--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carnival Triumph cruise from hell continues as chartered bus carrying passengers to airport breaks down and plane experiences electrical failure
Triumph passengers were stuck again when a bus chartered by Carnival broke down and forced passengers to move their own luggage to a new vehicle. Then, on their plane bound for Houston, an electrical failure occurred that delayed their flight by nearly two hours.
Carnival Triump passenger Clark Jones tweets a photo from one of the charter buses. Exhausted and bedraggled travelers had to haul down their luggage and wait for a replacement bus to arrive, according to Jones.
It's a good thing they remembered to pack a sense of humor.
Weary Triumph passengers who endured four long, filthy days at sea could do nothing but laugh as first the bus and then the plane that Carnival chartered to get them home Friday suffered mechanical failures.
Passengers were shaking their heads in disbelief as their bus broke down around 2:30 a.m. on an Alabama road, only to face another delay hours later at the New Orleans airport when their plane was grounded for about 90 minutes for an electrical failure.
Carnival Triump passenger tweets a photo from one of the charter buses showing it in a state of disrepair. The triumphant travelers stoically awaited another ride to New Orleans, according to Jones.
"At a certain point, you get so tired that everything seems funny," said Jacob Combs, 30.
He was one of about 25 Triumph passengers who got off the Triumph late Thursday night in Mobile, Ala., and onto a bus to New Orleans — which ground to a halt about 45 minutes later.
The crippled Carnival Triumph cruse ship with 3,143 passengers and a crew of 1,086 docks in Mobile, Ala., Feb 14.
The surprise stop had passengers groaning in frustration, until Combs and his buddy Clark Jones parodied a perky cruise director from Triumph named Jane.
"There was a little bit of unrest at first," he said. "But we jumped up and started cracking jokes. Jane used to make like 10 announcements a day, so we pretended to be her, like, 'Hello, this is Jane, and I just want to let you know we are broken down in the middle of nowhere and soon some tugboats are gonna come.' That got some people laughing."
Combs and Jones, 32, also took to Twitter and Instagram to share pictures of sour-faced passengers on the side of the road in Alabama — Combs tagged his photos "Nowhereville."
Passengers from the disabled Carnival Triumph cruise ship arrive by bus at the Hilton Riverside Hotel in New Orleans, Friday, Feb. 15.
Carnival sent a replacement bus within about 45 minutes — but to add insult to injury, passengers had to shift their own bags to the new vehicle.
They thought the worst was over, but when Combs and his group finally got to the New Orleans airport around 8 a.m. to catch a charter flight to Houston, courtesy of Carnival, it was delayed until 9:45.
"It had an electrical failure," said Combs, who hadn't slept for about 30 hours.
At least one New Yorker was on board the ship — Trina Briggs, 52, from Staten Island. The former NYPD officer who left the force after 9/11 said the extreme conditions on the ship set off her post-traumatic stress disorder.
"I had to get shots every day to calm me down, but they took real good care of me," said Briggs, who slept on the deck with her family after the fire that knocked out Triumph's power.
"Everything started backing up within about eight hours. We never went back to our rooms after the fire — there was feces on the floor and everywhere," she said.
Friday's travels marked the end of an extended nightmare that began with the fire Feb. 10, three days into a four-day cruise from Galveston, Tex. to Cozumel, Mexico.
Carnival Triump passenger Clark Jones tweets a photo from inside one of the charter buses.
The powerless boat drifted northward, and 3,143 passengers and 1,086 crewmembers were stuck without hot water or working toilets.
The first of what could be many lawsuits against the company was filed Friday, citing the Triumph's "horrifying" conditions.
Cassie Terry of Brazoria County, Texas, alleged Carnival failed to provide a seaworthy vessel and sanitary conditions, according to court documents.
Terry suffered physical and emotional harm, including anxiety, nervousness and the loss of the enjoyment of life, according to the complaint filed in federal court in Miami.
Triumph's disaster is the second high-profile incident for a Carnival ship in a little more than a year. The company's Costa Concordia ran aground off Italy in January 2012, killing 32 people.
