Carnival Triumph Stranded
I am seriously disturbed by Carnival’s track record lately. In 2010, an engine room fire stranded the Carnival Splendor off the west coast.
Then in 2012, the Costa Concordia hit rocks and sank, killing thirty-two people.
- Starling Travel – Costa Concordia: The First Cruise Ship To Sink in 100 Years
- Starling Travel – Costa Concordia: Still A Wreck After Almost A Year
Now, yet ANOTHER engine room stranded the Carnival Triumph for five miserable days of heat and stench.
Here is a video from one of the passengers, Lance Winder.
It sounds as if the crew did their best to keep things as clean as they could on the boat, but sewage had backed up on the lower decks, so passengers had no choice but to live on the decks under sheets tied up to protect them from the sun. At night, however, it got too cold outside and they retreated inside, where there was hardly any room for them.
Is a free cruise and $500 enough of a compensation? I believe it is, but I would prefer to not have that experience in the first place. At least when my car breaks down on a road trip, it’s my own fault, not something completely out of my control.
I’ve been on a few cruises, the first of which was on a Carnival cruise on a ship with broken stabilizers. I have enjoyed being able to visit many different islands and beaches on one trip without worrying about doing the driving, but in the end, I prefer to be behind the wheel of my vacation. Now that Carnival has a documented history of problems with their ships, I think I’ll avoid them altogether.