Passengers leave ‘cruise from hell’SFlb

Associated Press

SAN DIEGO

They can call it a nightmare. A cruise from hell. Even a Spamcation.

Whatever they label it, the grueling three-day journey of the crippled Carnival Splendor is over, and the nearly 4,500 passengers and crew members can forget about the backed-up toilets, darkened, stuffy cabins and the canned meat.

As the ship docked Thursday, people who had gathered on the decks and about 100 waiting onshore cheered loudly. Along the harbor, tourists, joggers and fishermen stopped to snap photos.

Passengers snapped up $20 T-shirts being sold on land with the phrase: “I survived the 2010 Carnival cruise Spamcation.”

An engine fire aboard the 952-foot cruise liner Monday morning knocked out power early in its seven-day trip to the Mexican Riviera, setting the ship adrift about 200 miles outside San Diego and 44 miles off the coast of Mexico.

No one was hurt, but passengers said they were jolted awake by the fire.

Smoke filled hallways toward the back of the ship, and a smoky odor reached the front cabins. Carnival said a crankcase split on one of the ship’s six diesel engines, causing the fire.

The fire left the ship without air conditioning, hot water or hot food. The casino was closed and, for a time, so were the bars. The swimming pool was off-limits because the pumps wouldn’t work.

Navy helicopters flew in Spam, Pop Tarts and canned crab meat and other goods.

Life gradually improved as the hours ticked by, with passengers trying to pass the time the low-tech way.

Children played miniature golf and board games — before sunset. Kiara Arteaga, 11, from Visalia, Calif., said the crew taught the children how to the dance to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”

“It was fun,” she said.

By the second day there was free beer, wine and soda at the bars.

The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating the accident.

Carnival canceled Splendor’s next cruise, which was scheduled to depart Sunday.

The cruise line said it will give refunds to everyone who holds reservations for that trip and offer them a 25 percent discount on a future cruise. The passengers on the current trip get a refund, including airfare, and a free cruise.