When I heard about that disabled cruise ship down in Mexico currently being towed back to the US, I thought of this thread. Imagine, 3,000 passengers and another 1,000 crew, stuck on an almost dead ship.

These ships are AMAZING in terms of power and water generation, sanitation, etc, but one fire can knock most of it out, as apparently happened on this ship. They have enough backup power for drinking water and minimal santitation, but it got me to thinking about how you "rough it" in a cruise ship cabin if everything was knocked out for an extended time--say off the coast of Africa maybe? And what if you had no flush toilets for 4,000 people? Wow, not pretty. Like a floating Superdome situation almost.

One thing I wasn't sure of--I've read reports of a US Navy ship transferring food to the cruise ship. But it wasn't clear if that is because the cruise ship was actually out of food, or whether the refrigeration had been knocked out and the food onboard was spoiling. I wonder if the ship's lifeboats have enough Mainstay bars for 4,000 people...

The stories I read said the ship is completely without power, including the pumps that power toilets, sinks, and showers. Yep, 4000 people on a ship with no good way of going potty!

It would make sense that food would need to be brought in. They probably have propane for the stoves/ovens but no other powered cooking devices (microwaves, icemakers, freezers, blenders, soda fountains, etc) are working. Nor do they have any way of washing/sanatizing the dishes after a meal.

Most interior hallways do not have any portholes and would be pitch black, as would any interior cabins. I can imagine the ship having a curfew to avoid any liability issues with people getting hurt while stumbling around in the dark.


It's a worst-case scenerio in a lot of ways...I wish I were there!!

-Blast

From CNN



4500 people on a diet of pop tarts and crab meat. Glad they got the bathrooms working.

"Yep, 4000 people on a ship with no good way of going potty!"

All they had to do is provide a bunch of buckets. Of course, getting the buckets to the rail in the dark could be tricky...

Carnival Cruises Strikes Again!

The Carnival line certainly is no stranger to fires and other 'incidents'. This one is just the latest (and probably not the last) in a string of fires for several years.

In 1995, Carnival's Celebration caught fire and 1700 passengers were evacuated after drifting for two days.

In 1996, the Golden Princess was towed from the coast of British Columbia to Victoria after a fire broke out in the engine room.

In 1998, Carnival's Ecstasy caught fire right after leaving Miami.

In 1999, Carnival's Sun Vista caught fire off the coast of Mayalasia. The passengers were trapped on the burning ship for 5 hours, spent another 6 hours in lifeboats (some with no supplies, but nearly twice the listed capacity), and were finally picked up by a Russian freighter.

Also in 1999, Carnival's Tropicale caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico, and was adrift for two days. The captain thought it best not to inform the passengers of the raging fire in the engine room because he thought it would cause a panic. The Tropicale also caught fire in 1982 on her maiden voyage. I guess if you've got something good, go with it!

In 2006, the Star Princess (a subsidiary of Carnival) caught fire in the Caribbean, with hundred of cabins burned and one man dead.

Also in 2006, the Crown Princess listed severely (apparently caused by the second officer) to 24 degrees off the coast of Florida, tossing passengers, crew and anything that wasn't fastened down, producing nearly 300 injured passengers and crew.

This year, the Royal Princess caught fire in the Mediterranean.

Also this year, Carnival's Ecstasy (of previous fire fame) turned hard to avoid a large buoy that none of the crew seemed to notice until they nearly hit it. The ship listed severely, injuring 60 passengers.

Cruises don't appeal to me, but the LAST cruise I would take would be a Carnival cruise (pun intended).

Although none of them are as bad as the sinking of the Greek cruise ship Oceanos in 1991, where the crew abandoned the ship early on, and the saving of the 571 passengers was orchestrated by the entertainment director, her guitarist husband and a magician! Part of the rescue was filmed, and shown on TV several years ago.

Sue

Fires and contagious diseases on board a floating dormitory in the middle of the ocean. Where can I get in line for that? ;-)