ship adrift

[Ksandra]

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/strande...2105715&page=1

The engines may not work for the stranded Carnival cruise ship off the coast of Mexico, but cell phones finally do for the nearly 4,500 people on board.

"We're eating spoiled turkey sandwiches and warm milk and warm yogurt," said passenger Joey Noriega, who got married Saturday and watched his honeymoon come to an abrupt and unhappy end. "Everything smells like it's spoiled."

"The fruits are going bad and the stuff that's not going bad isn't ripe yet," Noriega said. "Nothing's cooked. It's all sandwich meat. It's disgusting. You're afraid to eat it 'cause it's been left out and touched by everybody else on the ship."

Noriega said that Tuesday night he cleaned out the cabin toilet so his new wife, Stacy, wouldn't have to sleep with the smell.

The spoiled food is piling up on the ship because health and safety regulations require the cruise liner to discard garbage at port.

"Unless you're outside in the fresh air, anything that's in closed doors smells just like rotten food," he said.

Gorden Gilbreath and his partner, Chris Desauniers, were treating the cruise like a floating camping trip.

"A lot of them [passengers] have been sleeping on the decks with their blankets," Gilbreath said.

Cruise Ship Headed to San Diego

Rescuers are towing the damaged vessel to San Diego -- a trip that's expected to take at least until Thursday afternoon.
Related
WATCH: Stranded at Sea: Thousands Adrift on Cruise Ship
Making the Most of Your Cruise Days in Port
First Timers' Guide to Cruise Activities

"In coordinating with the cruise line and just discussing logistics," U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Commander Rick Foster told "Good Morning America" today, "I know that Carnival had initially expressed an interest in [Ensenada, Mexico], just because that was the closest, largest port they could reach. Now the plans have changed. They would like to go to San Diego. ... However, just weather and operations can always influence these outcomes."

Foster said there was still a chance the two tugboats pulling the ship at about four miles an hour could redirect to Ensenada, about 50 miles away from where the ship was originally stranded Monday, if necessary.

Early Monday morning, the ship endured a fire in the aft engine room that disabled its six diesel electric engines. Auxiliary power has been running emergency systems, and the crew managed to get the toilets and showers working again, but there is still no heat, air conditioning, telephone or hot food service. No one was injured in the fire.

But one thing the passengers do have, thanks to the U.S. Navy, is Spam, and lots of it.

Late Tuesday, the Navy executed a military-style airdrop by helicopter from the deck of the USS Ronald Reagan to the Splendor of nearly 10,000 pounds of food and supplies, including what appeared to be hundreds of cans of Spam, along with Pop Tarts, croissants, crab meat, bread, cups and other utensils.

Two Coast Guard officers are on board the ship to help ensure the passengers' health and safety.

Carnival announced late Tuesday it was canceling the Splendor's next voyage, set to begin Nov. 14 from Long Beach, Calif. The company said it would offer those guests a full refund of their cruise fare and air transportation costs, as well as a 25 percent discount on a future cruise.

The Coast Guard had boarded the ship while it was still in port in California the day before the fire, ABC News has learned, but a Coast Guard spokeswoman declined to comment on the purpose of the visit because it was part of the investigation into the fire.
Photo: Stranded Carnival Cruise: To San Diego, With Spam: Special Delivery: Navy Airdrops Supplies to Splendor Cruise, Passengers Settle in For at Least Another Day
A Navy Seahawk helicopter from the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier carries supplies toward the Carnival Splendor cruise ship during relief operations Nov. 9, 2010, in waters off Mexico's Baja peninsula.
(Gregory Bull/AP Photo)

"I can't say about that specific cruise ship, but the Coast Guard regularly conducts safety and security boardings aboard all sorts of vessels," Petty Officer Pamela Manns, a Coast Guard spokeswoman, told ABC News. "It's part of how we do business."

In a Facebook posting Sunday evening, Carnival's senior cruise director, John Heald, complained that the Coast Guard was conducting tests of the ship's generators, and had shut down the elevators.

Heald also made something of a fateful post before the fire knocked out communication: "I am hoping for an incident free cruise but ... since being here I can't remember one where something or someone strange hasnt happened," Heald said. "Lets see what this cruise brings."

Aircraft Carrier, Cutter Assists 'Difficult Operation' to Pull in Vessel

A Coast Guard cutter, the first government vessel to respond to the cruise's distress call, will stay with the ship until it is docked to ensure that the potentially hazardous open-water tugging operation succeeds.

"It's a difficult operation anytime tugs get underway to tow such a large ship [and] there's a lot of people onboard," Manns told ABC News Tuesday. "Certainly, this is unusual for a cruise ship and the size of the cruise ship and the passengers on board."
Related
The Best Cruise Ship Happy Hours
Cruise Ship Karaoke Comes of Age
The Eight Hidden Costs of Cruising

Passengers to Get Money Back, Free Cruise

The Coast Guard and Carnival said they did not yet know how extensive the damage to the ship's engine was, or how it could affect future voyages.

"We know this has been an extremely trying situation for our guests, and we sincerely thank them for their patience," said Gerry Cahill, president and chief executive officer of Carnival Cruise Lines, in a statement late Monday. "Conditions onboard the ship are very challenging, and we sincerely apologize for the discomfort and inconvenience our guests are currently enduring."

Carnival said it would provide passengers a full refund for the current trip and would offer a complimentary future cruise "equal to the amount paid for this voyage."

