Update: Disabled Cruise Ship Due in Alabama Late Thursday
By: NBC NEWS
Updated: February 14, 2013
Update:
Rough weather overnight slowed the Carnival Cruise Lines ship Triumph and the tugboats leading it to Mobile, Alabama.
The ship, now accompanied by four tugboats, is expected to arrive at the port between 8 and 11 p.m., according to the latest guidance. At one point it had been expected as early as 3 p.m.
Wednesday:
Passengers on the Carnival Triumph will get an additional $500 in compensation, the cruise line said late Wednesday. The cash payout is in addition to a full refund and future cruise credit Carnival announced earlier in the week.
Rough weather overnight slowed the Carnival Cruise Lines ship Triumph and the tugboats leading it to Mobile, Alabama.
The ship, now accompanied by four tugboats, is expected to arrive at the port between 8 and 11 p.m., according to the latest guidance. At one point it had been expected as early as 3 p.m.
Wednesday:
Passengers on the Carnival Triumph will get an additional $500 in compensation, the cruise line said late Wednesday. The cash payout is in addition to a full refund and future cruise credit Carnival announced earlier in the week.
Passengers on board the Triumph, stranded since Sunday, have faced tough conditions including foul odors, inoperative toilets and long waits for food.
"The worst part is the bathrooms," passenger Donna Gutzman told 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."
Fewer than two dozen public toilets are working, Carnival said.
The ship is being towed to port in Mobile, Ala., and is expected to arrive some time Thursday. A third tugboat was dispatched from Louisiana Wednesday to help the towing efforts.
Lani Corbett's daughter, Shannon Dobbs, is on the Triumph with a group of co-workers. "She sounded scared, angry, exhausted, miserable," Corbett said, who last spoke to her daughter on Monday afternoon." She was OK, but it was basically pandemonium."
Corbett set up a Facebook page where friends and family members of cruise passengers had a place to get and share information. "People are thankful I set it up," she told NBC News. "While we know everyone is safe, we still have the right to be scared for them." By Wednesday, the page had more than 400 "likes."
Lindsey Peterson, whose parents are onboard the Triumph, said she's hearing conflicting reports. "Carnival is telling me that all the passengers are safe, the boat has 40 percent power, they have one dining room working with hot food and hot coffee, that the sleeping conditions are fine," Peterson said. "Everything that Carnival has told me thus far has not matched up with what my mom has said."
Tess Hester, whose daughter is on the ship, received this message: "This is honestly the worst experience ever. I'm not sure I can take two more days at sea with no food, water or power."
