Carnival Splendor passengers reach land, have stories to tell

Passengers disembarked Thursday morning from their ill-fated cruise on the Carnival Splendor, full of survivor stories, quips and -- generally speaking -- a fairly upbeat attitude about their experiences.

They were greeted by a horde of media, as well as relatives, friends and even strangers who decided to come to the port in San Diego to witness the spectacle firsthand. Enterprising merchants also hawked T-shirts: "I survived the 2010 Carnival Cruise Spamcation."

Honeymooners Josh and Ashley Vest of Fullerton said they tried to make the best of it. And though they initially thought the trip was ruined, Joshua Vest, 23, said spirits lifted once a tugboat arrived and the Navy began shuttling food and supplies to the ship.

"The food was lousy," Vest said. "The bar in our area was closed. But it wasn't too hot aboard the ship and there was music and games. Last night, we knew we were going home and everybody was happy. And then they opened up the bar and people were even happier."

He said the joke among passengers was that there were going to be "a lot of babies born in the next nine months."

Mike Hall, 36, who works for a Las Vegas cable TV company, said the fire caused a disturbance that rattled the ship.

“We were sleeping late and suddenly the whole ship started to shake and the power went off. We were in the dark. And we knew something bad had happened," he said. "It woke everybody up.”

Toilets in his part of the ship wouldn't flush until Wednesday, forcing passengers to scoop up waste and dump it in receptacles at another location. The elevators on board also didn’t work.

Hall said this meant a lot of going up and down stairs. That, coupled with the bad food, made it easy to drop some pounds, he said.

“If you wanted to lose weight, this was the place,” he said. “They should call it the ‘Splendor Diet.’ ”

Most passengers said they were looking forward to a good, hot meal -- and were relieved to be back on land.

Peg Fischer, 61, of Las Vegas, said she will cruise again.

"I'm a mathematics teacher. What are the odds that this could happen again?" Fischer said. "This was my first cruise and I wanted it to be memorable. It was, but not in the way I hoped for. It's good to be home."

About 4,500 passengers and crew members were aboard the ship, which had been disabled since Monday morning, when a fire broke out in the engine room and knocked out power. The ship was able to restore flushing toilets, but made do without hot water, lights and hot food service. The ship had departed Sunday out of Long Beach for a seven-day Mexican cruise.

Carnival has agreed to offer a full refund, reimbursement for travel expenses and a free cruise of comparable value.

"Thank you for your understanding," a contrite voice blared over a ship loudspeaker as the passengers disembarked. "And we hope you come back real soon."

Related: Carnival Splendor passenger: 'I refused to eat the Spam'

-- Tony Perry and Richard Marosi in San Diego

Photo: A passenger aboard the Carnival Splendor waves a message as the cruise ship arrives in San Diego Harbor. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

Photos: Cruise ship finally makes port

Comments

[tontosh]

This is probably the first time ever that the cruise passengers lost weight after a cruise. Welcome back.

[Luvheat]

I Don't eat SPAM either but these guys (albeit 4500+) were trapped on a luxury liner for four days. ABOVE ground

Anyone remember a few Chilean Miners? SPAM would be Filet Mignon to those miners!

Carnival Cruises will be paying forever the lawsuit settlements from passengers...I haven't heard a word about any lawsuits from the miners. The world is seeing this episode as the anti-thesis of the Chilean mine disaster with Americans being so pampered as refusing to eat SPAM. Oh and don't forget the "canned crab" how dare they bring such rescue supplies to these "stricken" partiers

[Bert Kanne]

You would think in this day, cruise ships would be alot like an office building or a hospital. If the main engines go out, the ship should loose power to move. If there is a power failure in an area, bldgs need to have backup generators for critical services. A cruise ship should work this way too; vitals such as lights, refrigeration and bathrooms should operate on emergency power generation. It's time for Titanic like changes in the design of these ships!

[Polomoche]

This is a perfect example of a non-newsworthy story, wildly overblown by the media into the most absurd proportions. The extent of suffering on said vessel went so far as "the bar being closed" - certainly an unimaginable deprivation when on a cruise line, but hardly equivalent to the sorts of trials and travails worthy of international coverage. Eating at a restaurant this morning I couldn't help but notice the CNN coverage of said ship docking into port, with that glib miscreant Anderson Cooper providing solemn narration all the while, to him simply another story with a beginning, middle, and end, like the Haitian earthquake or trapped Chilean miners. It is ultimately all the same, right? Never mind those poor Haitians are currently suffering a cholera outbreak - that tale has long ended, with the happy ending of our outpouring of benevolence and good will! Next!

This cruise ship is far more interesting. Maybe they orchestrate that lunatic koran burner from Florida, shooting from a cannon off the bow inside the 'Phoenix' miner rescue capsule, and see if divine intervention prevents him from drowning while an audio montage of Glenn Beck and Jon Stewart blares over loudspeakers in the background. Kind of a media mash-up remix thing.

It is a 'front page' story like this that makes me rejoice getting rid of that terrible, crippling opiate: television. Now if I can only wean myself off of reading the bloody news every day. Antidote: the Economist once a week, a glance at the NY Times, Marketplace on NPR, and deep, involved thought over UCLA basketball articles.

[Nanabertha]

what recession....4500...X how much>>>>

[realman]

Cutting to the chase, the food on this cruise was probably better than the food on the cruise we went on in June.

[Jack Johnson]

LA Times: Please pull this story. This is an embarrassment. This is NOT news, but something I'd expect to see in a Nat. Enquirer.

[pasadena jag]

Fire at sea can be devastating. What was very bad on Carnival's part is that the inside cabins don't have flashlights. The weather can be very rough at this time of year. Especially if there is a hurricane and they happen off the coast of Mexico. With nothing working on this ship - you have to wonder if they had the pumps should the fire have spread. Also, the corridors were filled with smoke. The Yarmouth Castle fire off the coast of Miami was turning point in making sure fires at sea don't happen. But they do. One of the worst being SS MORO CASTLE. Check out www.cruiseshiphistory.com for a great story on the Carnival and the Morro Castle connection.

[pasadena jag]

As for it not being front page news... is anyone kidding. It wasn't the bad food but should the weather have been bad... this wouldn't have been a smooth homecoming. There will be investigations regarding this sailing.

[Greg Maragos]

An out-of-control fire on a ship is bad news. The good thing is that the fire was contained and nobody died--no mean feat, given the size of the ship.

[John De Salvio]

The one downside from the loss of power on the ship was the passengers being unable to see the musical production of "Spamalot."
Oh, they did?
Never mind.

[John De Salvio]

When people on land first heard that the passengers were getting a lot of spam, they thought it was via their online providers. You know – phish for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?

[Daniel Durazo]

Sounds like Carnival did a good job of managing a very rare and challenging situation. I think this will be soon forgotten and no major damage done to the cruise line or the industry.

Dan Durazo