Carnival Ship Stranded in Gulf of Mexico

[SurfieTX]

Foods that haven't been kept properly refrigerated/frozen or foods that cannot be properly cooked due to the loss of power are likely not safe for human consumption. The ship leaves the home port with enough food for the duration of each voyage. I suspect that a lot of food was spoiled and circumstances are bad enough without making people sick by serving contaminated foods.

Well, yes, obviously. My point is, the Coast Guard or *someone* could make a drop or provide them food in some way.

 

[SurfieTX]

HOUSTON -- A third tugboat has been dispatched to the Carnival Triumph to assist in its return to the U.S. mainland, the company said Wednesday afternoon.

Carnival said the ship is now expected to arrive in Mobile, Alabama on Thursday where hotel rooms, chartered flights, and bus transportation were waiting to assist passengers. It was previously thought Triumph could arrive as early as Wednesday evening.

http://www.khou.com/news/local/upda...rrive-alabama-thursday-tugboat-191074681.html

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Well, yes, obviously. My point is, the Coast Guard or *someone* could make a drop or provide them food in some way.

It's my understanding that another Carnival ship sailing in the Gulf of Mexico delivered food and other supplies to the ship. I suppose at some point the Coast Guard will assist in bringing the crippled ship safely into port, but they can't get to the ship any more easily or quickly than any other sailing vessel. I'm not an expert on Maritime Law, but there are all sorts of laws governing vessels when they are in international waters.

 

[SurfieTX]

It's my understanding that another Carnival ship sailing in the Gulf of Mexico delivered food and other supplies to the ship. I suppose at some point the Coast Guard will assist in bringing the crippled ship safely into port, but they can't get to the ship any more easily or quickly than any other sailing vessel. I'm not an expert on Maritime Law, but there are all sorts of laws governing vessels when they are in international waters.

The Coast Guard has jurisdiction in the Gulf. They can use helicopters for drops. I'm sorry, but the lack of concern for these people with sewage sloshing in the hallways, very little edible food, no stabilization for the ship due to the power outage, and limited medical care for everyone on that ship is making me mad.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

The Coast Guard has jurisdiction in the Gulf. They can use helicopters for drops. I'm sorry, but the lack of concern for these people with sewage sloshing in the hallways, very little edible food, no stabilization for the ship due to the power outage, and limited medical care for everyone on that ship is making me mad.

Ship happens

While DH and I have never experienced anything like this on our 25+ cruises to date, there are sometimes things that go wrong that upset plenty of passengers (i.e. missing ports for weather-related reasons), but we tend to make the most of a bad situation during any of our travels. Would I be upset to be on this crippled ship without power, food, plumbing, etc.? Yes, but I would find a way to enjoy myself despite the unpleasant circumstances. Getting worked up into a hissy-fit won't make things any better, so I'd and bear it.

After both DH and I both had Norovirus (on different cruises), we decided to take a break from it this year. We spent a lovely week at the Wilderness Lodge at Disney World and enjoyed the theme parks, fabulous dining, and warm days, cool evenings. We have no definite plans in place yet for next year's winter getaway, but a cruise will likely be just one consideration and not an automatic go-to vacation despite our Princess perks.

 

[SurfieTX]

Bad luck before

The fire is at least the second problem for the ship since late January, when it had an issue with its propulsion system, according to a notice posted on the website of Carnival senior cruise director John Heald.

In 2010, the Carnival cruise ship Splendor lost power after an engine room fire, leaving it drifting off the Pacific coast of Mexico. The USS Ronald Reagan ferried 60,000 pounds of supplies for the ship's passengers and crew as the ship was towed to San Diego.
A U.S. Coast Guard marine inspector told CNN that the Triumph passed inspection last year, earning a "certificate of compliance" on May 17.

The cruise company apologized for the current conditions on board the Triumph and said it was using its full resources to help the passengers.

"No one here at Carnival is happy about conditions on board the ship," Cahill, the Carnival CEO, said Tuesday. "We are very sorry about what is taking place."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/13/travel/cruise-ship-fire/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

 

[21merc7]

I'm really learning a lot about cruises and broken down ships. I don't know about any of this stuff, most shocking, that the lifeboats are useless. anic: Guess I'll never be talked into a cruise.

I was hoping that the cruiseline could hire a lot of local boats (or any boats), plan properly and with enough boats, get all people off that thing, then they can go salvage the boat. Guess it can't work that way. I clearly know nothing about boating. Thanks everyone for what we are learning here today!

 

[SurfieTX]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icAwcByaNtY

 

[Show Me]

Cruising is not my thing, just not interested. I really don't know anyone who didn't have a good time on a cruise. One lady said she wished she and her hubby hadn't signed up for so many activities at the ports. She came back happy though exhausted.

Here is one cruise gone bad...or furniture racing....or everyone on the ship needed Align Probiotic for their digestive system so they don't walk sideways.


