Passengers on disabled cruise ship using plastic bags for toilets
HOUSTON (AP) - Passengers onboard a disabled cruise ship being towed to shore in the Gulf of Mexico told relatives they are using plastic bags to do "their business" and are otherwise trying to make the best of a bad situation by sleeping under the stars instead of in their stuffy, hot cabins.
Jimmy Mowlam, 63, said his 37-year-old son, Rob Mowlam, told him by phone Monday night that the lack of ventilation onboard Carnival Cruise Lines' Carnival Triumph had made it too hot to sleep inside. He said Rob and his new bride - they got married onboard Saturday - are among the many passengers who have set up camp on the ocean liner's decks and in its common areas.
"He said up on deck it looks like a shanty town, with sheets, almost like tents, mattresses, anything else they can pull to sleep on," said Mowlam, 63, who is from Warren, in southeast Texas. His son is from nearby Nederland.
The ship left Galveston, Texas, for a four-day cruise last Thursday carrying 3,143 passengers and 1,086 crew members. On Sunday, the ship was about 150 miles off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula when an engine room fire knocked out its primary power source, crippling its water and plumbing systems and leaving it adrift on only a backup power.
There were no reported injuries caused by the fire, but Carnival spokeswoman Joyce Oliva said Tuesday that a passenger with a pre-existing medical condition was taken off the ship as a precaution.
Everyone else will likely have to remain onboard until the ship reaches Mobile, Ala., which is expected to happen Thursday, weather permitting.
Besides the two tugs, at least two other Carnival cruise ships have been diverted to the Triumph to leave supplies and a 210-foot Coast Guard cutter was at the scene, Coast Guard Petty Officer Richard Brahm said Tuesday.
"If they do need any help, we're there," he said.
Mowlam said his son told him there is no running water and few working toilets and passengers were given plastic bags to "use for their business."
"But so far people have been pretty much taking it in stride," Mowlam said his son told him.
Rob Mowlam told his father the ship's crew had started giving away free alcohol to passengers.
"He was concerned about what that was going to lead to when people start drinking too much," Mowlam said.
Other passengers have described more dire conditions, including overflowing toilets and limited access to food.
Texas resident Brent Nutt, whose wife is on the cruise ship, said Monday that she told him the "whole boat stinks extremely bad" and some passengers were getting sick and throwing up. Nutt said his wife reported "water and feces all over the floor."
Carnival hasn't determined what caused the fire or how it caused the electrical problems that have crippled the ship's water and plumbing systems, said Oliva, the company spokeswoman.
The National Transportation Safety Board announced Tuesday it has opened an investigation into the cause of the fire. The NTSB said the Bahamas Maritime Agency will lead the investigation because the ship carries a Bahamian flag.
The ship was originally going to be towed to the port in Progreso, Mexico, but after currents pushed it northward, a decision was made to take it to Mobile to make it easier for passengers without passports to get home, the company said.
A similar situation occurred on a Carnival cruise ship in November 2010. That vessel was also stranded for three days with 4,500 people aboard after a fire in the engine room. When the passengers disembarked in San Diego they described a nightmarish three days in the Pacific with limited food, power and bathroom access.
Carnival said in a statement that it had cancelled the Triumph's next two voyages scheduled to depart Monday and Saturday. Passengers aboard the stranded ship will also receive a full refund, the statement said.
Jimmy Mowlam, 63, said his 37-year-old son, Rob Mowlam, told him by phone Monday night that the lack of ventilation onboard Carnival Cruise Lines' Carnival Triumph had made it too hot to sleep inside. He said Rob and his new bride - they got married onboard Saturday - are among the many passengers who have set up camp on the ocean liner's decks and in its common areas.
"He said up on deck it looks like a shanty town, with sheets, almost like tents, mattresses, anything else they can pull to sleep on," said Mowlam, 63, who is from Warren, in southeast Texas. His son is from nearby Nederland.
The ship left Galveston, Texas, for a four-day cruise last Thursday carrying 3,143 passengers and 1,086 crew members. On Sunday, the ship was about 150 miles off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula when an engine room fire knocked out its primary power source, crippling its water and plumbing systems and leaving it adrift on only a backup power.
There were no reported injuries caused by the fire, but Carnival spokeswoman Joyce Oliva said Tuesday that a passenger with a pre-existing medical condition was taken off the ship as a precaution.
Everyone else will likely have to remain onboard until the ship reaches Mobile, Ala., which is expected to happen Thursday, weather permitting.
Besides the two tugs, at least two other Carnival cruise ships have been diverted to the Triumph to leave supplies and a 210-foot Coast Guard cutter was at the scene, Coast Guard Petty Officer Richard Brahm said Tuesday.
"If they do need any help, we're there," he said.
Mowlam said his son told him there is no running water and few working toilets and passengers were given plastic bags to "use for their business."
"But so far people have been pretty much taking it in stride," Mowlam said his son told him.
Rob Mowlam told his father the ship's crew had started giving away free alcohol to passengers.
"He was concerned about what that was going to lead to when people start drinking too much," Mowlam said.
