carnival cruise ship poop

DISASTER TIMELINE: How Carnival Went From 'Fun Ship' To 'Poop Cruise'

Over its 41 years, Carnival Cruise Line has had a checkered past. In its heyday, Carnival was the cruise brand known for innovation, but more recently it has become known as the brand with PR disasters to deal with.

Click here for the disaster timeline >

Last week, Carnival's 'Triumph' ship was towed into Mobile, Alabama after almost a week stuck at sea due to an engine fire.

The testimonies from the passengers are truly disgusting : Hallways were flooded with human waste, there was no A/C or running water, and passengers were left to survive on limited food and water. The Triumph was given the nickname "poop cruise" because passengers were forced to use the bathroom in bags.

But do these PR crises have a lasting effect? According to Jaunted , trips aboard 'Triumph' can already be booked for as early as April of this year. That's only two months after passengers said that the floors were "flooded with sewer water."

This type of disaster is not new for Carnival. It experienced very similar situations in 1998, 1999, and 2010. And let's not forget about the Costa Concordia disaster in Italy last year in which the ship capsized, killing 32 passengers . (Carnival owns Costa Concordia).

It has also had to deal with circumstances of passengers jumping overboard to their deaths. 

But with every PR disaster in Carnival's history, it has also experienced record-breaking good moments.

Carnival was the original brand to pioneer the concept of shorter, less expensive cruises. It built the first ship to weigh more than 100,000 tons, as well as the world's first non-smoking ship.

The cruise company's on-board service has won numerous awards , including three Cruise Critic Editor's Picks —best new ship, best bar, and best value in 2012.

Carnival Cruise Lines was founded by Ted Arison in 1972.

Ted Arison, the son of a multi-millionaire shipping magnate, was born in Israel in 1924. He immigrated to the U.S. in the early 50s and co-founded Norwegian Cruise Lines in 1966.

He then went on to found his own cruise company, Carnival Cruise Lines, six years later.

Carnival was originally a subsidiary of American International Travel Service (AITS), but in 1974, Arison bought Carnival for $1 , along with $5 million in assumed AITS debt.

By the late 1980s, Arison was reportedly one of the world's richest men , with a personal fortune estimated to be between $6 and $10 billion.

His family still  owns the Miami Heat . He was the man responsible for bringing the team to South Florida.

Carnival's first-ever voyage got off to a bad a start.

According to Carnival's website , in 1972 " the company’s first cruise ship, the TSS Mardi Gras, runs aground on a sandbar during its inaugural voyage."

But by the early 80's, things started improving.

In 1984, Carnival became the first cruise line to advertise on network television. Kathie Lee Gifford, then Kathie Lee Johnson, was the company's first spokesperson.

The 1980s was a great time for Carnival.

In 1982, the 'Tropicale' ship debuted, representing the first new ship the industry had seen in years.

Two years later, Carnival launched the first network-wide advertising campaign in the industry.

This video  is one of the original commercials Carnival ran. It features Kathie Lee Johnson, aka Kathie Lee Gifford.

In the late 80s, Carnival was carrying more passengers than any other cruise line, making it "The World's Most Popular Cruise Line." The brand still uses this phrase as its tagline.

In 1987, Carnival completed an initial public offering of 20 percent of its common stock.

The cruise line was able to generate around $400 million from its IPO . 

This money would help it buy new ships, as well as acquire other brands.

In 1989, it made its first acquisition — the Holland America Line.

In the 90s, Carnival began launching newer, bigger ships, including the world's first non-smoking vessel.

In 1997, Carnival launched 'Destiny,' the first cruise ship in the world to weigh more than 100,000 tons. 

One year later, Carnival launched 'Paradise,' the first non-smoking cruise ship in the world.

But with these breakthroughs also came the company's first major PR nightmares. 

In 1998, there was a fire onboard the Carnival 'Ecstasy.'

In July 1998, soon after 'Ecstasy' departed from Miami, a fire started in the main laundry room .

As the ship was attempting to re-dock at the Miami port, it lost propulsion power and began drifting off course. Sound familiar?

It took six tugboats to fight the fire and pull the ship to shore. Eight passengers and 14 crew members were injured. It cost $17 million to repair the ship .

Then there was another fire on another ship in 1999.

A little over a year later, the Tropicale's engine room caught fire, leaving the ship in the path of Tropical Storm Harvey.

The ship's captain, Vito Riccio, told the St. Petersburg Times that he didn't relay information about the fire to the passengers for fear that they would then panic and jump overboard.

In 2005, the company was both praised and criticized for its Katrina-related efforts.

While the early 2000s were relatively uneventful for the brand, things changed after Hurricane Katrina when the U.S. government signed a six-month contract with Carnival . Under the agreement, Carnival received $236 million in exchange for three ships to be used as temporary housing for Katrina victims. 

The ships were docked along the Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas coastlines.

Despite Carnival's honorable intentions, the contract was highly criticized because Carnival was earning more money than it normally would have had the ships been used as vacation spots. Many of the ships were also mostly empty.

Between 2006 and 2007, two separate passenger deaths caused another PR dilemma for the brand.

In May 2006, a Philadelphia man jumped off his balcony on Carnival's 'Legend' after an argument with his wife. The tragedy happened off the coast of Bermuda. 

