Carnival Splendor stranded after engine fire by Barbora Misakova

Just like millions of other people I am still fascinated by the story of the ‘unsinkable’ Titanic. Story of hundreds of people whose lives were lost at that dark and cold night is fascinating me over and over again. And every time we build something ‘indestructible’ I am expecting similar tragedy. Those who were onboard the Carnival Splendor – cruise ship stuck in the middle of nowhere – probably had similar thoughts. When the ship lost power after an engine fire Monday, it was adrift about 200 miles outside San Diego and 44 miles off the coast of Mexico. It was not only out of cell phone range, but the fire left the ship without air cond! itioning, hot water or hot food. Problem was also with water – pumps were not working so “the worst part of the incident was the backed-up toilets” said Edward Warschauer, one of the passengers. Ginger Kalin said the worst part was “not knowing what was going to happen and how many days we were going to be like this.” Even though this story differs a lot from that Titanic’s one, people were frightened anyway. But later the fear was substituted by disappointment. “We have not had a hot cup of coffee in four days. This was my first cruise and it was no luxury, no fun.” said one of the passengers. All passengers will get a refund, including airfare, and a free cruise. Those holding reservations on the next Splendor cruise will be offered full refunds and a 25 percent discount on a future cruise. There is only one last question: who will be willing to go on the cruise again after this experience?

related story (sgx1! 8591): http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101112/ap_on_re_us/us_cruise_sh...

by Barbora Misakova for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)

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