Disabled cruise ship previously had electrical problems, Carnival admits 
 
 By Agence France-Presse 
 
 Wednesday, February 13, 2013 20:06 EDT 
 
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 A cruise ship that lost power in the Gulf of Mexico, trapping more than 4,000 people aboard, had already suffered electrical problems as recently as a few weeks ago, its operator Carnival said Wednesday. 
 
 With the ship and its passengers still at sea being towed to safety, news of the Carnival Triumph’s previous woes will increase pressure on the company, but a spokesman insisted the two sets of problems were unrelated. 
 
 “Carnival Triumph previously experienced an electrical issue with one of the ship’s alternators,” spokesman Vance Gulliksen told AFP. 
 
 “Repairs were conducted by the alternator supplier and were fully completed on February 2. There is no evidence at this time of any relationship between this previous issue and the fire that occurred on February 10.” 
 
 Carnival said it has canceled several upcoming sailings of the stricken Triumph, which is being towed to a US port three days after finding itself adrift following Sunday’s mishap. 
 
 The company said it has dispatched a third tugboat to help tow Triumph to port and that the ship, carrying more than 3,000 passengers and more than 1,000 crew members, is expected to reach Mobile, Alabama on Thursday. 
 
 The Miami-based operator said cruises on the ship, which left the port of Galveston in Texas on February 7, have been halted until at least mid-April. 
 
 The Triumph had originally been scheduled to return to port early Monday after a weekend stop in Cozumel, before Sunday’s engine room blaze left the vessel without power. 
 
 Carnival said in a separate statement on Wednesday that “voyage disruptions and related repair costs” would result in a $0.08 to $0.10 earnings per share reduction for the first half of the year. 
 
 In January 2012 a Carnival ship, the Costa Concordia, ran aground and sank off the Italian coast, killing 32. 
 
 Carnival Corporation & PLC is the largest cruise company in the world, with sailings from North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. 
 
 Among its best known brands are Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Ibero Cruises, P&O Cruises in Australia, and P&O Cruises in Britain. 
 
 Company officials told AFP some 200 workers will be mobilized on the ground in Mobile to greet the arriving vessel and to help guests travel home, adding: “Carnival will cover all travel related and incidental expenses.” ||||| After days stranded in the Gulf of Mexico in conditions some have described as dismal, most passengers aboard the disabled Carnival Triumph can look forward to a two-hour bus ride Thursday after they reach dry land. 
 
 In this image released by the U.S. Coast Guard on Feb. 11, 2013, a small boat belonging to the Coast Guard Cutter Vigorous patrols near the cruise ship Carnival Triumph in the Gulf of Mexico, Feb. 11,... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this image released by the U.S. Coast Guard on Feb. 11, 2013, the Coast Guard Cutter Vigorous patrols near the cruise ship Carnival Triumph in the Gulf of Mexico, Feb. 11, 2013. The Carnival Triumph... (Associated Press) 
 
 In a Feb. 12, 2013 photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, the tugs Resolve Pioneer and Dabhol, left, tow and steer the 893-foot Carnival Triumph cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico. The ship is enroute... (Associated Press) 
 
 The company announced its plan for passengers late Wednesday as the Triumph was being towed to a port in Mobile, Ala., with more than 4,000 people on board, some of whom have complained to relatives that they have limited access to food and bathrooms. 
 
 "It's a nightmare," said Vivian Tilley, whose sister, Renee Shanar, is on the ship. Tilley said Shanar, of Houston, told her the cabins were hot and smelled like smoke from the engine fire, forcing passengers to stay on the deck. She also said people were getting sick. 
 
 The company has disputed the accounts of passengers who describe the ship as filthy, saying employees are doing everything to ensure people are comfortable. 
 
 Meanwhile, officials in Mobile were preparing a cruise terminal that has not been used for a year to help passengers go through customs after their ordeal. The Triumph is expected to arrive Thursday afternoon. 
 
 But passengers' stay in Alabama will be short. Carnival said in a statement late Wednesday that passengers were being given the option of boarding buses directly to Galveston, Texas, or Houston, or spending the night in a hotel in New Orleans, where the company said it booked 1,500 rooms. Those staying in New Orleans will be flown Friday to Houston. Carnival said it will cover all the transportation costs. 
 