A little over a year later, an 18-year-old from Houston also jumped to his death from a Carnival ship. According to the Houston Chronicle , his jump may have been premeditated.

The economic downfall of 2008 did not bode well for Carnival or the rest of the cruise ship industry.

In April 2008, Micky Arison, the chairman of Carnival Corp. & plc, announced that the brand would not be ordering any new U.S. ships until the American economy improved.

In 2009, Carnival's largest "Fun Ship" was retired.

'Dream,' the largest of the "Fun Ship" line, was retired in 2009. It was also the largest ship ever built by the Italian shipbuilding company Fincantieri.

In November 2010, another Carnival cruise ship had a fire on board.

The generator room on Carnival's 'Splendor' caught fire, causing the ship to lose power.

According to CBS News , 4,500 passengers were trapped at sea for over 24 hours with very little food and no A/C or hot water.  The ship was towed to San Diego.

Once again, sound familiar? 

For the next couple of years, Carnival avoided major PR disasters.

In October 2012, 'Spirit' launched, becoming the company's first ship to sail through Australian waters, as well as the largest ship to cruise to Australia year-round.

'Spirit' is too large to fit under the bridge to Carnival's cruise terminal , so it is docked separately.

The brand also signed an agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri for both a 99,000-ton ship for its Holland America Line and a 135,000-ton ship for its Carnival Cruise Line. 

According to Breaking Travel News , Giuseppe Bono, chief executive of Fincantieri, said, “These additional orders bring the total number of ships we have built for Carnival Corporation to 61 and confirm Fincantieri’s world leadership in the cruise ship sector even at a time of slowing demand.”

In January 2012, a Costa Concordia ship owned by Carnival struck a rock off the coast of an Italian island.

Thirty passengers aboard the Costa Concordia lost their lives, and as of December 2012, two were still missing.

Because the ship wreckage is in a nationally protected marine park and coral reef, removing the wreckage has proven difficult and costly . 

According to 60 Minutes, the cleanup will cost $400 million.

Hundreds of passengers and up to 1,000 businesses on the Italian island have sued or are in the process of suing Carnival . 

Carnival's most recent PR fiasco may be the last straw for many of Carnival's loyal customers.

After almost a week of being stranded with no running water or air conditioning, passengers who suffered aboard the 'Triumph' ship are already starting to sue Carnival over the conditions they endured.

Making things even worse, one of the buses carrying rescued passengers from Mobile to New Orleans broke down.

Carnival has already offered passengers a refund, cruise credit, and $500, but this disaster may prove too big to be solved with money. 

The engine fire that caused the horrible conditions is still under investigation, and it may take months to find the cause.

Despite Carnival's recent problems, the brand is still used by almost 50 percent of worldwide cruise passengers.

According to Cruise Market Watch, the worldwide cruise industry is an estimated $36.2 billion business.

Current data shows a 4.5 percent increase in revenue from 2012 figures.  

There has also been a 3.3 percent increase in yearly passengers since 2012.

This chart shows the revenues of the worldwide cruise industry. Each color represents a different parent company. Subsidiaries of Carnival  Corp. & plc (CCL) are the red dots. Subsidiaries of CCL's major competitor, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL), are shown in dark blue. All other brands, including MSC Cruises and Norwegian, are shown in light blue.

CCL serves 48.4 percent of total worldwide cruise passengers. RCL serves 23.3 percent, and all other brands combine to serve 28.3 percent of cruisers.

You've seen how Carnival has operated over the years...

Now see the augmented reality campaigns brands are using today  →

• Main content

Carnival Knew of Danger Before ‘Poop Cruise’ Set Sail

Generator was almost a year overdue for maintenance

A small boat belonging to the Coast Guard Cutter Vigorous patrols near the cruise ship Carnival Triumph in the Gulf of Mexico.

Updated 2:48 p.m. Dec. 18

The ill-fated Carnival Cruise that lost power at sea in February and stranded 4,000 passengers without working toilets was plagued with safety and technical problems before it set sail, according to newly-disclosed company documents.

The Carnival Triumph, dubbed the “Poop Cruise” after passengers were forced to live for almost a week amidst their own sewage, set sail Feb. 7 with only four of the six generators working, and the company knew about the fire hazard posed by the generators, CNN reports . The generator that caught fire and caused the outage had been overdue for maintenance for over a year, and was often not in compliance with the safety laws, according to the internal company documents. CNN obtained the documents as lawsuits are pending against the cruise line.

The documents also reveal that the company had been aware of the fuel line leaks that contributed to the fire, since similar problems had been plaguing other Carnival ships, CNN reports. The documents show that there had been 9 incidents with fuel lines in just 2 years.

The power outage caused the ship to drift for four days until it could be towed to Mobile, Ala. During that time, passengers had no air conditioning, and almost no lights, food, water, or working toilets.

CNN reports that Carnival said in a legal filing that the fine print on passengers’ tickets “makes absolutely no guarantee for safe passage, a seaworthy vessel, adequate and wholesome food, and sanitary and safe living conditions.” But in a statement following publication of this story, Carnival described CNN’s report as inaccurate.

“That is not at all true,” the company said. “And in fact, we agree that our guests did not receive what they paid for, and that is why we already provided compensation — a full refund, a voucher for a new cruise and $500.”

