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."

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.