 Mobile Mayor Sam Jones questioned the plan late Wednesday, saying the city has more than enough hotel rooms to accommodate passengers and its two airports are near the cruise terminal. 
 
 "We raised the issue that it would be a lot easier to take a five-minute bus ride than a two-hour bus ride" to New Orleans, Jones said. Jones said Carnival employees will be staying in Mobile, adding he was not told of the company's reasoning for putting passengers on extended bus rides after their experience at sea. 
 
 "I don't know if the passengers even know that," Jones said. 
 
 Earlier Wednesday, Carnival Cruise Lines canceled a dozen more planned voyages aboard the Triumph and acknowledged that the crippled ship had been plagued by other mechanical problems in the weeks before the engine-room blaze. The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into the cause. 
 
 "We know it has been a longer journey back than we anticipated at the beginning of the week under very challenging circumstances," Carnival President and CEO Gary Cahill said. "We are very sorry for what our guests have had to endure." 
 
 Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen acknowledged the Triumph's recent mechanical woes, explaining that there was an electrical problem with the ship's alternator on the previous voyage. Repairs were completed Feb. 2. 
 
 Testing of the repaired part was successful and "there is no evidence at this time of any relationship between this previous issue and the fire that occurred on Feb. 10." 
 
 Debbi Smedley, a passenger on a recent Triumph cruise, said the ship had trouble Jan. 28 as it was preparing to leave Galveston. Hours before the scheduled departure time, she received an email from Carnival stating the vessel would leave late because of a propulsion problem. Passengers were asked to arrive at the port at 2 p.m., two hours later than originally scheduled. 
 
 The ship did not sail until after 8 p.m., she said. 
 
 "My mother is a cruise travel agent so this is not my first rodeo. I have sailed many, many cruises, many, many cruise lines. This was, by far, I have to say, the worst," said Smedley, of Plano, Texas. 
 
 Communication with passengers on the Triumph has been limited to brief windows when other cruise ships with working cellular towers have rendezvoused to deliver supplies, but some relatives have reported being told of uncomfortable and unsanitary conditions. 
 
 Robert Giordano, of the Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond, said he last spoke to his wife, Shannon, on Monday. She told him she waited in line for three hours to get a hot dog and that conditions on the ship were terrible. 
 
 "They're having to urinate in the shower. They've been passed out plastic bags to go to the bathroom," Giordano said. "There was fecal matter all over the floor." 
 
 Even more distressing, Giordano said, has been the lack of information he has been able to get from Carnival, a complaint shared by Tilley, of San Diego. 
 
 Carnival, she said, has not told families what hotel passengers will be put in or provided precise information about when they will arrive in Mobile. And that came after the cruise line switched the ship's towing destination from Progreso, Mexico, to Mobile. 
 
 Passengers are supposed to get a full refund and discounts on future cruises, and Carnival announced Wednesday they would each get an additional $500 in compensation. 
 
 Once docked, the ship will be idle through April. In addition to the dozen voyages canceled Wednesday, two other cruises were called off shortly after Sunday's fire. 
 
 Jay Herring, a former senior officer with Carnival Cruise Lines who worked on the Triumph from 2002 to 2004, said the ship was not problematic when he was on it. 
 
 The Triumph takes five generators _ with one on backup _ to power the ship, and 80 percent of that energy is needed to simply push the massive vessel through the water, Herring said. 
 
 Each of those generators is the size of a bus, so it's unrealistic to think that the ship could have enough backup power on board to run services when the engines die, Herring added. 
 
 "It's one of their bigger ships. It's certainly on the top end of Carnival's fleet," he said of the Triumph. "There are so many moving parts and things that can go wrong." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writer Bob Johnson contributed to this report from Montgomery, Ala. Plushnick-Masti reported from Houston. ||||| America 
 
 Carnival Apologizes For Triumph Conditions, Cancels 14 Upcoming Cruises 
 
 Enlarge image i U.S. Coast Guard U.S. Coast Guard 
 
 With the Carnival cruise ship Triumph and its 3,143 passengers now being towed to Mobile, Ala., more reports are emerging from passengers aboard the ship that lost engine power Sunday. They describe a tent city on the upper deck and continuing problems with the sewage system. 
 