Carnival said the ship had passed inspections and that it was in full compliance with all relevant regulations.

“We already compensated everyone on the Triumph cruise because we did not meet our requirements,” the company added. “These 30 customers in the lawsuit are asking for major damages beyond what has been paid already for pain and suffering.”

This story has been updated to reflect more detailed comments from Carnival.

A firsthand account from inside the Poop Cruise

Leave it to Reddit to find someone who experienced all the poop firsthand.

Kevin Collier

Internet Culture

Posted on Feb 15, 2013   Updated on Jun 2, 2021, 12:32 am CDT

The Carnival cruise ship whose engine burned out and was left stranded at sea—lovingly nicknamed the “poop cruise” by major media outlets because of the lack of working toilets—finally docked late Thursday night.

Thankfully, a redditor was on board. As he sat in an Alabama port, he was happy to cut the hype and explain what happened to his fellow users in an Ask Me Anything session conducted on his phone. 

In short, he said, it was “just like camping. Except crowded and unhygienic.” And it wasn’t gross enough from keeping him from using a free voucher to go on another cruise next year.

Will you ever go on another cruise again? (teh_bacon_bandit)

Yes, definitely! It really isnt nearly as bad as they’re talking about. I actually had a good time. 

So, ah, did you just do it off of the side of the boat, or what? ( SharpHawkeye )

what about poo? ( missyo02 )

On CNN they would have one person crying about how awful everything else was, and then another person that sad it wasn’t too bad ( barnosaur )

That’s how a lot of it was. I saw a few people crying but honestly, without the dirtiness, it wouldn’t be too bad. It was like camping on a cruise ship.

So… how much is Carnival paying for you to do this AMA? (jonny_nutsack)

Haha no we’re getting into a class action against them. I’m just making sure reddit is in “the know”

Is anyone taking advantage of the situation? If so, how? (deviant143)

Yes, a woman fake falling and crying in pain. Also people are suing. On a few of the working outlets a couple of laptops have been stolen, there and in the pitch black rooms.

Did they have to ration out the food? What was there and what was that like? ( arevan )

Not really. They had a worse buffet, but a buffet none the less. Toward the end they started giving you the good themselves to ensure that we weren’t stockpiling it. There was a lot of random sandwiches. Sometimes tomato and lettuce, zucchini mayo, onion lettuce, cheese bacon mayo, etc. they weren’t particularly good, but you made do. There was also a lot of fruit and cheap deserts.

Are they really making you go to the bathroom in bags? How hard is it when you have to take a dump? ( Mynameisinuse )

Yea they were handing out bags for us to poop in, I didn’t since our toilet worked for the most part. But there were red bags all I’ve the hall way and whilst sleeping outside someone through there bag over and it got caught next to our area and smelled it up until we finally knocked it over the edge with a rope and pole.

Did anybody go crazy or totally loose their cool? ( Membery )

A few people were crying, a few fights over food and the long lines, and a few fights over the outlet/ charging station situation.

I’m sure there was some kind of waiver that you had to sign before boarding – would that prevent you from filing any sort of lawsuit in the future? ( Para_Para )

Yes, definitely! No waiver, but on the check that they will send us it’s like signing a settlement. We are for sure holding off on cashing those in and we are going to participate in a class action. Nothing will stop since the unsanitary environment and how my mom is sick because of it.

Why are the people getting sick? I also read there were serious food shortages, is this true? ( desertdreamer )

Thanks and yeah, people are getting sick because sewage everyone; urine on the floors, waste in bags, and undercooked food. Strong fecal and urine stench near the cabins and just a poor environment. The workers rushed a lot of the processes. My mom is actually sick. No food shortages, we’ve had 3 other carnival ships come by and one of the three again and they used a helicopter to drop a generator and just recently (today) we got a delivery of sterno. People are throwing food away so we have enough.

Are you taking one of the chartered flights back to Houston tomorrow? ( 305broooo )

Yeah, first a bus ride to New Orleans and stay in a hotel and fly out Tomorrow or Sarurday.

What was your initial reaction [to the ship’s engine room catching fire]? Did you think you were sinking? ( supermav27 )

My initial reaction was just weariness. I slept on a bunk type bed that pulled out from the ceiling and smelled smoke and heard yelling. I was pretty pissed to wake up that damn early on my birthday but we then walked outside and Jen (cruise director) told us about the engine fire. I didn’t know what to think but I wasn’t very scared.

happy late birthday ( ekaceerf )

Thanks, it’s going to be hard to top next year.

Photo via CarnivalTriumphAMA/ Imgur

A former senior politics reporter for the Daily Dot, Kevin Collier focuses on privacy, cybersecurity, and issues of importance to the open internet. Since leaving the Daily Dot in March 2016, he has served as a reporter for Vocativ and a cybersecurity correspondent for BuzzFeed.

Passengers on Carnival’s Infamous ‘Poop’ Cruise Are Having Their Day in Court

Curt Anderson, Associated Press

March 6th, 2014 at 7:00 AM EST

It's worth repeating that Carnival's contract of carriage reads the cruise line, "Makes absolutely no guarantee for safe passage, a seaworthy vessel, adequate and wholesome food, and sanitary and safe living conditions.”

