Home Video Shot Aboard the Carnival Splendor

Video shot as the massive cruise ship was towed into port in San Diego.

With no electricity, the cabins were dark.

Many passengers passed the time by staying on deck, looking up at the starry sky or out at the USS Ronald Reagan, the Navy aircraft carrier that was assisting in the delivery of supplies to the ship.

Others chatted in their dark, stuffy cabins. Others simply went to bed early. Very early.

Passengers on lower decks had to climb as many as nine flights of stairs to get to the cafeteria only to meet long lines that stretched on for hours. By the time those at the end got to the food, they were left with tomatoes and lettuce, Haslerud said.

Some passengers carried food to those who used walkers and canes and couldn't climb stairs to reach the food lines.

I hope Carnival goes to great lengths to compensate and take care of the inconvenienced passengers.

Cruise Ship Passengers off The Splendor

For passengers aboard The Spendor, this cruise was anything but a splendor.

The relieved passengers of the Carnival Splendor wheeled suitcases down a ramp as a crowd waited at the dock. It took several hours to get all passengers off without the aid of electric conveyors and elevators.

Buses arrived to drive passengers north to Long Beach, where the Splendor is based, the Associated Press reports. Passengers also were given the option of staying overnight at San Diego hotels.

The passengers were forced to survive at sea on the 13-story floating hotel without electricity when the cruise ship lost electricity on Monday because of a fire on board. While there were no reported injuries, conditions rapidly detiorated once the lights went out.

 
The pool and casino closed when the electricity went down; hot food and hot water became memories; air conditioning became nothing more than an open window or a nap on the open deck; and, perhaps worst of all, waste disposal had become a problem. Ouch!

Passenger Danny Cole told CBS' The Early Show this morning that there were "people getting upset by the toilet situation. They couldn't flush, and there's quite a big smell issue on the ship."

More Tug Boats to help Cruise Ship

The stricken cruise ship carrying thousands of passengers is on course to rendezvous with several more tug boats off the coast of California.

Petty officer Rachel Polish says the ship is being pulled by tugs and should reach the meeting site about eight miles off San Diego around 5:30 PST.

At that point a total of six tugs will begin towing the nearly 1,000-foot-long Carnival Splendor into port, an operation that will take approximately two hours.

Both passengers and crew were coping well with the "obvious challenges."

Two tugboats were pulling the Carnival Splendor at a pace to reach San Diego Bay sometime around dawn Thursday, almost exactly four days after the giant ship lost power with nearly 4,500 passengers and crew aboard. Coast Guard cutters will then escort the ship around the tip of the Coronado Peninsula to San Diego's downtown harbor.

The ship will be in port sometime today.

Carnival Ship Towed to Port

The 4,500 passengers and crew on board the Carnival Splendor, low on food and without air conditioning or hot water, are having to eat canned crab meat and Spam dropped in by helicopters, and their plight is expected to continue until the ship finally reaches port early on Friday.

What began as a seven-day cruise to the picturesque Mexican Riviera turned into a nightmare on Monday when an engine room fire cut power to the 952ft vessel and set it adrift off Mexico's Pacific coast.

No-one was hurt in the fire and by Tuesday, US Navy helicopters had started ferrying supplies to the stricken vessel.

The tugboats were originally set to take the Splendor to the Mexican coastal city of Ensenada, but Carnival Cruise Lines has now changed its plans and is attempting to have it towed to San Diego, where hotel and flight arrangements would await the passengers.

But if the process moves too slowly, the ship might still be taken to Ensenada, the company said.

US Coast Guard petty officer Kevin Metcalf said the tugs and a coastguard cutter escort would have to move slowly because the ship is so big.

The Splendor, which left Long Beach, California, on Sunday, was about 200 miles south of San Diego at the time of the engine fire. It began drifting about 55 miles offshore.

The 3,299 passengers and 1,167 crew members were not hurt and the fire was put out in the generator's compartment, but the ship now has no air conditioning, hot water, mobile phone or internet service.

On Tuesday, US sailors loaded cargo planes with supplies for the stranded passengers. The Coast Guard deployed aircraft and ships, the Mexican Navy is assisting and the US Navy diverted the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan from training manoeuvres to help.

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.