 In an update announced Wednesday afternoon, Carnival says it is now cancelling the Triumph's next 12 trips, in addition to the two that were already canceled. It promised refunds to those who have booked voyages on the ship through April 13. 
 
 Tuesday night, Carnival's president apologized for the poor conditions that followed the outage and laid out the cruise line's plans for getting more than 3,100 passengers home after they reach Alabama late Wednesday or early Thursday — nearly 500 miles from their intended destination of Galveston, Texas. 
 
 "No one here from Carnival is happy about the conditions on board the ship," Carnival Cruise Line president Gerry Cahill said, "and we obviously are very, very sorry about what is taking place. There is no question that conditions onboard the ship are very challenging." 
 
 "Every action we are taking is to get our guests home as quickly as possible," Cahill said, "and to make them as comfortable as they can be, onboard." 
 
 At least in terms of public perception, that statement clashed with a story from The Daily Mail, which reports that Carnival CEO Micky Arison attended an NBA game Tuesday night, to watch the Miami Heat — a team that he owns — play the Portland Trailblazers. 
 
 "As his customers suffer through putrid smells and unbearable temperatures, CEO Micky Arison headed to the American Airlines Arena Tuesday to enjoy a different kind of Heat - the Miami basketball team," reports the Mail. 
 
 YouTube 
 
 "Most" of the 23 public bathrooms on the ship are working, along with "a good section of guest cabins," Cahill said Tuesday night. 
 
 Whatever the number of working toilets, it evidently falls short of the needs of more than 4,000 people on the ship, which has a crew of more than 1,000. 
 
 "The worst part is the bathrooms," passenger Donna Gutzman tells NBC News. "There's no water. You can't really flush so everyone's going in little plastic baggies and putting it outside their rooms." 
 
 Jimmy Mowlam, 63, whose son Rob is on his honeymoon on the Triumph, says Rob told him Monday night that the passengers were taking the setbacks "in stride," despite a lack of ventilation that left many interior cabins unbearably hot. 
 
 "He said up on deck it looks like a shanty town, with sheets, almost like tents, mattresses, anything else they can pull to sleep on," Mowlam tells the AP. 
 
 Mowlam also echoed several reports that after an enforced restriction on alcoholic drinks, the crew has now begun providing them for free. 
 
 Updates about the Triumph have drawn thousands of comments on Carnival's Facebook page, with both former and future passengers airing their concerns. While some commenters who traveled on the ship in the previous two months said they experienced engine problems and delays, other wrote in to say they had enjoyed their cruise. 
 
 As for the current trip, the only obvious bright side is that none of the passengers or crew were injured as a result of the fire, which the ship's automatic systems extinguished. And because the ship was 150 miles north of the Yucatan Peninsula when the fire struck, the prevailing currents pushed it away from shore and into the open gulf. 
 
 Since it began operating under emergency generators, Cahill said, the Triumph has been assisted by three other Carnival cruise ships — the Elation, the Legend, and the Conquest — that were diverted to provide food and supplies. 
 
 Filling in details about what awaits the passengers when they finally arrive one week after they embarked on a four-day cruise, Cahill said the cruise line has booked more than 1,500 to offer hotel rooms for Thursday night in either Mobile or New Orleans for its guests, "to give them an opportunity to rest and relax, and then to fly them home." 
 
 Carnival has previously said it would provide full refunds to those aboard the Triumph, along with a credit for a future cruise and reimbursement for travel expenses. 
 
 As the news site AL.com reports, Mobile has its own cruise ship terminal — the port once served Carnival cruise ships, a practice that ended in recent years. 
 
 Carnival says it has arranged more than 20 chartered flights for Friday, when it will convey passengers from Mobile to Houston, a major air hub that is about 50 miles from the Triumph's home port of Galveston. Cahill said that any passengers who would rather start their journey home after arriving Thursday can travel by bus to either Houston or Galveston. 
 
 When the Triumph makes landfall at Mobile's port, it will be met not only by friends and family members, but also by a team of investigators from the Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board, who will look into the engine room fire and the response from the ship and its crew. ||||| After days stranded in the Gulf of Mexico in conditions some have described as dismal, most passengers aboard the disabled Carnival Triumph can look forward to an hours-long bus ride Thursday after they reach dry land. 
 