Jason Clampet

About three dozen passengers who sailed on the ill-fated Carnival Triumph cruise ship that drifted at sea for days are hoping to collect thousands of dollars apiece as a result of lingering medical and mental problems they say were caused by their nightmarish experience.

Their lawsuit, the first to go to trial since the February 2013 cruise, is being vigorously defended by Miami-based Carnival Corp. , which contends the passengers cannot show such problems as kidney stones, post-traumatic stress disorder and scratchy throats are linked to unsanitary conditions or the fire that disabled the engine.

At stake is perhaps millions of dollars, as well as the industry’s restrictive policy — printed on each ticket — that governs the kinds of lawsuits passengers can file. Two maritime law experts also said the trial already set an important precedent in cruise line cases when the judge ruled Carnival was negligent simply because the fire broke out, regardless of the reason.

“Ships shouldn’t catch fire in the middle of the sea for no reason,” said Robert Peltz, a Miami maritime attorney not involved in the Triumph case.

Passenger Debra Oubre, of Friendswood, Texas, who said she has worked in cruise line shore operations and has enjoyed a dozen cruises, said she joined the suit to hold someone accountable.

“Many of us, if not all of us, were physically or emotionally hurt,” she said. “I just want the truth to be told.”

Again and again during the three-week trial, Triumph passengers have told their story to Senior U.S. District Judge Donald Graham, who is hearing the case without a jury. Testimony wrapped up Wednesday, and Graham said he would take written closing arguments and issue a decision later on whether the passengers deserve any damages.

Some Triumph passengers testified on Carnival’s behalf Wednesday, including James Ede, of Houston, who said the crew kept them well-informed and provided plenty of water.

“I got almost a little tired of people saying, ‘How can I help you?'” Ede said of the crew.

According to Carnival, at least nine other Triumph lawsuits are pending in South Florida federal court, including a proposed class-action that seeks to represent all of the roughly 3,000 passengers aboard the ship. Attorneys involved in the current trial say its outcome could affect what happens in these other cases, although the legal claims are somewhat different.

Carnival tickets require lawsuits against the world’s largest cruise line to be filed only in South Florida federal court. The tickets also state that passengers agree they can’t bring a class-action lawsuit, but some lawyers are challenging that based on negligence claims.

The 893-foot Triumph left Galveston, Texas on Feb. 7, 2013, for a four-day cruise highlighted by a stop in Cozumel, Mexico. After departing Cozumel, a fire broke out at about 5 a.m. in the ship’s engine room Feb. 10. It left the ship without engine power and most of its electricity, forcing passengers to endure human waste running down hallways, limited water supplies, noxious odors and extreme heat.

After about five days in the Gulf of Mexico, the ship was finally towed to Mobile, Ala., and the weary, bedraggled passengers disembarked Feb. 14. Carnival sought to make amends by offering each passenger a $500 check, a voucher for a future cruise, refunds of most on-board expenses and reimbursement for transportation, parking and so forth.

For many of the passengers, those offers were an insult and multiple lawsuits were filed seeking millions of dollars in damages. In the current trial, Judge Graham has ruled that passengers cannot collect punitive damages and may only get damages for past and future medical costs that are conclusively linked to what happened on the Triumph.

Many of the 33 passengers involved in the trial complain of lingering emotional issues such as PTSD, anxiety and depression; some have physical ailments they blame on squalid conditions, including leg pain, diarrhea, upper respiratory problems and even aggravated hemorrhoids.

Larry Poret, of Lufkin, Texas, who took the cruise with his then-12-year-old daughter Rebecca, said he remains scarred by how frightened she was, especially trying to sleep out on deck in pitch black nights.

“Something that was supposed to be so much fun turned out to be a nightmare. I felt like I let my daughter down,” Poret said. “You just can’t get it out of your mind.”

Most of the passengers are seeking $5,000 in damages a year from Carnival for the rest of their lives, claiming they will need continuous medical monitoring because of what happened aboard ship. They want the money in lump sums based on government tables estimating their life expectancies. Poret, for example, would get about $115,000 and his daughter, who is much younger, an estimated $345,000.

An expert witness for the passengers, Dr. Ernest Schiodo, testified that each person’s health problems were “caused by the exposure or aggravated by the exposure” to the Triumph’s horrific conditions, including the human waste. That prompted a pointed question from the judge.

“Does that mean if you use a portable toilet you need this special testing for the rest of your life?” Graham said.

“Not if you use one, but if you fall in and wallow in it for a couple of days, yes,” Schiodo said.

Carnival attorney Curtis Mase has asked Graham to reject all of the damage claims. In court papers, Mase said the passengers either haven’t proved their health issues are linked to the Triumph cruise or haven’t shown they suffer from any lingering problems at all.

The passengers, Mase wrote, “are not entitled to damages simply for experiencing the conditions on the vessel.” And, he added, “they failed to prove that Carnival’s conduct was the legal cause of the injury.”

In the aftermath, Carnival announced a $300 million program to add emergency generators, upgrade fire safety and improve engine rooms on all 24 of its ships. The cruise line also said it would repay the U.S. government an unspecified amount for the costs to taxpayers of responses to disabling accidents on the Triumph and a previous disabled ship, the Splendor .

As for the Triumph , it was repaired and refitted in Mobile, but not before it broke free during a windstorm and sustained about $2.7 million in damage and a dock worker drowned. It was returned to service last summer.