Other passengers have described more dire conditions, including overflowing toilets and limited access to food.
Texas resident Brent Nutt, whose wife is on the cruise ship, said Monday that she told him the "whole boat stinks extremely bad" and some passengers were getting sick and throwing up. Nutt said his wife reported "water and feces all over the floor."
Carnival hasn't determined what caused the fire or how it caused the electrical problems that have crippled the ship's water and plumbing systems, said Oliva, the company spokeswoman.
The National Transportation Safety Board announced Tuesday it has opened an investigation into the cause of the fire. The NTSB said the Bahamas Maritime Agency will lead the investigation because the ship carries a Bahamian flag.
The ship was originally going to be towed to the port in Progreso, Mexico, but after currents pushed it northward, a decision was made to take it to Mobile to make it easier for passengers without passports to get home, the company said.
A similar situation occurred on a Carnival cruise ship in November 2010. That vessel was also stranded for three days with 4,500 people aboard after a fire in the engine room. When the passengers disembarked in San Diego they described a nightmarish three days in the Pacific with limited food, power and bathroom access.
Carnival said in a statement that it had cancelled the Triumph's next two voyages scheduled to depart Monday and Saturday. Passengers aboard the stranded ship will also receive a full refund, the statement said.
I'm no genius, but if Carnival can send another cruise ship to drop off supplies, why didn't they off-load passengers on to that same cruise ship and return them to land? They could have averted all this bad publicity and disgruntled passengers with tales of urinating in bags & eating onion sandwiches.
 @cr8zychick Because transferring passengers at sea is extremely risky. All it would take is one person falling overboard during the transfer and people would be expressing outrage over it.
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More to the point, however, is why not have one ship supply power to the disabled ship enough that basic sanitation and food preparation could take place?
This past September my wife and I took Princess cruises to a week's tour of Alaska. We thoroughly enjoyed the train ride at one of the ports, and the food was reasonably good and plentiful, but I got the impression that the main reason for the cruise was to promote jewelry sales. Every port was cluttered with jewelry stores and there was even an on-board promotional show to push jewelry sales.
Alcohol was unreasonably high priced and espresso drinks were likewise a rip-off.
But wife person enjoyed it, and for me, that is what mattered.
I took the Carnival once to the Bahamas and it was an old crappy boat!! You could smell the air in side that thing and it stank! The food had an uncanny flavor no matter what the food looked like or what type of food it was!!!
From Jello to Coffee and everything in between. It was awful!
I found out later that they used recycled water! Completely crap if you ask me and I will never carnival again!
Things happen, good and bad. I think we can all agree this is 'bad'; however, it would not make me give up cruising.Â
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It really is one of the most economical ways to take a vacation. You can see multiple locations, without having to pack and unpack, as you would in hotels. You also have the option of eating at several fare-included venues aboard ship, and the food is excellent, and presented well. The provided activities and entertainment are top notch. You can do as much, or as little, as you like.
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I have been on several cruises, over the last few years, and I have never approached a crewmember, who did not greet me with a brilliant smile and a willingness to grant any reasonable request. If I have had any unpleasant experiences aboard a cruise ship, it has been due to the behavior of another passenger, not a member of the crew.
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Other commenters have made valid points about the maintenance of the ships' systems. I agree, that some cruise lines are more interested in their profit margin. Most of the times, the crew has little more than 2-4 hours to offload passengers, only to scramble to be ready for the next group board for a same-day turn-around to the next cruise. As a passenger, I have never seen the workings of the maintenance crew. But, then, if they are doing their jobs right, everything seems seamless, and unseen.Â
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Given the massive amount of work they have to do, I am surprised incidents like this one, isn't more common. I feel badly for all the people who are having an obviously difficult time, and I pray for their comfort .
How do you build a ship like this and have a single point of failure for any system that is important?Â
Free booze to quell a mutany. and as for going to the bathroom or head in nautical terms go over the side.
oh how terrible.....1st world problems strike again.
@SwampThing Yes what ever are they to do?
A full refund is the least they could do. I am not advocating suing however I am thinking that more than a refund is called for. Glad no one has been seriously hurt in all this.
when I go on a cruise I'll have to bring my Cabela's portable potty.
When will people learn to stay off these things.
 @ballardanian Do you say the same thing when people do non-essential vacation travel via plane, bus, train, car and there is an accident? These things are going to happen no matter the method of travel and unless you're a boring hermit that rarely leaves the house, you'll probably experience great inconvenience at least one time in your life when on vacation. I dunno about you, but it's worth the risk than just staying at home all the time living a boring life without any adventure.
@Hambingo @ballardanian want adventure? go eat at a local roach coach and you don't even have to leave the city.
Another reason I am never stepping foot on a cruise ship. Good lord, Cant they send another boat to pick them up or something? I would be furious being trapped on that thing!
 @kelliellid Transferring people between boats at sea is always a risk, much less over 4,000 people. Safer to leave them onboard and deliver supplies as long as the ship is seaworthy, however horrible onboard it is.