The ship was on the first leg of a seven-day cruise on the Mexican Riviera. It departed from Long Beach, Calif., Sunday. It was scheduled to stop in Puerta Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas, and then return to Long Beach.

Carnival is the world's biggest cruise ship operator, with lines including Holland America, Princess and Cunard.

Carolyn Brown, editor-in-chief for CruiseCritic.com, said that the passengers of the Splendor actually were lucky the engines stopped functioning so close to the coast rather than further out in open ocean, and that the situation looks to be under control.

"Let's put it this way: Nobody was injured. They're handling it," Brown told ABC News. "It's not ideal, and certainly it's not what you want to do on your vacation. But frankly, these people are going to have some stories to tell and I think they'll be good dinner party guests for decades to come."

New husband Noriega said he'd never take a Carnival cruise again.

"They tried to give us a free cruise," he said. "There's just no way I'm going to use that [offer]. I wouldn't trust them."

Relevant to my interest at least as this is the same cruise ship I went on for my honeymoon 3 months ago. I feel bad for them because that crew worked fucking hard as hell when I was there and the cruise director was awesome. I can only imagine how exhausted they are now.

[FNH]

That first guy talking about the food sounds like a whiny bitch. I'd be glad the ship weren't fucking sinking.

[Serif]

If I were on that cruise shit I would demand a lot of alcohol...

Liquid diet anyone?

[Atreides]

considering the whole point of going on a cruise is to eat and get drunk 24/7 I'd be kinda pissed too, but I guess a full refund and a free 2nd cruise is a good deal.

[Pirian]

The company said it would offer those guests a full refund of their cruise fare and air transportation costs, as well as a 25 percent discount on a future cruise.

It's ok guys, they get 25% off their next cruise.

considering the whole point of going on a cruise is to eat and get drunk 24/7 I'd be kinda pissed too, but I guess a full refund and a free 2nd cruise is a good deal.

I didn't see, where did it say they get their 2nd cruise free? All I saw was 25% off, lol

[Atreides]

oh, only a 25% discount? ok yeah that's fucking lame lol

with no AC i bet that ship full of hundreds of people smells like an ass sandwich

[Zilong]

not really a news story until they start cannibalizing each other for food.

Then it'd be an awesome premise for the next reality show

[Pirian]

not really a news story until they start cannibalizing each other for food.

Then it'd be an awesome premise for the next reality show

Then we find out that it was a reality show all along and the whole thing was just a publicity stunt to get people to watch.

[ronin sparthos]

25% off the next cruise isn't bad if you get refunded in full for the fuckup.

I guess it's better than being hijacked by pirates.

[Correction]

The discount on a future cruise might as well not be given. It's a way for Carnival to seem like they're trying to make good on their mistake without really offering something people would want. Refund on your shitty, incomplete cruise and wasted vacation time and a publicity stunt 25% discount on next time for Carnival is lame.

[Milks]

lrn2read. The people who had the next cruise booked had their cruise canceled and refunded and given a 25% discount on next cruise. the people who were actually on the shittacular cruise had their money refunded and will receive another free cruise.

[Correction]

lrn2read. The people who had the next cruise booked had their cruise canceled and refunded and given a 25% discount on next cruise. the people who were actually on the shittacular cruise had their money refunded and will receive another free cruise.

"Hey boss, remember that vacation time I took to go on that cruise? Can I have more for free because Carnival is giving me a discount/free cruise."

My point stands.

[Atreides]

apparently they're saying people's toilets are starting to get full and the hallways are "lined with bags of vomit"

[Correction]

What's the justification for not dumping the waste into the ocean when it becomes a mounting health problem for 4.5 thousand people?

[Salodin]

Hurling plastic over the edge from thousands of people? No thanks.

I'm all for leaning over and hurling or shitting though, but I think I'd only feel worse if I looked over the side of a ship and saw just how far down the water really was...

[Ksandra]

What's the justification for not dumping the waste into the ocean when it becomes a mounting health problem for 4.5 thousand people?

I was reading a few articles on it so not sure which one, but apparently there are laws that ships can't dump in the ocean, so I'd imagine whatever department regulates that would be the one to give the ok.


Really sucks, but I'm so glad I lucked out on this one lol.

[Atreides]

as if the pacific ocean wasn't already a swirling cesspool of plastic waste and human effluence...

[Ksandra]

"Hey boss, remember that vacation time I took to go on that cruise? Can I have more for free because Carnival is giving me a discount/free cruise."

My point stands.

I was watching the news on it tonight and it really does seem like carnival is trying to do everything they can. They are going to get people hotel rooms and flights to where they need to go, plus the free cruise. I mean shit happens, and they definitely seem like their doing their best. They had their ceo (I believe) on there saying they aren't going to worry about the bill until they set everything straight with their customers.


As a personal note to kinda support that, when I was on the ship we had one day where a couple didn't make it back to departure time when we were in mexico. They apparently had rented a car to go to the beach and got it stuck in the sand or something. Once they were located they were given a hotel for that night then flown to the next dock spot the next day.

granted that is obviously on a smaller scale, but they seemed to handle everything extremely well.

[FNH]

Could have been worse.
http://www.glogster.com/media/4/14/51/70/14517080.jpg

[Jotaru]

Its funny... those cruise ships (Carnival in particular, but I'm sure they're all the same- I've just been on Carnival) seem so luxurious, so full of food, amenities, everything you'd need to live your life while everything's working... but when they don't get to port to restock and electric doesnt work, things sure go to shit REAL fast like.. its kinda weird after having been on these ships to imagine them in that state.