Carnival’s final witness Wednesday was Suzanne Vazquez, director of guest claims and litigation. She was asked which ship is currently the cruise line’s top-ranked vessel based on customer feedback.

“The Triumph ,” she said.

Associated Press writer Tony Winton in Miami contributed to this story.

Follow Curt Anderson on Twitter

Copyright (2014) Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Tags: carnival , health , lawsuits , safety , triumph

Photo credit: People wave and hang signs at the side of their balconies on the cruise ship Carnival Triumph cruise ship in this video frame grab from NBC News taken off the coast of Alabama, February 14, 2013. Three tugboats were hauling the disabled cruise ship Carnival Triumph cruise ship slowly into port in Mobile, Alabama, on Thursday where its arrival with more than 4,220 people aboard was expected later in the day, authorities said. Reuters

The Carnival Poop Cruise Is Finally Over

The Carnival Triumph pulled into the Port of Mobile at about half past nine, local time, bringing an end to the days-long, feces-filled journey. Sort of.

The Carnival Triumph pulled into the Port of Mobile at about half past nine, local time, bringing an end to the days-long, feces-filled journey. Sort of. Despite being adrift for almost a week with no running water, passengers were told that they would still have to wait on board for hours before they could set foot on dry land.

And even then, it was either a two-hour bus trip to New Orleans or a seven-hour trip to Galveston or Houston. An earlier plan had called for the ship to be towed to Mexico, but Carnival decided heading to Alabama would make travel home easier for the passengers. Easy does not equal comfortable.

And  then who knows how long it'll be until Carnival coughs up the we're-sorry dollars. The company said that it will give $500 to every passenger in addition to a full refund of the price of the cruise and discounts on future cruises which is probably the worst consolation prize these folks could imagine.

"And then," The New York Times explains , "there is the matter of potential litigation by passengers, although the ability of passengers to sue cruise ship operators is sharply limited, lawyers said." Said one passenger of the $500, "We think it's hush money."

clock This article was published more than  11 years ago

Carnival Triumph disaster: A drama of discomfort

On Friday morning we finally saw them, those wretched refugees of the Carnival Triumph, after five days stranded at sea. They disembarked the floating Port-a-John on which they had been imprisoned, some wearing white cruise line bathrobes to protect themselves against the unexpected chill, kneeling to kiss the ground as they came ashore.

“United States,” a woman in a floppy hat breathed ecstatically to a television reporter. “Ain’t nothing better.”

A cruise represents not only a vacation, but a very specific kind of vacation. One books it when one does not want to have to decide, or plan, or worry, or change money, or get tetanus shots. The people who would take a cruise have considered hiking through Nepal, cycling through Norway, staying at quaint little flophouses in Eastern Europe — it's not like they don't know those travel options exist — and thought, "No." They do not believe that getting your wallet stolen in Mexico City is "a good story."

I have cruised, and I loved it, and so I say fondly: A cruise ship’s passenger log is comprised entirely of the exact demographic that is least prepared for a cruise to go to pot. A cruise is a giant boat full of your mother-in-law. Your mother-in-law does not belong in the wild.

What happened: Midway through a four-day Mexican cruise, the Triumph's engine room caught fire, the ship lost power, and then suddenly it was just drifting, somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico. A four-day trip became an eight-day one. A 102,000-ton boat , the length of three football fields and containing 4,000 passengers, was reduced to Huck Finn's raft. It took three days for some gallant little tugboats to tow it into port in Mobile, Ala. There was nothing for watchers at home to do but imagine the hellscape aboard the doomed vessel.

But now the survivors are back, ready to share what really happened. On the "Today" show, Matt Lauer encouraged two female passengers to tell him everything . But everything, edited. "Not too graphic," he warned them. This was, after all, a morning show. The women appeared briefly flummoxed, trying to figure out how to tell a G-rated version of the story.

“It was, like, post-natural disaster,” Julie Billings said finally. “But stuck on a boat.”

Excuse us, Matt Lauer, but how could the story not be graphic? The filth, the waste, the rapid decline, is precisely what made the saga so horrifying for viewers and readers at home. We hung onto every bleated-out text message of despair, every description of what they were eating, and where they were sleeping, and where their waste went. (In red plastic bags. Marked with hazardous-waste symbols. Left outside state rooms. In ice buckets. We saw pictures.)

It was a drama, but not of danger. It was a drama of discomfort.

The smell. Just think of the smell. Skip this paragraph if you don't want to think of the smell. The unrefrigerated food and the unrefreshed bodies, the uncirculated dankness of the cabins, so filthy that passengers began sleeping on deck chairs instead, lugging their pillows to some high-thread-count open-air slumber party.

“I’m just happy to be alive,” a woman told “Good Morning America.”

Hell is other people. Hell is other people on a boat. What will it take before we accept this? After David Foster Wallace writes about it in an erudite essay ? After a Concordia captain abandons his sinking ship? After a New York Times reporter mentions that his journey on the classy Cunard was delayed for several hours so workers could scrub the ship down after a norovirus outbreak?

It’s over now, all over.

Carnival put the passengers on buses, heading either to New Orleans or to their origin point of Galveston, Tex. The company had promised to cover all travel expenses home. And to give each passenger $500 in compensation.