 In this image released by the U.S. Coast Guard on Feb. 11, 2013, a small boat belonging to the Coast Guard Cutter Vigorous patrols near the cruise ship Carnival Triumph in the Gulf of Mexico, Feb. 11,... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this image released by the U.S. Coast Guard on Feb. 11, 2013, the Coast Guard Cutter Vigorous patrols near the cruise ship Carnival Triumph in the Gulf of Mexico, Feb. 11, 2013. The Carnival Triumph... (Associated Press) 
 
 In a Feb. 12, 2013 photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, the tugs Resolve Pioneer and Dabhol, left, tow and steer the 893-foot Carnival Triumph cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico. The ship is enroute... (Associated Press) 
 
 The company announced its plan for passengers as the Triumph was being towed to a port in Mobile, Ala., with more than 4,000 people on board, some of whom have complained to relatives that they have limited access to food and bathrooms. 
 
 The passengers' stay in Alabama will be short. Carnival said in a statement late Wednesday that passengers were being given the option of boarding buses directly to Galveston, Texas, or Houston _ a roughly seven-hour drive _ or taking a two-hour bus ride to New Orleans, where the company said it booked 1,500 hotel rooms. Those staying in New Orleans will be flown Friday to Houston. Carnival said it will cover all the transportation costs. 
 
 "I can't imagine being on that ship this morning and then getting on a bus," said Kirk Hill, whose 30-year-old daughter, Kalin Christine Hill, is on the cruise. "If I hit land in Mobile, you'd have a hard time getting me on a bus." 
 
 Hill is booking a flight from Amarillo, Texas, to New Orleans to meet his daughter when she gets there. 
 
 Nellie Betts was in Mobile waiting on her daughter, Nicole Enjoufo, 34, to arrive with her three co-workers who were on the ship. Betts was worried her daughter didn't have enough food and water on board, and she thought the cruise line should provide rental cars for the passengers to get home, not buses. 
 
 "Sure to God they're going to let them drive and not put them on buses," Betts said. 
 
 Speaking by phone to NBC's "Today" show Thursday, passenger Janie Baker said conditions on the ship were "extremely terrible." There has been no electricity and few working toilets, she said. 
 
 Baker also described having to use plastic bags to go to the bathroom and wait in line for hours to get food and once saw a woman pass out while in line. 
 
 "It's just a nightmare," she said. 
 
 Baker said she and her friends slept with their life vests one night because the ship was leaning and they feared it would tip over. 
 
 Vivian Tilley, whose sister, Renee Shanar, is on the ship, said Shanar, of Houston, told her the cabins were hot and smelled like smoke from the engine fire, forcing passengers to stay on the deck. She also said people were getting sick. 
 
 The company has disputed the accounts of passengers who describe the ship as filthy, saying employees are doing everything to ensure people are comfortable. 
 
 Robert Giordano, whose 33-year-old wife Shannon is aboard the cruise liner with a group of friends of hers from Edmond, Okla., said he has yet to speak to someone at Carnival. All his information has come through pre-recorded phone calls, the most recent one Wednesday afternoon when he was told the ship would "probably" arrive in Mobile late Thursday or early Friday. He got better information, he said, when the "Today" show called to tell him the vessel would pull in later Thursday. 
 
 "A complete utter surprise to me. I'm excited but I didn't know about that," Giordano said. "That's the biggest frustration for me now is that the media knows more than the family members do and certainly more than the passengers do on the ship." 
 
 Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen said the Triumph is now expected arrive in Mobile between 8 and 11 p.m. Thursday. 
 
 Meanwhile, officials in Mobile were preparing a cruise terminal that has not been used for a year to help passengers go through customs after their ordeal. 
 
 Mobile Mayor Sam Jones questioned the plan to bus passengers to other cities late Wednesday, saying the city has more than enough hotel rooms to accommodate passengers and its two airports are near the cruise terminal. 
 
 "We raised the issue that it would be a lot easier to take a five-minute bus ride than a two-hour bus ride" to New Orleans, Jones said. Jones said Carnival employees will be staying in Mobile, adding he was not told of the company's reasoning for putting passengers on extended bus rides after their experience at sea. 
 
