Posted on 11/09/2010 6:13:04 PM PST by Beaten Valve
Carnival Splendor, crippled by an engine-room fire on Monday and set adrift west of Baja California, has been met by one of the commercial ocean-going tugs sent to rendezvous with the ship, Cruise Critic has learned. Although the tug was originally intended to tow the ship -- with 3,299 passengers and 1,167 crewmembers onboard -- to Ensenada, Mexico, Carnival has announced in its latest statement that, given the ship's current speed and location, it will head to San Diego, where it's expected to arrive on Thursday. The cruise line is making arrangements for hotel accommodations and flights home for all passengers onboard.
With just one tug currently pulling the vessel, Carnival Splendor is traveling at 4 knots, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. At least one other tug is on the way, though Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen could not say when it would arrive. If the ship cannot maintain sufficient speed, Carnival may switch plans again and have the tugs pull the ship to Ensenada as originally intended.
Carnival also has chosen to cancel the next cruise, originally scheduled to depart Long Beach on November 14. Passengers booked on that sailing will receive a full refund of their cruise fare and air transportation costs, along with a 25 percent discount on a future cruise. According to a letter from the line received by Cruise Critic member zonacruiser25, passengers also have the option to rebook onto a different Carnival cruise.
Generators are providing power to navigation equipment and emergency-detection systems onboard, and cold water and toilet service were restored late Monday to cabins. There are no reports of structural damage to the 113,000-ton, 952-foot-long vessel. The Coast Guard revealed in a recent news release that the fire originated in the generator's compartment, which is located in an engine room. Though the air conditioning is not operable, the Coast Guard also reports air temperatures at the scene are in the mid-60's.
At the request of the Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy diverted the USS Ronald Reagan to facilitate the delivery of needed supplies to Carnival Splendor. About 35 pallets of supplies (around 4,500 pounds, according to the Navy) were transferred by helicopter sent from the aircraft carrier, a move necessitated by the lack of refrigeration onboard Splendor. Supplies included food and utensils.
The ship was on Day 1 of a weeklong Mexican Riviera tour with scheduled visits in the ports of Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. The cruise line has since announced that passengers will receive a full refund and transportation costs, plus a complimentary future cruise, as compensation.
We'll be monitoring the situation, so check back for the latest.
So that missile struck the engine room
Hah!
This sounds like it is one of those things that makes a good story, when it is over.
What a nightmare. Stuck on a snail-paced germ factory.
geez!
Think about taking your Honeymoon cruise, and end it by subsisting on MREs...
Not hot food, no air conditioning, no ice for drinks, no hot showers, and they won’t let the passengers off of the ship.
scotch in a glass still works for me.....
I wonder why the Navy doesn't tow this ship to shore using the aircraft carrier that's on the scene? I think there would be enough horsepower there to move it right along.
Cancel the next one? Don’t stop there, the one after that and the next one.
Get out the butter, they are toast.
ping, for follow up
The horsepower is there in a carrier, but the maneuverability sure isn’t.
Well that is marginally better than the original planned bus ride from Ensenada.
You’d have to round up every bus in Baja for the passengers...say 50 per bus and 3500 passengers...that’s 70 buses.
-PJ
Absolutely. Ronald Reagan did was what was required. She and her carrier group are needed to defend the nation, not babysit vacationers.
Which might be one of the reasons they aren't doing it.
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