Carnival Splendor Adrift in Pacific

Carnival Cruise Lines ad slogan is “A million ways to have fun”, I'm sure this wasn't one of them.

Tugboats are headed out to sea to tow in a Carnival cruise ship that lost power off California after an engine room fire.

The 952-foot cruise ship Carnival Splendor is about 55 miles off the northern Baja coast and tugboats will take it to the Mexican port of Ensenada.

Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines says the ship, on a seven-day cruise to the Mexican Riviera, has auxiliary power, but air conditioning, hot food service, hot water and telephones were knocked out. The cruise line says toilets and cold water were restored overnight.

Carnival says the tugboats are expected to arrive at midday Tuesday.

The fire started Monday while the ship was about 150 miles south of San Diego.

Update on Tuesday, November 9, 2010 at 10:42AM by Rick C.Limpert

Here is Carnival's official statement posted at 9am this morning:

Miami, FL — November 9, 2010 (9 am EST) — At approximately 6 am Monday morning(U.S. Pacific Standard Time), a fire was detected in the aft engine room aboard the cruise ship Carnival Splendor. The fire was extinguished. There were no injuries to guests or crew.

The ship has been operating on auxiliary generators and engineers have been unable to restore additional power to the vessel. As a result, the current voyage is being terminated. Tugboats are currently en route to the ship which is located off the coast of Mexico, approximately 200 miles south of San Diego. The tugs are expected to reach the ship around midday local time today and will tow the vessel to Ensenada, Mexico in an effort to get the guests home as quickly as possible.

Currently several key hotel systems, including air conditioning, hot food service, and telephones are not available. Last night, the ship’s engineers were able to restore toilet service to all cabins and public bathrooms, as well as cold running water. The ship’s crew continues to actively work to restore other services.

Regular announcements apprising guests of the situation began at approximately 6.30 am yesterday. Guests were initially asked to move from their cabins to the ship’s upper open deck areas. At this time, guests have access to their cabins and are able to move about the ship. Bottled water and cold food items are being provided.

The vessel’s command is in contact with the U.S. Coast Guard which has deployed aircraft and cutters to the cruise ship’s location.

Guests on the current voyage will be receiving a full refund along with reimbursement for transportation costs. Additionally, they will receive a complimentary future cruise equal to the amount paid for this voyage.

“We know this has been an extremely trying situation for our guests and we sincerely thank them for their patience. Conditions on board the ship are very challenging and we sincerely apologize for the discomfort and inconvenience our guests are currently enduring. The safety of our passengers and crew is our top priority and we are working to get our guests home as quickly as possible,” said Gerry Cahill, president and CEO of Carnival Cruise Lines.

Carnival Splendor was on the first leg of a seven-day Mexican Riviera cruise that departed Sunday, Nov. 7, from Long Beach, Calif. Monday was a scheduled day at sea. The ship’s normal itinerary includes stops in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The ship, which measures 113,000 gross registered tons and first entered service in July 2008, is carrying 3,299 guests and 1167 crew.

Comments

[Cynthia Patton]

I cannot believe this ship caught fire hours after I disembarked. On Sunday (11-7-10) I got off that very ship! I was in cabin 1277 on deck 1, for the very same cruise. There were no apparent signs of trouble at any time during the cruise that I could tell. I can tell you that Carnival did a very "no nonsense" safety briefing with all passengers at our life boat stations before leaving the dock last Sunday.

Sunday morning , Marilyn and I were waiting on deck 5, waiting for our turn to disembark. While waiting, we received an announcement over the PA that the crew were going to practice another emergency drill. Shortly there after, the 7 short-1 long blast sounded and the crew immediately went to their emergency stations with their life vests on. This gives me comfort knowing these drills are done on a regular basis.

My prayers are with a couple we met onboard the Splendor during our cruise, that stayed on the ship for a 2nd cruise. They are still onboard this very minute.