Posted on 11/10/2010 11:00:53 AM PST by inflorida
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A Coast Guard official says one of two tugboats tasked with pulling a disabled cruise ship to San Diego didn't have enough power and was forced to turn back.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Jetta Disco says a Mexican company has sent a third tugboat to the scene but authorities are trying to determine whether it would be better to leave the one tugboat alone while it slowly makes headway.
--snip--
Instead of lavish buffets, passengers on the Carnival Splendor were subsisting on Spam, Pop Tarts and canned crabmeat flown in by Navy helicopters.
People were trying to keep their spirits up by singing, socializing and playing cards, said passenger David Zambrano, who managed to get cell phone service Wednesday and called his employer, Denver TV station 9NEWS.
The ship's bars, casinos, pools and the upper deck were closed. Rooms in the interior of the ship were pitch black and passengers propped open their doors to let in air and emergency lighting from the hallways.
"So really, all we're going is just kind of hanging out on a boat waiting for the next mealtime," Zambrano said.
But when mealtime comes, there's a two-hour wait for food, which is cold.
(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...
Yeah buddy. They just don't make things like they used to.
Sure seems to be taking a long time to tow a ship in.
Let me guess. Carnival will give each passenger a voucher good for another cruise?
chicom engines in those tugs.
LLS
wow. what a situation to be in. canned crabmeat and spam tho? nasty.
I read that there have been two suicides off that ship from previous cruises, both of them jumping overboard. The ship is cursed. Its evil, EVIL!
Mike
Well it does displace 130,000 tons. Plus passengers.
The Mexican authorities stated that with their state of the art tugboat, the cruise liner would arrive in San Diego in just under 7 years which would include the time necessary to have the boat painted to look like a zebra.
Sounds like metaphor for our economy, kinda limping along w/QE 2 (2nd tug) failing also.
They should just declare this cruise a deluxe weight loss program or something - Diet At Sea!
Carnival is such garbage. The cruise ships pay zero taxes, tear up reefs, purge their tanks of oil and waste. They suck. I would take the oil industry over cruise ships any day of the week.
Oh, boo-hoo! I flew in the Navy for twnety years. The inflight meal never changed: One fried chicken wing; one spam and cheese sandwich on Wonder Bread; one hard-boiled egg; a bruised piece of fruit; two chicklets; a granola bar. If you were lucky, also a juice box.
Some carnival.
I can't get past this name.
Thats the best they can do? Pop Tarts, Cold Span and crabmeat? And the bars are closed? What unimaginable BS,,, It should be open bar.
What about Some Doritos, goldfish crackers? A few sling loads on a CH-53 could give them all the loaves of bread, mustard and canned hams they could want.
And cases and cases of Rum and coke. Beer is nice, but just too bulky.
As a BM on the USS Peleliu, I personally hated when they switched from the nice, thick synthetic fiber lines to those Kevlar ones.
Hey, that gives me an idea. Do you think people will pay to for a ride at the carnival that just sits there?
There is good potential for a horror movie here; i.e. the ship is towed into the fog and then the Zombies attack.
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