Posted on 11/11/2010 12:21:23 PM PST by BenLurkin
Relieved passengers wheeled their suitcases down the gangplank of a disabled cruise ship Thursday, cheering as they finally touched land after three nightmarish days adrift with limited food, backed-up toilets and dark cabins.
Pulled by six tug boats and escorted by Coast Guard cutters, the nearly 1,000-foot Carnival Splendor reached the dock at about 8:30 a.m. PST.
The first group of passengers walked down a ramp about an hour later, dragging rolling suitcases behind them and entering a tent on the dock. With the ship’s elevators out of order, port officials estimated it would take about four hours for everyone to leave the ship.
It was gross when the toilets weren’t working. What can you do?” Harlan said. “There were a lot of people getting smashed off warm beer.”
People on the decks and about 100 onshore cheered loudly as the ship reached the dock, while all along the harbor, tourists, joggers and fishermen stopped to snap photos.
High up on a ship railing, someone had stuck a sign thanking the Coast Guard and a hand-drawn U.S. flag.
“We’re so happy to be getting off. Everybody’s been cheering and clapping,” passenger Fahizah Alim, 26, of Sacramento, said by cell phone.
“It’s been like a nightmare,” she said. “There’s been no food, no power, no electricity, no flushing toilets. I spent the night tossing and turning in my cabin in the dark.”
The ship left Long Beach on Sunday for a seven-day trip to the Mexican Riviera, only to return days early without ever reaching the beaches vacationers had hoped for. A fire in the engine room knocked out power Monday morning, leaving passengers with no air conditioning, no hot food, no hot water, no casino. The swimming pool was off-limits because there was no way to pump chlorine.
(Excerpt) Read more at losangeles.cbslocal.com ...
I assume your errors were not intentional. Just trying to help...no need for hostility.
I’m glad you straightened him out alot. (Irregardless of you being an english instructor.)
Warm beer and non-functional toilets can be a nasty combination.
Obviously you have NO idea what you are talking about.
A crankcase explosion - usually caused by a hot main bearing igniting the oil mist inside the crankcase -can be a huge explosion - causing a fire, which can then destroyed the engine room where all the wiring, switchboards, and motor controllers are.
One does have to ask if the oil mist detectors were working or not.
I wonder what type of engines they have.
Just my experience of 20 years sailing as a Chief Engineer.
On one of the cruise boards some nimrod suggested just that. He was asked by a few people why cellphones, cameras and other devices were still working.
Crybaby is one word. Not two.
Doesn’t this ship have the electric motor pods? If I remember correctly, they have diesels that run generators that create all the electricity for the 6 electric pods and ships’ house electricity?
I think most of the modern cruise ships now have the pods that rotate to allow easy docking etc. instead of the standard twin screws driven by shafts...?
G
Since the fire started about 10 hours or so before the supposed EMP attack, it seems pretty unlikely. :)
Good thing the passengers didn’t have to disembark through a 28 inch wide chute. I’d have had to diet for weeks first.
On the noon news, KCAL9 aired the “first exclusive videos” taken by passengers from aboard the ship as events were unfolding.
The best video was their first sight of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter who initially came to their rescue. They sent out an inflatable filled with Coasties to — I guess — board the vessel and see what they could do.
The Coast Guard did a superb job all the way through and it makes a great story for Veterans’ Day.
So, do you like cruise lines? I mean, it’s not like you’ve given your opinion of them on every thread so far, or anything.
They should have done what we did way back when – over the downwind side.
They pay no income tax, 4500 people on one ship, the whole idea is miserable and just a cheap vacation. I bet the people on this Carnival nightmare probably do not like cruise ships.
Carnival junk ships from hell. Micey Arison pays no taxes and can afford to hire LeBron for the Heat. Carnival is probably the worst cruise line and it is a crappy industry anyway.
...People on the decks and about 100 onshore cheered loudly as the ship reached the dock, while all along the harbor, tourists, joggers and fishermen stopped to snap photos. Lissa Letts of Overland, Kan., said she drove to San Diego to meet the returning ship to sell passengers T-shirts emblazoned with the phrase: "I survived the 2010 Carnival cruise Spamcation." Passengers snapped up the shirts at $20 apiece.
Good old American ingenuity! $20 a pop! 1563 miles one-way on a bet! Probably didn't bring enough!
"I survived the 2010 Carnival cruise Spamcation."
Not sure where you get that data from. Wouldn’t the country where they are headquartered tax them? But since I’m against income taxes, then if it’s true I say “more power to them.” Besides, I bet they pay handsome docking fees wherever they go. Guess I could be wrong on that.
As far as whether or not others besides you like them, it’s kind of subjective, and in fact way too subjective to be anything more than an opinion. Up until something went wrong, those 4500 seemed okay with it, as do, apparently, millions of others, many of whom are repeat customers.
Is it wise to take a cruise? Well, is it wise to skydive? Again, it’s subjective. What is fun for me may not be fun for you. Same with any risk analysis. You take your chances with anything you do.
But as I intimated on another thread, I wouldn’t worry too much about the cruise lines. They are so crowded, no one goes on them. (Thanks, Yogi Berra).
You have a serious mental problem, FRiend, if you believe that tripe coming from your keyboard. You are attacking an entire industry because you don't like a basketball team or some other situation! Carnival is at the bottom of my list, but I can assure you that they have many satisfied customers...
-onboard Celebrity Solstice
Frantzie, it seems you are from Iceland. I would think Iceland has some spectacular coasts that would best be viewed from the sea.
The Coasties should have evacuated the ship.
Then called the USN and PT 73 with Lt Commander Quinton McHale to put a fish (torpedo) amidships to that hulk.
Carnival does not maintain their sea scows. This hulk would make a good reef.
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