The Carnival Triumph cruise from Texas to Mexico in 2013 turned into a nightmare when an engine room fire cut power to the ship, leaving over 4,000 passengers and crew adrift
A passenger who endured the ill-fated Carnival Triumph “poop cruise” has lifted the lid on what the horror sailing was really like.
The smelly voyage is the focus of the Netflix documentary “Trainwreck: Poop Cruise,” which premiered on June 24. The voyage from Texas to Mexico descended into chaos after an engine room fire caused a massive electrical failure, leaving over 4,000 passengers and crew to wade through urine and feces and camp on deck.
Tay Redford, 24, a passenger who was only 12 at the time of the incident, has watched the trailer and feels “hurt” by the portrayal. Now a bakery owner from Enid, Oklahoma, Tay vividly recalls the fear and chaos, arguing that Carnival failed to provide meaningful support after the ordeal.
Still grappling with long-term trauma, Tay is concerned that the documentary does not adequately represent the voices of those passengers onboard and has vowed never to go on a cruise again.
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“I’ve only seen the trailer, but from what I saw, it doesn’t even scratch the surface,” she said. “It’s just Carnival workers telling the story. It’s really hard watching the documentary come out and seeing all these people making money from it.
“To me, it feels like they’re profiting off something that deeply affected and traumatized me.”
On February 10, 2013, a blaze broke out in the engine room of the Carnival Triumph, located at the rear of the ship, while it was off the coast of Mexico. A faulty flexible fuel line had ruptured, spewing fuel onto a scorching surface, which in turn crippled the ship’s generators.
As a result, the vessel lost all primary power and propulsion, stranding over 4,000 passengers and crew in the Gulf of Mexico for four days. Raw sewage inundated numerous cabins, and essential services ground to a halt as the ship was laboriously towed to Mobile, Alabama over the course of several days.
Tay was on board the ship, accompanied by her parents, older brother, and a group of family friends. What was intended as a relaxing family getaway rapidly descended into a traumatic experience.
“It was the most fear I’ve ever felt in my life,” Tay recounted. “I’m not that old yet, but that was hands down the scariest thing I’ve ever been through.”
The fire caused a total blackout, plunging the ship into darkness and depriving passengers of basic necessities. Due to the unhygienic conditions and poor ventilation, Tay’s family was forced to vacate their cabin.
“My first thought is we’re sinking, we’re going down. That was the only thing I thought. I was crying hysterically, trying to follow my parents around in the dark,” she recalled. “When we went down to our room, we were up to our ankles in sewage and urine and feces, and there was no air flow. There were no lights.”
The situation was nothing short of chaotic and terrifying, compelling the family to take refuge on the uppermost deck for nearly four days. Passengers on a cruise ship faced a nightmare holiday when access to food, water, and sanitation became severely limited.
“They ran out of water to give us, so they said, ‘Hey, we’ll open up the bar and let people drink liquor,'” one passenger recounted.
The situation quickly deteriorated as inebriated guests, furious over the scant information and deteriorating conditions, started brawling. Tay, a passenger, recalled how some resorted to “throwing their bodily fluids over the ship” amid rising tensions.
During the ordeal, Tay’s brother came up with a clever solution.
“My brother actually had this great idea. He said, I’m going to build a tent out of these sheets. And he cut the sheets up and invented Tent City where everybody followed him to make tents to keep us out of the sun,” Tay said.
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After enduring days of hardship, the crippled vessel was towed back to port in Mobile, Alabama. Although Carnival offered a modest compensation – $500 and a refund for the journey home – Tay feels the company failed to truly acknowledge the trauma suffered by passengers.
A spokesperson for Carnival said: “The Carnival Triumph incident over 12 years ago was a teachable moment for the entire cruise industry. A thorough investigation following the incident revealed a design vulnerability which was corrected and led Carnival Cruise Line to invest more than $500 million across our entire fleet in comprehensive fire prevention and suppression, improved redundancy and enhanced management systems, all in support of our commitment to robust safety standards. This is in addition to our vigorous Health, Environmental, Safety and Security (HESS) protocals that guide the entire Carnival Corporation fleet as we maintain our commitment to industry leadership in this area.”
The statement ended by pointing out that the company is “proud of the fact that since 2013 over 53 million guests have enjoyed safe and memorable vacations with us, and we will continue to operate to these high standards.”