 Earlier Wednesday, Carnival Cruise Lines canceled a dozen more planned voyages aboard the Triumph and acknowledged that the crippled ship had been plagued by other mechanical problems in the weeks before the engine-room blaze. The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into the cause. 
 
 "We know it has been a longer journey back than we anticipated at the beginning of the week under very challenging circumstances," Carnival President and CEO Gary Cahill said. "We are very sorry for what our guests have had to endure." 
 
 Gulliksen acknowledged the Triumph's recent mechanical woes, explaining that there was an electrical problem with the ship's alternator on the previous voyage. Repairs were completed Feb. 2. 
 
 Testing of the repaired part was successful and "there is no evidence at this time of any relationship between this previous issue and the fire that occurred on Feb. 10." 
 
 Communication with passengers on the Triumph has been limited to brief windows when other cruise ships with working cellular towers have rendezvoused to deliver supplies, but some relatives have reported being told of uncomfortable and unsanitary conditions. 
 
 Giordano said he last spoke to his wife, Shannon, on Monday. She told him she waited in line for three hours to get a hot dog and that conditions on the ship were terrible. 
 
 "They're having to urinate in the shower. They've been passed out plastic bags to go to the bathroom," Giordano said. "There was fecal matter all over the floor." 
 
 Passengers are supposed to get a full refund and discounts on future cruises, and Carnival announced Wednesday they would each get an additional $500 in compensation. 
 
 Once docked, the ship will be idle through April. In addition to the dozen voyages canceled Wednesday, two other cruises were called off shortly after Sunday's fire. 
 
 Jay Herring, a former senior officer with Carnival Cruise Lines who worked on the Triumph from 2002 to 2004, said the ship was not problematic when he was on it. 
 
 The Triumph takes five generators _ with one on backup _ to power the ship, and 80 percent of that energy is needed to simply push the massive vessel through the water, Herring said. 
 
 Each of those generators is the size of a bus, so it's unrealistic to think that the ship could have enough backup power on board to run services when the engines die, Herring added. 
 
 "It's one of their bigger ships. It's certainly on the top end of Carnival's fleet," he said of the Triumph. "There are so many moving parts and things that can go wrong." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writer Bob Johnson contributed to this report from Montgomery, Ala. Plushnick-Masti reported from Houston. ||||| Boss of Carnival cruise ship adds insult to misery by going to basketball game as 4,000 suffer aboard 'stinking stricken ship' with urine-soaked carpets and sewage in cabins 
 
 Carnival CEO and Miami Heat owner Micky Arison pictured at basketball game while 4,200 people are stranded on a Carnival cruise 
 
 
 
 Passengers sleeping on the decks because of no air conditioning, the toilets won't flush and four-hour lines for food 
 
 Guests on board have been cheering and waving to sister ships pulling alongside to drop off supplies 
 
 
 
 Boat is crawling to shore at the pace of a few miles per hour - expected to reach Mobile, Alabama on Thursday 
 
 
 
 As thousands of cruise ship passengers continued to endure a nightmare aboard a broken down ship today, the CEO of Carnival Cruise Lines didn't have a care in the world as he took in a game of hoops. 
 
 
 
 As his customers suffer through putrid smells and unbearable temperatures, CEO Micky Arison headed to the American Airlines Arena Tuesday to enjoy a different kind of Heat - the Miami basketball team. 
 
 Arison, who owns the team, smiled in the stands as LeBron James and company handily defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 117-104. 
 
 
 
 Scroll down for video 
 
 
 
 Enjoyment: Carnival Cruise Lines CEO Micky Arison, pictured left, cracks a smile in the stands as he watches the Miami Heat take on the Portland Trail Blazers at the American Airlines Arena 
 
 
 
 Cry for help: The stranded passengers on the Carnival Triumph line the top deck in the Gulf of Mexico. The picture was taken by a guest on the Triumph Legend when the sister ship pulled up alongside to drop off supplies 
 
 Champions: Arison is pictured while presenting the 2012 NBA championship ring to Dwyane Wade during a ceremony during a pre-game ceremony in October 
 
 But there are anything but smiles among the 4,200 people aboard the Carnival Triumph, which is currently being towed back to the U.S. after losing power in the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 The ship, which was supposed to reach port on Monday, is now scheduled to reach Mobile, Alabama, on Thursday - facing passengers with three additional days at sea. 
 
