Passengers leave cruise ship telling tales of woe
A few dozen relatives on the top floor of the parking deck of the terminal were waving lights at the ship as it carefully made its way alongside. Those about were screaming, whistling and taking pictures.
Hundreds gawked from dockside at the arrival at the Alabama cruise terminal in Mobile, the state's only seaport, as the Triumph docked.
Taxis were lined up waiting for people, and motorists on Interstate 10 stopped to watch the exodus of passengers from the cruise ship.
Some still aboard chanted, "Let me off, let me off!"
It took six grueling hours navigating the 30-odd-mile ship channel to dock, guided by at least four towboats. Nearly 900 feet in length, it was the largest cruise ship ever to dock at Mobile.
Galveston is the home port of the ill-fated ship, which lost power in an engine-room fire Sunday some 150 miles off Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. It was the end of a cruise that wasn't anything like what a brochure might describe.
Carnival's Cahill apologized at a news conference and later on the public address system as people were disembarking.
"I appreciate the patience of our guests and their ability to cope with the situation. And I'd like to reiterate the apology I made earlier. I know the conditions on board were very poor," he said. "We pride ourselves on providing our guests with a great vacation experience, and clearly we failed in this particular case."
Passenger Ferguson said crew members tried to make the situation bearable.
"They did their best to keep our spirits up," she said.
Joseph and Cecilia Alvarez of San Antonio said some passengers passed the time by forming a Bible study group.
"It was awesome," he said. "It lifted up our souls and gave us hope that we would get back."
While the passengers are headed home, Triumph will head to a Mobile shipyard for assessment.
Earlier Thursday -- four days after the 893-foot ship was crippled in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico -- the passengers and crew suffered another setback with towline issues that brought the vessel to a dead stop for about an hour just as it was getting close to port.
As the vessel drew within cell phone range Thursday, passengers vented their anger.
In a text message, Kalin Hill, of Houston, described deplorable conditions over the past few days.
"The lower floors had it the worst, the floors 'squish' when you walk and lots of the lower rooms have flooding from above floors," Hill wrote. "Half the bachelorette party was on two; the smell down there literally chokes you and hurts your eyes."
She said, "There's poop and urine all along the floor. The floor is flooded with sewer water ... and we had to poop in bags."
The company disputed the accounts of passengers who described the ship as filthy, saying employees were doing everything to ensure people were comfortable.
Kendall Jenkins of Houston won her first cruise as a contest prize. But she's never planning to set sail on a cruise again after the ill-fated voyage of the Triumph, despite the offer for another free cruise.
"This is my first and last cruise. So if anyone wants my free cruise, look me up," said Jenkins, 24.
She and her friend, Ferguson, bounded off the ship Thursday night clad in bathrobes. They immediately kissed the pavement at the Port of Mobile, having spent their final minutes aboard jumping up and down excitedly.
Some travel agents said cruise prices and bookings have not been affected by the disabled Carnival ship, but others in the industry say it's too early to tell.
Thelbert Lanier was waiting at the Mobile port for his wife, who texted him early Thursday.
"Room smells like an outhouse. Cold water only, toilets haven't work in 3-1/2 days. Happy Valentines Day!!! I love u & wish I was there," she said in the text message, which was viewed by The Associated Press. "It's 4:00 am. Can't sleep ... it's cold & I'm starting to get sick."
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The entire point of these cruise ships is to "hearken back" to the supposed "good old days" of "sailing the seas in style"
Except that it never was like that.
Most of the people on passenge liners like the Titantic would have flown in a jet plane if they had a choice. The reason they didn't is because jet planes didn't exist back then.
Cruising in these cruise ships is basically equivalent to renting a Model T and travelling across country at a maximum speed of 35 MPH. (because that's the max speed of one of those cars) Why don't people do that? BECAUSE IT IS STUPID.
TV Shows like the "Love Boat" basically were paid advertisements that put an antique form of transportation back on the map. The people back in the olden days who actually used passenger liners as transportation abandonded them in a shot as soon as jets were available.
It's just like this idiotic facination with railroads. Once jet planes became accessible most rail travellers abandonded trains to freight hauling. But you still have this vocal minority out there who just can't let go of rail and insist on having the federal government subsidize an antique form of transportation.
You can go to Vegas and just stay away from gambling and have the same exact kind of "stuff your face until you explode" experience holed up in one of the casino hotels for a week.
Carnival is just lucky that there were no injuries to the passengers and crew.