Cruise Ship In Extreme Rough Seas - YouTube

 

[Nova]

I'm really learning a lot about cruises and broken down ships. I don't know about any of this stuff, most shocking, that the lifeboats are useless. anic: Guess I'll never be talked into a cruise.

I was hoping that the cruiseline could hire a lot of local boats (or any boats), plan properly and with enough boats, get all people off that thing, then they can go salvage the boat. Guess it can't work that way. I clearly know nothing about boating. Thanks everyone for what we are learning here today!

I've been doing a lot of research on WWII. Ships with even more people on board took multiple torpedo and kamikaze hits and recovered faster than this one cruise ship.

This is bad management on top of bad maintenance!

 

[belimom]

What cruise lines don't want you to know

Editor's note: James M. Walker is a maritime lawyer and cruise safety advocate involved in cruise ship law and maritime litigation with his law firm, Walker and O'Neill. He has represented crew members and passengers against cruise lines, including Carnival and Royal Caribbean. Formerly, he worked as a lawyer for the cruise industry.

....I have attended seven congressional hearings since 2005 regarding issues of cruise ship passenger safety. At the last hearing, before Sen. Jay Rockefeller, cruise expert and author Ross Klein said fires broke out in 79 cruise ships from 1990 to 2011. Most of these fires received little coverage in the U.S. press. It is a topic that the travel publications avoid and travel agents do not like to hear.

The cruise industry does a remarkable job advertising that cruising is a safe and affordable family vacation. It certainly is affordable, in large part because major cruise lines such as Carnival and Royal Caribbean are incorporated in foreign countries like Panama, the Bahamas, Bermuda and Liberia. Their ships fly the flags of foreign nations and thus avoid all U.S. federal taxes, labor laws and safety regulations.....

.......The Cruise Lines International Association says its "crew members are provided wages that are competitive with international pay scales." But a cleaner aboard a Royal Caribbean ship, for example, will work 12 hours a day, seven days a week, for as little as $156.25 a week with no tips. U.S. labor laws are not applicable to provide protection to crew members at sea, nor is there any real oversight of the cruise lines' operations.

More at http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/13/opinion/walker-cruise-ships/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

 

[montana_16]

What would they do if the ship was sinking? :what:

 

[belimom]

What would they do if the ship was sinking? :what:

I guess they would get in the lifeboats and be rescued. The Coast Guard is tailing them.

Your question made me think of something else, though: why the heck didn't Carnival cancel another cruise, send the empty ship out there, and transfer the people via lifeboat or whatever?

I know that my question is partly rhetorical b/c there would still be danger in doing something like that, especially when there is no steerage on a boat that large. Plus someone would have to have already worked out the logistics for who would lodge where on the other boat.

But the situation is not just uncomfortable for these folks. There's little to no food or water. There's raw sewage. Carnival should have taken more action in whatever way they could, IMO.

 

[CHERIE.T]

Another reason why I will never take a cruise.

 

[Gypsy Road]

Seems like it's always Carnival Cruise Lines who has problems! No hot water? No working toilets for days? That ship must be a mess. Poop Deck!

 

[txsvicki]

My husband's healthcare worker has a relative who saved to take a trip and ended up on that shp. No toilets, flooded carpet, sleeping in tents. Just awful.

 

[cluciano63]

I used to think the worst thing about taking a cruise would be the fact that you are kind of trapped and can't just go home anytime you want (kind of like prison, lol). But poop running down the walls would probably be worse.

Anyway, no cruises for me, not now or ever. I know lots of people swear by them, but I have never been able to fathom the idea of being at sea with strangers, without an exit strategy, and consider it a vacation. The only way I can see myself in a boat with people I don't know is if my plane crashed over water and I was lucky enough to be rescued, lol.

 

[Gypsy Road]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/13/travel/cruise-ship-fire/index.html


"Nerves are frayed on board, where passengers have waited in lines for as long as four hours, said Nick Ware, whose mother is on the ship with her boyfriend. Ware said arguments are breaking out after people at the front of lines grab as many provisions as they can.
"The person in the front of the line is allowed to take however much he wants, so people see the person in front of them taking too much, (and) they start to get concerned they're not going to get any," Ware said.
People at the rear of the line ended up with buns and condiments -- no burgers, he said."

more at link

 

[Nova]

What would they do if the ship was sinking? :what:

The captain and crew would abandon the ship and the passengers via helicopter and later claim they were "supervising the rescue from on shore". (This actually happened with a Greek ship cruising off South Africa. I saw a documentary about it.)

 

[cityslick]

Everyone I've ever known to take a cruise tells me it's never the 100% perfect vacation, there is always some little hiccup or worse. Had a friend who went last year and just happened to get caught up in a hurricane (it may have been Sandy, can't remember). Anyway, it caused numerous delays, people got sick, etc.

You can't pay me enough to take a cruise.