(CNN) -- Two tugboats are slowly pulling a
malodorous cruise ship across the Gulf of Mexico Tuesday after the
vessel was disabled by a fire in its engine room over the weekend.
The Carnival Triumph is headed to Mobile, Alabama -- and the end of a rough time on board for its 3,143 passengers.
Some on the ship reported
sewage sloshing around in hallways, flooded rooms and trouble getting
enough to eat after the fire Sunday left it drifting in the Gulf of
Mexico. Passengers dragged their mattresses onto the ship's open deck to
stay cool and get away from the nasty smells inside.
"The odor is so bad,
people are getting sick and they're throwing up everywhere," Brent Nutt,
whose wife is aboard the ship, said Tuesday.
But not all passengers share the same dire view of the situation.
A poster on the cruising
forum cruisecritic.com said her sister reported passengers have enough
food and are "enjoying the extended vacation."
The fire is at least the
second problem for the ship since late January, when it had an issue
with its propulsion system, according to a notice posted to Carnival
Senior Cruise Director John Heald's website.
The company also recently repaired one of Triumph's alternators, the company said Tuesday.
However, there's no evidence the alternator problem and the fire are linked, cruise line spokesman Vance Gulliksen said Tuesday.
Sunday's fire came as
the Triumph steamed about 150 miles off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on
the way back to Galveston, Texas. The ship was on the third day of a
four-day cruise.
"We all woke up and
panicked," passenger Donna Gutzman told CNN affiliate KPRC. "A couple
other alarms went off and we started seeing smoke."
Triumph's automatic fire
extinguishing system kicked in and soon contained the flames, and no
injuries were reported, Carnival said.
But the fire knocked out
the ship's propulsion system and left the vessel slowly drifting in the
Gulf until a second tugboat arrived Tuesday, joining one that had come
earlier. The U.S.S. Coast Guard cutter Vigorous is also sailing nearby
to provide assistance if necessary.
The tugboats are towing the Triumph toward Mobile at a rate of 5 mph to 8 mph, Vigorous Cmdr. Greg Magee told CNN Tuesday.
The ship is expected to
arrive in Mobile Wednesday afternoon or, if sea and wind conditions
worsen, early Thursday, he estimated. Gulliksen said Carnival still
expects the ship in Mobile Thursday afternoon.
"The tugs on scene have
been doing a great job of keeping it moving north," said Magee, who
added that his crew has not gone onto the Triumph to assess what's
happening on board.
Carnival scheduled a news conference Tuesday evening to update reporters on the situation aboard the ship.
Technicians aboard the ship were trying to restore power and provide more onboard facilities, Gulliksen said.
Passenger Ann Barlow
said the staff on the Triumph was doing a good job, but that flooded
rooms, hot, humid conditions, long lines for food and overwhelming odors
were making things tough for passengers.
"It's disgusting. It's the worst thing ever," she told CNN Monday.
Barlow's husband, Toby,
said she told him there was "sewage running down the walls and floors"
with passengers being asked to defecate in bags and urinate in showers
due to the lack of functioning toilets. The air conditioning is also
out.
But things were getting better, according to Nutt and Gulliksen.
Nutt said his wife tells him the boat isn't listing as much as it was Sunday, when she called worried she was going to die.
Gulliksen said Tuesday
that cabins have running water -- cold only -- and some toilets are
working in public areas and some cabins. The ship's poolside restaurant
was open until 10 p.m. Monday night and reopened again at 7 a.m.
Tuesday.
And, he said, "Carnival Triumph's entertainment staff has planned various activities to keep guests entertained."
There are 1,086 crew members on the ship.
Carnival has also
brought meals aboard from two other cruise ships, the cruise line said
Monday. Earlier, Carnival said in a statement that hot coffee was
available, among other options.
"All our guests are
safe, and we're doing everything we can to make them as comfortable as
possible," Carnival CEO Gerry Cahill said Monday night. "We're terribly
sorry for the inconvenience, discomfort and frustration our guests are
feeling."
Carnival initially
planned to tow the ship to Progreso, Mexico, but strong currents that
pushed it 90 miles north by Monday night prompted the decision to move
the ship to Mobile instead. The change also made it easier on the 900
passengers who don't have passports, the cruise line said.
Passengers will get a
free flight home, a full refund for their trip and most expenses aboard,
and a credit for another cruise, Carnival said.
The incident has forced
Carnival to cancel the ship's next two departures, refund bookings for
those trips and offer those passengers discounts on future cruises.
In 2010, the Carnival's
cruise ship Splendor lost power after an engine room fire, leaving it
drifting off the Pacific coast of Mexico. The USS Ronald Reagan ferried
60,000 pounds of supplies for the ship's passengers and crew as the ship
was towed to San Diego.
Carnival Triumph
