Free Republic

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...

A cruise ship left powerless by an engine fire is expected to be towed into Ensenada on Wednesday morning, and buses will meet passengers for the trip back to Southern California, the cruise ship company and the U.S. Navy announced Tuesday. Tugboats are scheduled to bring the ship, with its 3,299 passengers and 1,167 crew members, into Ensenada, where it will undergo emergency repairs before returning to its home port of Long Beach. ...The Morgenthau, a high-endurance Coast Guard cutter out of Alameda, will stay with the 952-foot-long Carnival Splendor until it reaches Long Beach, officials said.