The Carnival Triumph . . .

If they could bring supplies etc. out to them, why couldn't they bring another ship to offload them? I'm expecting LOTS of lawsuits...

I find it more amazing that the Triumph has garnered more news attention than the devastating Tornadoes that hit Hattiesburg MS last week.

Yes the cruise passengers are inconvenienced but a college campus, businesses, and homes, suffered major damage and losses. Luckily, no lives were lost - though some were injured.

I have already done weeks without AC, limited or no running water, and long lines for basic supplies - Wait, that was called Hurricane Katrina. Many experienced the same from Sandy.

Sorry, but I don't feel sorry. To me, this is just a little blip in their vacation.

I think I would have been VERY claustrophobic!
I, too, wonder why (barring sheer distance/time issue) they couldn't have sent a rescue-type ship, like they send the floating hospitals, etc.
Whole I realize this was a "first world problem," it WAS a problem for them nonetheless!
I'm sure for many of those passengers it was a trip of a lifetime.
I'll bet we hear a LOT of stories of helping, caring people banding together to support each other is WAY less than optimum conditions.
Can you imagine how happy they are to have this all end?

Oh, you mean better conditions then what MOST of the world lives in, but on a CRUISE ship?

First world problems.Shows how out of touch we really are. Eh...I don't feel that sorry for them. They will be returning to their perfectly cushy existence soon. They have a story to tell. What's the big deal?

Honestly, it really depends on who you are on the ship with. I took two cruises on Carnival six months apart. The first was in August 2011..three night cruise with just me and my daughter to celebrate her 13th bd. It was a terrible cruise 99.9% due to WHO we were sailing with. If I thought I would have been stuck on a ship for 5 days with these horrible conditions and that group of people, I would have jumped overboard and let the sharks eat me (not really, but you know what I mean). Now, I went on the same exact ship in January 2012 with my very good friend and had a wonderful time. I could definitely have survived this drama with that group. Hopefully they all make it off in one piece, what a crappy way to spend a vacation :-/

Hi Anglela,

My parents had a 24 foot Morgan sailboat when I was super young and gradually made their way up to a Tarten 37. We used to go from Ft. Lauderdale to the Bahamas and outislands as a family. We also had an EPIRB, RDF, flares, dinghy with small engine and oars, USCG approved life raft, VHF, shortwave radio, etc. Since we had sailboats, we did only have single engine but the other engine was the wind. We did not have a back up generator. In fact, earlier boats didn't have a generator, just the last 37 footer.

Cruise ships do have back up engines in terms of their being more than one engine. However, they do not have them in separate compartments. They did have liferafts (equivalent to our dinghies) and they did have emergency power so that must have been a back up generator system.

My sister used to work for Royal Caribbean in Miami - she said in no uncertain terms that if the ship is not sinking than you do not attempt to transfer to another ship. Also, while it has not been widely reported, those who were super ill were evacuated off the ship. Carnival did have a major issue to contend with in that about 900 passengers on the ship did not have a passport. Additionally, due to the amount of crew and passengers, Carnival would have needed an empty ship to do this and they did not have that available to them. Had the ship been sinking, I am sure that both military ships and freighters would have helped out but that was not the case, the ship was still seaworthy even if it was not under its own power.

I guess I agree - it was an inconvenience but not life threatening and the passengers have been well compensated. Life happens, the people who are complaining are mostly wimps. I doubt the people in Hattiesburg have power yet.

C.

Wow five whole days! Sorry but come on! People go through a lot worse.

What if there was a hurricane? Um, they would have done something but there was not.

I don't think its a big deal. I mean, yeah, it sucks that their vacation didn't turn out as planned. But really, life is about memories and their vacation story will be one that they tell over and over forever. I think it would kind of be like an adventure. Life is what you make it. Some of my best memories in life were when times were tough and I just made the best of it.
To be honest, I think the passengers are trying to say how horrible it was because most of them were thinking of a big payday as soon as something didn't go according to plan. I guarantee you there was very much talk onboard about how much money they could get from the cruise line for their "suffering". The coverage by the media was crazy - as were the pictures of people coming off the ship and kissing the ground. Come on people!
People go through worse than this every day. In other countries, this is just the way they live. We had a hurricane here and I lived for 9 days with no power, no A/C (in South Florida), no running water, no toilet, no stove/microwave, no lights, no nothing, and I had a 12 week old baby.