As well as a credit. A credit for another cruise.

Watch CBS News

Suit: Fire Risk Known Before Carnival's Triumph Sailed

December 18, 2013 / 12:21 PM EST / CBS Miami

McALLEN, Texas (CBSMiami/AP) — Was it a disaster waiting to happen?  Recently obtained court documents have revealed some new information regarding the troubled voyage of the Carnival Cruise Ship Triumph where 4-thousand passengers were stranded aboard what's now known as the "poop cruise" after a debilitating fire knocked out the ships power.

The court documents reveal Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines knew about the risk of leaks from engine fuel hoses and recommended taking precautions on the ill-fated ship that later caught on fire at sea.

A compliance notice report sent to the Triumph one month before it departed Galveston on Feb. 7 for what was planned as a four-day cruise recommended spray shields be installed on engines' flexible fuel hoses, according to the documents filed Tuesday by Carnival Cruise Lines in federal court in Miami.

A leak from a hose on engine No. 6 led to a fire early on Feb. 10 as the ship returned from a stop in Cozumel, Mexico. No one was injured, but the fire disabled the ship. More than 4,000 people aboard endured a nightmarish tow to Mobile, Ala., that the plaintiffs' attorney called a "floating hell."

The documents, first reported by CNN, are part of a lawsuit that was filed in February against Carnival Cruise Lines and its parent Carnival Corporation on behalf of dozens of the Triumph's passengers.

Frank Spagnoletti, a Houston attorney who represents some of the passengers, said Tuesday that Carnival was negligent in maintaining the ship and allowed it to sail knowing there was a fire risk.

In a response filed Tuesday in Miami, Carnival said the ship's engines passed inspection before departure and its own recommendation to install spray shields on flexible fuel lines was beyond any required safety measures.

Carnival issued a statement calling the lawsuit frivolous and noting that the U.S. Coast Guard inspected and cleared the ship before its departure.

"The accident in this situation was just that - an accident, "Carnival said in the statement emailed to The Associated Press on Wednesday. "To claim otherwise is simply unfounded and inconsistent with the facts."

It was the recognition of the problem — with a two month repair deadline — along with the decision to let the Triumph sail before it was corrected that galled Spagnoletti.

"You've got 4,000 souls on that ship. You know that there's a propensity for fire if these fuel hoses break and yet you give them two months to fix it?" he said.

In a Nov. 22 deposition, ship captain Angelo Los said he was first notified by Carnival about problems with fuel leaks from flexible hoses in January. During the deposition, Spagnoletti showed Los the compliance notice report dated Jan. 2 that cited nine fuel leaks on Carnival Corporation's ships during a two-year period.

The compliance notice report said Carnival together with the engine manufacturer was investigating the problem and that installing spray shields would be an effective safety barrier. It described an incident on another ship outfitted with the spray shields that avoided a similar fire.

The company gave the ship until Feb. 28 to come into compliance.

Los said in November that he believed Carnival had known about the problem since March 2012. The spray guards were partially installed on Triumph, but not on engine No. 6, Los said. The hose that leaked was less than six months old.

"The spray shields for the flexible fuel hoses were an additional Carnival Corporation recommended best practice to avoid fuel fires," the company said in its response Tuesday, and not otherwise required by any regulation or statute.

Carnival Cruise Lines also argued the notice sent to the Triumph was only for fuel lines above the engine room floor plates. The leak occurred on a fuel hose beneath the engine room floor. However, the January notice to Triumph does not specify that or differentiate between hoses above or below the floor.

"The leak in the flexible fuel hose was a completely unexpected accident that took place," the company said. What ignited the fuel is unknown, it said.

Passengers described unsanitary conditions after the fire, as toilets stopped functioning and an unbearable stench drove many to camp out on the decks. The weary travelers finally disembarked in Alabama on Feb. 15.

Spagnoletti echoed many of the passengers in crediting the crew with putting out the fire and making the best of a horrible situation.

"It was unbelievable to me that you would take 4,000 people and put them in a situation of basically Russian roulette," Spagnoletti said. "Basically every time that vessel went out they never knew whether they were going to have a fire or not."

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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DISASTER TIMELINE: How Carnival Went From 'Fun Ship' To 'Poop Cruise'

Carnival cruise lines was founded by ted arison in 1972..

Ted Arison, the son of a multi-millionaire shipping magnate, was born in Israel in 1924. He immigrated to the U.S. in the early 50s and co-founded Norwegian Cruise Lines in 1966.

He then went on to found his own cruise company, Carnival Cruise Lines, six years later.

Carnival was originally a subsidiary of American International Travel Service (AITS), but in 1974, Arison bought Carnival for $1 , along with $5 million in assumed AITS debt.

By the late 1980s, Arison was reportedly one of the world's richest men , with a personal fortune estimated to be between $6 and $10 billion.

His family still  owns the Miami Heat . He was the man responsible for bringing the team to South Florida.

Carnival's first-ever voyage got off to a bad a start.

According to Carnival's website , in 1972 " the company’s first cruise ship, the TSS Mardi Gras, runs aground on a sandbar during its inaugural voyage."

But by the early 80's, things started improving.

According to Carnival's website , in 1972 the company’s first cruise ship, the TSS Mardi Gras, runs aground on a sandbar during its inaugural voyage.

