A fire broke out aboard the Carnival Triumph on Sunday morning, February 10, 2013, stranding some 3,000 passengers and more than 1,000 crew members just offshore from the Yucatan Peninsula. The fire was contained to the aft engine room of the luxury liner and was quickly extinguished by the ship's built-in sprinkler system. There were no injuries sustained in the fire and the ship sustained little damage. The fire did, however, leave the vessel without its propulsion system, which rendered it immobile and relying on generator power.
The Carnival Triumph left Galveston, Texas - a town about 50 miles southeast of Houston - on Thursday morning, February 7 and was due back today, Monday February 11. Instead, a tugboat has been dispatched to tow the disabled vessel back to the nearest port, which happens to be in Progresso, Mexico. The Carnival Triumph is scheduled to arrive there in Progresso on Wednesday afternoon, at which point cruise passengers will be flown back to the United States at the expense of the cruise line. Most of those passengers will likely land here in Houston, given the close proximity to Galveston, where they embarked on the cruise.
Carnival was making guests as comfortable as possible during the ordeal. They shut down some of the ship's non-essential amenities like the casino to conserve the energy being produced by the ship's generators. They instructed guests to stay within the public areas and decks of the ship for their own safety and comfort because the vessel is without electricity and air conditioning. Further, the plumbing on the vessel was not working either, at last check. On Sunday, another Carnival ship - the Elation - was on hand to transfer food, drinks and other provisions to the disabled ship.
The Carnival Triumph was scheduled to embark on two additional cruises on February 11 and February 16. Those cruises have been cancelled. Carnival will be refunding the full price of tickets purchased for the cancelled cruises, reimbursement for travel expenses, plus a 25% discount on a future booking.
Cruise passengers on the stranded vessel will also receive a full refund, plus an additional credit with the cruise line in the value of another full cruise, reimbursement for travel and other expenses incurred on the trip - except for casino and gift shop purchases.
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