 
 
 Meanwhile, those aboard the stricken ship are using patchy cellphone coverage today to say that 'conditions are getting worse by the hour.' 
 
 
 
 Some of the 4,200 people on board reported that cabin carpets are soaked in urine, passengers are sleeping in tents on deck and scarce food supplies has reduced them to eating cold onion sandwiches. 
 
 
 
 The ship has been stranded since Sunday after a fire in the engine room crippled the power system. 
 
 
 
 The first tug boat reached the Carnival Triumph on Monday night and it is being towed to Mobile, Alabama at the rate of a few miles per hour. 
 
 Stranded at sea: The Carnival cruise ship has been stuck in the Gulf of Mexico since Sunday. The first tugboat arrived on Monday night and a sister boat brought extra food (pictured) 
 
 Assistance: The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Vigorous closes in on the Carnival Triumph cruise ship 
 
 Reports say that there are only five working bathrooms for the more than 3,000 passengers on board. 
 
 The rest are being asked by the crew aboard the vessel to urinate in cabin showers and defecate in bags. 
 
 Ann Barlow told CNN : 'It's disgusting. It's the worst thing ever.' 
 
 She told the network that the staff has been helpful, but that is doing little for the putrid conditions, including the unbearable heat and long lines for food and bathrooms. 
 
 
 
 STRANDED AT SEA: HOW A DREAM VACATION BECAME A NIGHTMARE 
 
 ' Toilets are overflowing in the cabins, we are having to sleep in the hallways. Onion and cucumber sandwiches last night. 'Cabin carpets are wet with urine.' 
 
 Debra Rightmire, passenger 'No power, no water, having to use the bathroom in bags.' 
 
 Gary Keyes, whose wife is on board 'People are fighting over food and stuff - that's a bunch of savages.' 
 
 Brent Nutt, whose wife Bethany is on board 'We have no power AT ALL, which means we can't use the toilets, wash our hands, or take a shower' A blogger Clinty76 reporting what his wife told him on board the Triumph 'There's no lights, no water, we can't flush. Some people were able to shower.' 
 
 Donna Gutzman, on board 
 
 
 
 Another passenger, Debra Rightmire, texted ABC : 'Conditions are getting worse by the hour. Cabin carpets are wet with urine and water. 
 
 'Toilets are overflowing in the cabins, we are having to sleep in the hallways. Onion and cucumber sandwiches last night.' 
 
 Another Donna Gutzman wrote: 'There's no lights, no water, we can't flush. Some people were able to shower.' 
 
 Those on board were only able to make contact with land via their phones when sister ship, the Carnival Legend pulled up alongside to drop off limited supplies on life rafts. 
 
 Holidaymakers have been forced to sleep outside as there is no air conditioning in their sweltering cabins. 
 
 
 
 Some passengers have no options other than bags or buckets for toilets with reports of 'raw sewage running down the walls'. 
 
 The news came amid claims that those on the ship have turned into 'savages' and are fighting over food, relatives said. 
 
 Passengers are reportedly queuing up to four hours to get a hamburger. 
 
 
 
 David Raynes, from New Hampshire, is on sister ship the Carnival Legend. 
 
 
 
 He took a picture of passengers on the Triumph on Monday, lined along the top deck, staring out to sea. 
 
 
 
 He wrote on Facebook: 'Our ship shuttled supplies to them, which was not an easy task due to the wind and high waves – it was hard for the boat they were using to get up close to the other cruise ship and then back to ours. They made at least two trips. 
 
 'Another ship, the Conquest, came along to bring more food to them. We could hear announcements from the Triumph, and their guests cheered when they heard the news that a tugboat was just 17 miles away. It arrived before we left. We were there about five hours. 
 