With News Wire Services
Carnival Triumph cruise from hell continues as chartered bus carrying passengers to airport breaks down and plane experiences electrical failure
Triumph passengers were stuck again when a bus chartered by Carnival broke down and forced passengers to move their own luggage to a new vehicle. Then, on their plane bound for Houston, an electrical failure occurred that delayed their flight by nearly two hours.
Carnival Triump passenger Clark Jones tweets a photo from one of the charter buses. Exhausted and bedraggled travelers had to haul down their luggage and wait for a replacement bus to arrive, according to Jones.
It's a good thing they remembered to pack a sense of humor.
Weary Triumph passengers who endured four long, filthy days at sea could do nothing but laugh as first the bus and then the plane that Carnival chartered to get them home Friday suffered mechanical failures.
Passengers were shaking their heads in disbelief as their bus broke down around 2:30 a.m. on an Alabama road, only to face another delay hours later at the New Orleans airport when their plane was grounded for about 90 minutes for an electrical failure.
Carnival Triump passenger tweets a photo from one of the charter buses showing it in a state of disrepair. The triumphant travelers stoically awaited another ride to New Orleans, according to Jones.
"At a certain point, you get so tired that everything seems funny," said Jacob Combs, 30.
He was one of about 25 Triumph passengers who got off the Triumph late Thursday night in Mobile, Ala., and onto a bus to New Orleans — which ground to a halt about 45 minutes later.
The crippled Carnival Triumph cruse ship with 3,143 passengers and a crew of 1,086 docks in Mobile, Ala., Feb 14.
The surprise stop had passengers groaning in frustration, until Combs and his buddy Clark Jones parodied a perky cruise director from Triumph named Jane.
"There was a little bit of unrest at first," he said. "But we jumped up and started cracking jokes. Jane used to make like 10 announcements a day, so we pretended to be her, like, 'Hello, this is Jane, and I just want to let you know we are broken down in the middle of nowhere and soon some tugboats are gonna come.' That got some people laughing."
Combs and Jones, 32, also took to Twitter and Instagram to share pictures of sour-faced passengers on the side of the road in Alabama — Combs tagged his photos "Nowhereville."
Passengers from the disabled Carnival Triumph cruise ship arrive by bus at the Hilton Riverside Hotel in New Orleans, Friday, Feb. 15.
Carnival sent a replacement bus within about 45 minutes — but to add insult to injury, passengers had to shift their own bags to the new vehicle.
They thought the worst was over, but when Combs and his group finally got to the New Orleans airport around 8 a.m. to catch a charter flight to Houston, courtesy of Carnival, it was delayed until 9:45.
"It had an electrical failure," said Combs, who hadn't slept for about 30 hours.
At least one New Yorker was on board the ship — Trina Briggs, 52, from Staten Island. The former NYPD officer who left the force after 9/11 said the extreme conditions on the ship set off her post-traumatic stress disorder.
"I had to get shots every day to calm me down, but they took real good care of me," said Briggs, who slept on the deck with her family after the fire that knocked out Triumph's power.
"Everything started backing up within about eight hours. We never went back to our rooms after the fire — there was feces on the floor and everywhere," she said.
Friday's travels marked the end of an extended nightmare that began with the fire Feb. 10, three days into a four-day cruise from Galveston, Tex. to Cozumel, Mexico.
Carnival Triump passenger Clark Jones tweets a photo from inside one of the charter buses.
The powerless boat drifted northward, and 3,143 passengers and 1,086 crewmembers were stuck without hot water or working toilets.
The first of what could be many lawsuits against the company was filed Friday, citing the Triumph's "horrifying" conditions.
Cassie Terry of Brazoria County, Texas, alleged Carnival failed to provide a seaworthy vessel and sanitary conditions, according to court documents.
Terry suffered physical and emotional harm, including anxiety, nervousness and the loss of the enjoyment of life, according to the complaint filed in federal court in Miami.
Triumph's disaster is the second high-profile incident for a Carnival ship in a little more than a year. The company's Costa Concordia ran aground off Italy in January 2012, killing 32 people.
With News Wire Services
hno:
