Triumph passengers back on terra firma
- 11 years ago
The nightmare is over... passengers stream off the Triumph Carnival Cruise ship in Mobile, Alabama after four days stranded in the Gulf of Mexico.
A fire in the ship's engine room knocked out power to the ship, turning it into what some described as a floating toilet as overflowing latrines sent human waste sloshing through the hallways.
Passngers describe the conditions.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) ROBIN BURGESS, CARNIVAL PASSENGER, SAYING:
"I guess the worst conditions were probably the toilet conditions - having to go in the shower and then in the red bags. So it just got really really filthy, really smelly and really bad."
(SOUNDBITE) (English) TAMMY GARCIA, CARNIVAL PASSENGER, SAYING:
"Seeing the elderly not be able to get around and enjoy themselves, the children they just had to stay in one spot. It was really hard on family types not. That was hard and the smell was awful. The smell was bad, it got worse the longer it went. It wasn't a vacation anymore it was like survival mode. Eat what you can. Snack when you can. It was awfu."
Carnival has promised each of the some 3100 passengers a full refund, a future cruise and $500 cash in compensation.
Still, the incident marks another public relations disaster for the company after its Costa Concordia luxury ship grounded off the coast of Italy last year killing 32 people.
Shares in the Carnival Corp were down 11 cents at the end of trading on Thursday turning the company's triumph into even more of a defeat.
A fire in the ship's engine room knocked out power to the ship, turning it into what some described as a floating toilet as overflowing latrines sent human waste sloshing through the hallways.
Passngers describe the conditions.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) ROBIN BURGESS, CARNIVAL PASSENGER, SAYING:
"I guess the worst conditions were probably the toilet conditions - having to go in the shower and then in the red bags. So it just got really really filthy, really smelly and really bad."
(SOUNDBITE) (English) TAMMY GARCIA, CARNIVAL PASSENGER, SAYING:
"Seeing the elderly not be able to get around and enjoy themselves, the children they just had to stay in one spot. It was really hard on family types not. That was hard and the smell was awful. The smell was bad, it got worse the longer it went. It wasn't a vacation anymore it was like survival mode. Eat what you can. Snack when you can. It was awfu."
Carnival has promised each of the some 3100 passengers a full refund, a future cruise and $500 cash in compensation.
Still, the incident marks another public relations disaster for the company after its Costa Concordia luxury ship grounded off the coast of Italy last year killing 32 people.
Shares in the Carnival Corp were down 11 cents at the end of trading on Thursday turning the company's triumph into even more of a defeat.