Last Passengers Leave Disabled Cruise Ship

By Terry Green
Nov 12 2010

The last passengers, who were stranded aboard the disabled Carnival cruise ship, the Carnival Splendor, left the vessel this morning in San Diego.

For the passengers, what was supposed to be a dream vacation, and in one case a honeymoon, turned into a floating house of horrors. Early on in the 7 day cruise the engine room on board the massive vessel caught fire, virtually crippling the ship and leaving it to drift out to sea.

With the engine fire all power was lost. This meant that there was no cooking, no hot water and no internet or phone. This was coupled with the fact that all of the toilets on the vessel were electric and they all backed up with the loss of power.

The passengers were aided by the nearby naval ship that dropped thousands of pounds of food and water onto the deck of the vessel. However, the food was far from the standard fare that one would expect on board a cruise liner. The Navy dropped canned Spam, pop tarts and bottled water.

To make up for the problem with the passengers each would receive a full refund on the trip along with a voucher for a free cruise. Some reported that they would take advantage of the free cruise while others said that they would no longer trust the line for their cruising needs.

The vessel is currently in San Diego awaiting an inspection. It is possible that the ship will need to be dry-docked which could be extremely expensive for the Carnival cruise line.