 Slow crawl to shore: The tugs Resolve Pioneer and Dabhol tow and steer the Carnival Triumph cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday as the boat heads for Alabama 
 
 Coming to the rescue: Another Carnival cruise liner called the Legend went off course to help the other boat but dropping off supplies proved difficult in high seas, according to one passenger 
 
 Nightmare vacation: Bethany Nutt (center) pictured with two friends who had joined her in a group trip on the Carnival cruise. She called her husband hysterical about the conditions on board the boat 
 
 The Triumph made a pass by us and the guests cheered and waved to us.' 
 
 CBS Houston reported that 500 passengers are McDonald's workers from the Houston area, mostly local franchise owners and executives of the restaurant chain. 
 
 
 
 The ship is listing to 4.5degrees and although not dangerous, the angle of the boat is 'not normal and would definitely be felt by passengers walking around', an expert told MailOnline. 
 
 
 
 A 25-mph south-southeasterly wind has made it too difficult to tow the ship to its original destination of Progreso, Mexico, so the vessel has changed course and is heading north to Alabama. 
 
 Carnival Cruise Lines president, Gerry Cahill, said: 'All guests on the current Carnival Triumph voyage will receive a full refund for the cruise, along with transportation expenses. 
 
 
 
 'In addition, they will receive a future cruise credit equal to the amount paid for this voyage, as well as reimbursement of all shipboard purchases during the voyage, with the exception of gift shop and casino charges. 
 
 He added: 'We're terribly sorry for the inconvenience, discomfort, and frustration our guests are feeling. 
 
 Diabolical: Passengers reported that cabin carpets are soaked in urine because toilets are overflowing on board the stranded ship (this is a stock image which has been posed by models) 
 
 Party's over: The Carnival Triumph normally offers abundant buffets for guests - who are now being forced to eat onion sandwiches and queue four hours for a hamburger (stock image) 
 
 Filthy: Passengers on board the Triumph (stock picture) will finally arrive in Mobile, Alabama, today 
 
 'We know they expected a fantastic vacation, and clearly that is not what they received. Our shipboard and shoreside teams are working around the clock to care for our guests and get them home safely. 
 
 Brent Nutt, whose wife Bethany is on board, claimed that brawling has broken out among hungry passengers because food is so scarce. 
 
 At least one person has also been transferred off the ship because they are in need of dialysis and can't wait for the power to come back on. 
 
 The National Transportation Safety Board said it has opened an investigation into an engine room fire that crippled a cruise ship carrying more than 4,000 people in the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 The NTSB said in a statement Tuesday that the agency and the U.S. Coast Guard are sending investigators to Mobile. 
 
 The NTSB says the Bahamas Maritime Agency will lead the investigation since the ship carries a Bahamian flag. 
 
 
 
 Scarce supplies: The Carnival Triumph is running out of food having been stuck at sea longer than expected. Guests are resorting to onion and cucumber sandwiches 
 
 Saving the day: Another ship called the Conquest also turned up with food for stranded guests on the Triumph VIDEO Update from the Coastguard. What is happening with the Carnival Triumph... 
 
 Not smiling anymore: Brent Nutt, husband of Carnival cruise passenger Bethany Nutt, both pictured here, said that fights were breaking out over food onboard the nightmare holiday ship. 
 
 The Carnival Triumph was left stranded 150 miles off the coast of Mexico after a fire broke out in the engine room. 
 
 By Monday afternoon, some of the ship's power had been restored, but not enough to get the disabled ship moving again. 
 
 
 
 Although none of the 3,150 passengers and 1,100 crew were injured, the ship was adrift off southern Yucatan peninsula for an entire day before the tugboat arrived. 
 
 Mr Nutt, of Angleton, Texas, said his wife called him to say the plumbing wasn't working - but he was horrified by what he heard next. 
 
 He told CNN: 'She said that that would be the last phone call I was going to get. They have no power, there's no way to charge cell phones or anything. 
 
 'To hear your loved one crying saying she just wants off of the ship and it all has to end. 
 
 'All of the girls in their group were calling their family members as well and they were crying. Everybody wants off of this. It's a big mess, there's no power, there's no toilets, there's no food - it's like a bunch of savages on there. 
 
 Getting a tow: The ship is now being taken to Mobile, Alabama, where it is expected to arrive later today 
 
 'People are fighting over food and stuff - that's a bunch of savages. It's ridiculous. Carnival has nothing at all in plan in case something like this happens.' 
 
