Carnival Triumph passengers: 'No vacation, it was survival'

Shelimped into harbour in Alabamain the glare ofTV networks with 4,229 peopleon board and reeking of raw sewage. The Carnival Triumph docked in Mobileat the end of aGulf of Mexico holiday described as “hellish”. Anengine room firelast Sunday knocked out power, leavingthe ship adrift andpassengers to endure appalling conditions. The ordeal did not end on reaching dry land: it took four hoursto disembark all the passengers who then faced long coach rides. Toilets and drainpipes overflowed, flooding cabins and corridors. People used plastic bags as makeshift toilets. Some passengers slept on deck. The trip providedholiday souvenirs many will want to forget. “You try walking through the floor trying to get to the cafeteria and there’s shit and piss on the floors in the cafeteria and you have to walk through it. It was disgusting.We tried not to eat,” said passenger Miria Jones. “The smell was awful. The smell was bad, it got worse the longer it went. It wasn’t a vacation anymore it was like survival mode,” said another, Tammy Garcia. “It could have been a serious catastrophe. They’re just very lucky that we didn’t end up burning in the ship because no alarms went off. They told us to go back to bed when the fire was burning,” passenger Kelly Wright said. Conditions improved on Thursday thanks tothe arrival of an emergency generator. Carnival, the ship’s operator, is promising full refunds, 500 US dollars (375 euros) in compensation, and discounts on future cruises.