Frankly, I think that this is absolutely horrible. These people paid a lot of money to go on a vacation. This wasn't a case of something that really sucked and they could just leave...these people were trapped in some pretty nasty conditions. Can you imagine having to deal with raw sewage all over the floor everywhere?

It seems like they could have brought some more food out if that was an issue. And why couldn't they bring out some generators to help with this sewage issue...I read that there were only 24 working bathrooms for 4,000 people.

Also realize that these folks are coming into port 5 days late. How many of these people are missing work because of this delay? Surely many people will have a loss of income from this.

I DO have some sympathy for these people. They were not going to a 3rd world country...not what they signed up for at all.

It is an unfortunate accident. Too dangerous to have tried to get 4,000 people transferred to another ship. Anyone requiring medical,treatment, dialysis, was taken off the ship. How people will come out depends on their mindset. Just as a gentlemen on TV who said, and I heard this from others, the crew have been phenomenal. Could not say enough good things about them. He said they had water and food (maybe not the best, but no one was starving). I am sure the elderly have a different take on it.
I think most have have done their best to make a terrible situation bearable.
Carnivals hands are tied as to where they could dock etc. so many variables.

The entertainment has been good. Crew has done their best to put on shows etc.

I think the company is doing the right thing and compensating. It is horrible. However I am thinking, why did they not deliver MORE cold food each day. Port a potties even! They were inching along, I think they could have made it work. What about grills with propane so they can cook? That is what people rely on at home when the power is out. Even if it took longer to get to AL.

Seriously-I think I would have gone overboard at the first sight of sewage backing up in the shower! Ugh!

I feel for the passengers who are going through this. Carnival has agreed to pay them back their cruise fee along with another $500. While that's a nice gesture, the fire/disabled ship pretty much ruined their vacation.

According to sources I read today, it sounds like this boat had a few mechanical problems before the fire in the engine room ever broke out. The sensible thing to have done would have been to ground the ship until they knew precisely what the problem was and had fixed it. Sadly, profit usually trumps doing the right thing these days. Now they have a ship that might have to be condemned because of the horrible sanitation problems (What's the cost of that? Millions, billions of dollars? And if they don't condemn the ship--how much would clean up costs run?). I mean, really, how do you get rid of BM and pee stains/smells? And some of the walls actually collapsed because there was so much sewage pressure/back up. Decks 1 and 2 were completely uninhabitable--no one could enter them.

Most of the people slept outside in makeshift tents because of the overriding smell and the suffrocating heat (no A/C). There was barely any water/liquids to drink. One ship got close enough to deliver some food--someone said that people stood in line for 4 hours to get the food. But then some of the people who ate came down sick. Whether it was from the food they ate or because they were living among raw sewage--well, who knows.

No electricity, no A/C, no lights, no theater/distractions. The crew was asking those who had magazines and newspapers and books to please share them with other passengers who needed diversions/something to do.

Overall, just a trip from hell. I really feel for them.

ETA: As for compensation, all passengers are getting a full refund, discounts on future cruises, $500 cash and transportation back home. For those missing work, the extra $500 will help with the loss of wages (better than nothing) and they had 3-4 days of a great vacation for free, prior to the problems. I sure wouldn't have wanted to be on board, but I think we are hearing only about the worst problems and not all that the crew really did to make the best of it.

I'm sure the food and bathroom situations are pretty awful. I don't think it's feasible for a ship to be prepared to essentially double the quantities of food that it carries with it just in case there's an emergency. They did get more food delivered, so it's just a matter of being able to cook it fast enough and getting it to the passengers.

Likewise, with the power, they have a backup generator to run some things, but I don't think it's feasible to have a generator strong enough to power everything. They have to focus on the most important things safety-wise and run the power for that.

Aside from the food and bathrooms, I would imagine that the on-board crew, in particular the activity and entertainment staff, are going above and beyond to schedule additional activities to keep people happy and engaged throughout the day. We were on a cruise last fall and had one day of pretty rainy weather, and we got a brand new list of activities with over a dozen new events that they developed on the spot. So I am sure the Triumph is doing the same.

Obviously, I can understand the frustration of the passengers, but I don't really think there's anything they could realistically have done.