In 1984, Carnival became the first cruise line to advertise on network television. Kathie Lee Gifford, then Kathie Lee Johnson, was the company's first spokesperson.

The 1980s was a great time for Carnival.

In 1982, the 'Tropicale' ship debuted, representing the first new ship the industry had seen in years.

Two years later, Carnival launched the first network-wide advertising campaign in the industry.

This video  is one of the original commercials Carnival ran. It features Kathie Lee Johnson, aka Kathie Lee Gifford.

In the late 80s, Carnival was carrying more passengers than any other cruise line, making it "The World's Most Popular Cruise Line." The brand still uses this phrase as its tagline.

In the late 80s, Carnival was carrying more passengers than any other cruise line, making it The World's Most Popular Cruise Line. The brand still uses this phrase as its tagline.

In 1987, Carnival completed an initial public offering of 20 percent of its common stock.

The cruise line was able to generate around $400 million from its IPO . 

This money would help it buy new ships, as well as acquire other brands.

In 1989, it made its first acquisition — the Holland America Line.

In the 90s, Carnival began launching newer, bigger ships, including the world's first non-smoking vessel.

In 1997, Carnival launched 'Destiny,' the first cruise ship in the world to weigh more than 100,000 tons. 

One year later, Carnival launched 'Paradise,' the first non-smoking cruise ship in the world.

But with these breakthroughs also came the company's first major PR nightmares. 

In 1998, there was a fire onboard the Carnival 'Ecstasy.'

In July 1998, soon after 'Ecstasy' departed from Miami, a fire started in the main laundry room .

As the ship was attempting to re-dock at the Miami port, it lost propulsion power and began drifting off course. Sound familiar?

It took six tugboats to fight the fire and pull the ship to shore. Eight passengers and 14 crew members were injured. It cost $17 million to repair the ship .

Then there was another fire on another ship in 1999.

A little over a year later, the Tropicale's engine room caught fire, leaving the ship in the path of Tropical Storm Harvey.

The ship's captain, Vito Riccio, told the St. Petersburg Times that he didn't relay information about the fire to the passengers for fear that they would then panic and jump overboard.

In 2005, the company was both praised and criticized for its Katrina-related efforts.

While the early 2000s were relatively uneventful for the brand, things changed after Hurricane Katrina when the U.S. government signed a six-month contract with Carnival . Under the agreement, Carnival received $236 million in exchange for three ships to be used as temporary housing for Katrina victims. 

The ships were docked along the Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas coastlines.

Despite Carnival's honorable intentions, the contract was highly criticized because Carnival was earning more money than it normally would have had the ships been used as vacation spots. Many of the ships were also mostly empty.

Between 2006 and 2007, two separate passenger deaths caused another PR dilemma for the brand.

In May 2006, a Philadelphia man jumped off his balcony on Carnival's 'Legend' after an argument with his wife. The tragedy happened off the coast of Bermuda. 

A little over a year later, an 18-year-old from Houston also jumped to his death from a Carnival ship. According to the Houston Chronicle , his jump may have been premeditated.

The economic downfall of 2008 did not bode well for Carnival or the rest of the cruise ship industry.

In April 2008, Micky Arison, the chairman of Carnival Corp. & plc, announced that the brand would not be ordering any new U.S. ships until the American economy improved.

In 2009, Carnival's largest "Fun Ship" was retired.

'Dream,' the largest of the "Fun Ship" line, was retired in 2009. It was also the largest ship ever built by the Italian shipbuilding company Fincantieri.

'Dream,' the largest of the Fun Ship line, was retired in 2009. It was also the largest ship ever built by the Italian shipbuilding company Fincantieri.

In November 2010, another Carnival cruise ship had a fire on board.

The generator room on Carnival's 'Splendor' caught fire, causing the ship to lose power.

According to CBS News , 4,500 passengers were trapped at sea for over 24 hours with very little food and no A/C or hot water.  The ship was towed to San Diego.

Once again, sound familiar? 

For the next couple of years, Carnival avoided major PR disasters.

In October 2012, 'Spirit' launched, becoming the company's first ship to sail through Australian waters, as well as the largest ship to cruise to Australia year-round.

'Spirit' is too large to fit under the bridge to Carnival's cruise terminal , so it is docked separately.

The brand also signed an agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri for both a 99,000-ton ship for its Holland America Line and a 135,000-ton ship for its Carnival Cruise Line. 

According to Breaking Travel News , Giuseppe Bono, chief executive of Fincantieri, said, “These additional orders bring the total number of ships we have built for Carnival Corporation to 61 and confirm Fincantieri’s world leadership in the cruise ship sector even at a time of slowing demand.”

In January 2012, a Costa Concordia ship owned by Carnival struck a rock off the coast of an Italian island.

Thirty passengers aboard the Costa Concordia lost their lives, and as of December 2012, two were still missing.

Because the ship wreckage is in a nationally protected marine park and coral reef, removing the wreckage has proven difficult and costly . 

According to 60 Minutes, the cleanup will cost $400 million.

Hundreds of passengers and up to 1,000 businesses on the Italian island have sued or are in the process of suing Carnival . 

Carnival's most recent PR fiasco may be the last straw for many of Carnival's loyal customers.

