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."