Carnival Cruise Line Reaches San Diego

The stranded Carnival Splendor cruise ship is towed to San Diego Harbor by tug boats on November 11, 2010 in San Diego, California. The cruise ship lost power and became stranded off of California's coast after an engine room fire. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

The Carnival Cruise Line ship Splendor finally made it to port in San Diego, Calif., on the morning of Nov. 11. Passengers and crew endured four days of cold food, cold showers, and no power on the crippled ship, according to CNN. A fire disabled the ship, which was then towed to San Diego. It was scheduled to sail along the coast of Mexico on a seven-day cruise.

Carnival Cruise Lines brought food to passengers on the ship and promised them a refund, reimbursement for travel costs, and a free cruise in the future. The company arranged for travel home or for hotels in San Diego for its passengers, according to a company statement.

“We wish to thank our guests for their patience and cooperation during this very difficult situation and offer our sincerest apologies,” stated Gerry Cahill, Carnival’s president and CEO.

A similarly troubled trip on the Celebrity Cruise Line had a different outcome, according to accounts from passenger Mr. Lawrence Dome, a retired businessman from New Jersey, who was stranded in France when a rudder broke on the Century in the port of Villefranche.

Dome said the passengers were notified of the need for repairs by loudspeaker after 10 p.m. on Oct. 14 and given until 5 p.m. on Oct. 16 to depart the ship.

He said the company treated the passengers with “callous disregard,” offering 1800 passengers free Internet and outside lines to organize their own travel and lodging arrangements from the ship.

“I dialed my finger off trying to get an outside line,” said Dome. He said all the passengers were competing for eight to ten lines. Passengers stood in line for hours to use a phone or computer, then were unable to reach anyone, he said, and no one in authority was available to help.

Another passenger described a similar experience, but was unwilling to be named.

Passengers were offered a ten-hour bus ride to Barcelona with a non-English speaking driver, said Dome. For some of his elderly fellow passengers, the long trip was a hardship, he said.

The company offered a refund for the aborted cruise and a voucher worth 25 percent of the cost of the cruise for a future trip, according to Travel Pulse. There are no statements about the Century’s problems on the Celebrity Cruise website.

Dome wanted Celebrity to make a public statement and apology about the incident available on its website, like Carnival.

Attempts to reach Celebrity Cruise Lines led to two conversations with staff. Neither person was able to comment or provide a media contact phone number, but one offered an email address. No email reply arrived by press time.