 Asked if his wife had been given any help, Mr Nutt said: 'The only help they've got is that they told them they needed to stay on the decks or in common areas.' 
 
 Writing on Cruise Critic, a blogger named Clinty76 whose wife and mother-in-law are on the ship, painted a similar picture. 
 
 No shock: Previous passengers of the Carnival Triumph said the were not surprised, citing engine trouble on past journeys. The ship's troubles on this trip has left passengers fighting over food and toilets and sleeping in tents on the decks to get out of their sweltering, air conditioner-less cabins 
 
 Lights out: Passengers are being forced to sleep in tents on the decks because the AC on board has stopped working during heatwave conditions (stock image of the Triumph) 
 
 He wrote that they told him: 'We are about to get supplies from another cruise ship and apparently the tug boats should be here tomorrow around noon. 
 
 'We have no power AT ALL, which means we can't use the toilets, wash our hands, or take a shower.' 
 
 On USA Today, Gary Keyes of Baton Rouge, La, wrote: 'My wife (is) on this cruise and has said the conditions were horrible. No power, no water, having to use the bathroom in bags'. 
 
 Carnival said that none of the passengers are in danger and that many of the toilets are being brought back online. 
 
 It also said that some power has been restored to the buffet, meaning that limited food and hot coffee service is being offered. 
 
 The engine room fire, which took place on Sunday morning, was quickly contained thanks to the automatic fire extinguishing system and but the ship was left to operate on emergency generator power, Carnival Cruise Lines said in a statement. 
 
 This is the latest commercial catastrophe to hit Carnival Cruise Lines, which reported it's 'most challenging year' in the history of the company in 2012. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 In January last year, the Costa Concordia, a 114,500 ton luxury cruise ship operated by the Carnival-owned Costa Cruises, ran aground and sank off the Tuscan island of Giglio in Italy, killing 32 people. 
 
 Last month, Costa Cruises said Italian investigators were looking into Carnival Cruise Lines' potential responsibility for the shipwreck. 
 
 The company lost more than $310 million in full-year revenues compared to 2011 and although bookings for 2013 were at the same capacity as previous years, the company has been forced to lower their prices. 
 
 
 
 The Carnival Triumph set sail from Galveston, Texas, on Thursday, and was due back on today. 
 
 However, recent travelers with the Carnival Triumph were not surprised, San Fransisco Gate reported. 
 
 
 
 Cruise fans took to Twitter and online forums saying recent trips with the vessel had been plagued by engine problems with some experiencing delays and others prevented from reaching their destination. 
 
 A Carnival official told the paper that he was uncertain of problems on previous cruises. 
 

– Carnival's Triumph cruise ship hasn't quite lived up to its name. The disabled vessel, currently being hauled to Mobile, Ala., amid reports of hallway sewage, has had its next 14 trips canceled as the cruise line addresses an array of problems. The cancellations mean no more trips through April, the AP reports. Meanwhile, more unpleasant stories from the Triumph—which is now delayed, and could arrive in Mobile as late as 11pm tonight: Passengers are "having to urinate in the shower. They've been passed out plastic bags to go to the bathroom," says the husband of one traveler. "There was fecal matter all over the floor." Passengers will get refunds, future discounts, and $500 in compensation, Carnival says. "We obviously are very, very sorry about what is taking place. There is no question that conditions onboard the ship are very challenging," says president Gerry Cahill, per NPR. "Every action we are taking" is to benefit customers. Not so, snarks the Daily Mail: CEO Micky Arison was at a Miami Heat game Tuesday. Mechanical problems on the ship existed even before an engine-room fire stranded the ship, the company admits. There's "no evidence" that an earlier electrical issue was tied to the fire, a Carnival rep tells AFP. But the ship was late to depart Galveston, and a several-hour visit to Progreso turned into a two-day wait as workers reported waiting for parts. What treat awaits passengers when they get to Mobile? A two-hour bus ride. The company has booked 1,500 hotel rooms in New Orleans; customers will be flown to Houston tomorrow, unless they want to take a bus directly today, the AP reports. Mobile's mayor wasn't thrilled with the news, noting the city's many hotel rooms and two airports allow for a more comfortable experience than the one planned.