After almost a week of being stranded with no running water or air conditioning, passengers who suffered aboard the 'Triumph' ship are already starting to sue Carnival over the conditions they endured.

Making things even worse, one of the buses carrying rescued passengers from Mobile to New Orleans broke down.

Carnival has already offered passengers a refund, cruise credit, and $500, but this disaster may prove too big to be solved with money. 

The engine fire that caused the horrible conditions is still under investigation, and it may take months to find the cause.

Despite Carnival's recent problems, the brand is still used by almost 50 percent of worldwide cruise passengers.

According to Cruise Market Watch, the worldwide cruise industry is an estimated $36.2 billion business.

Current data shows a 4.5 percent increase in revenue from 2012 figures.  

There has also been a 3.3 percent increase in yearly passengers since 2012.

This chart shows the revenues of the worldwide cruise industry. Each color represents a different parent company. Subsidiaries of Carnival  Corp. & plc (CCL) are the red dots. Subsidiaries of CCL's major competitor, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL), are shown in dark blue. All other brands, including MSC Cruises and Norwegian, are shown in light blue.

CCL serves 48.4 percent of total worldwide cruise passengers. RCL serves 23.3 percent, and all other brands combine to serve 28.3 percent of cruisers.

You've seen how Carnival has operated over the years...

Now see the augmented reality campaigns brands are using today  →

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The Two-Way

'cruise from hell' was a mix of 'survivor' and 'lord of the flies'.

Mark Memmott

As they finally came off the Carnival cruise ship Triumph late Thursday and early Friday in Mobile, Ala., passengers from the ill-fated cruise told stories that call to mind TV's Survivor and literature's classic Lord of the Flies , the Los Angeles Times writes .

According to the Times , "Debbie Moyes, 32, of Phoenix said she was awakened Sunday by a fellow passenger banging on her door, warning people to escape." An engine fire had left the ship stranded off the coast of the Yucatan peninsula.

"Soon after, she said some passengers panicked. 'People were hoarding food — boxes and boxes of cereal, grabbing cake with both hands,' she said. "Toilets stopped working and the 3,143 passengers and 1,086 crew had to urinate in sinks, she said, and eventually red plastic bags. She saw sewage dripping down walls. Sometimes people slipped on it, she said. Soon, the ship began to smell. " 'It was like a hot port-o-potty,' Moyes said, and when the ship tilted, 'it would spill.' "

CNN writes that "the frustration that many felt was typified by Janie Esparza, one of the first passengers to get back on land. 'It was horrible. Horrible,' Esparza told a scrum of reporters. 'The bathroom facilities were horrible and we could not flush toilets. No electricity and our rooms were in total darkness. Honestly, I think that this ship should have [never] sailed out.' "

The Associated Press says that passenger Deborah Knight of Houston, "had no interest in boarding one of about 100 buses assembled to carry passengers to hotels in New Orleans or Texas. Her husband Seth drove in from Houston and they checked into a downtown Mobile hotel. 'I want a hot shower and a daggum Whataburger,' said Knight, who was wearing a bathrobe over her clothes as her bags were unloaded from her husband's pickup truck. She said she was afraid to eat the food on board and had gotten sick while on the ship."

After finally getting off the Carnival cruise ship Triumph, this passenger waited for a ride early Friday in Mobile, Ala. Mark Wallheiser/EPA /LANDOV hide caption

After finally getting off the Carnival cruise ship Triumph, this passenger waited for a ride early Friday in Mobile, Ala.

The wire service adds that another passenger, Maria Hernandez of Angleton, Texas, had "tears welling in her eyes as she talked about waking up to smoke in her lower-level room Sunday and the days of heat and stench to follow. She was on a 'girls trip' with friends."

" 'It was horrible, just horrible' said Hernandez. ... She said the group hauled mattresses to upper-level decks to escape the heat. As she pulled her luggage into the hotel, a flashlight around her neck, she managed a smile and even a giggle when asked to show her red 'poo-poo bag' — distributed by the cruise line for collecting human waste."

NBC News says that "passenger Janie Baker told MSNBC's Ed Schultz that people managed the situation well and that the crew was 'fantastic,' but on the final night, 'people's tempers started flying.' She described one incident where another passenger tried to disrupt a movie, and was taken away by the crew. 'If we had gone any longer, it could have been much, much worse,' she said."

On Morning Edition , NPR's Greg Allen reported about the $80 million the debacle is expected to cost Carnival and the blow suffered to the cruise industry's image. As for the passengers, he said, they're now getting "a full refund, credit for a future cruise plus $500 in cash."

Reuters add that "for all the passengers' grievances, they will likely find it difficult to sue the cruise operator for any damages, legal analysts said. Over the years, the cruise industry has put in place a legal structure that shields operators from big-money lawsuits."

Update at 9:45 a.m. ET. And On The Ride To New Orleans, At Least One Bus Broke Down:

CBS News reports that among the "caravan of buses" that Carnival chartered to take passengers to New Orleans, "at least one ... became stranded on the way."

• Carnival cruise ship
• cruise from hell

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Feces, water reported on floor of disabled Carnival cruise ship in Gulf of Mexico

Food, supplies transferred to stranded cruise ship

Coast Guard on mission to get disabled boat back to U.S.

Conditions appear to be worsening on the Carnival cruise that has been floating aimlessly about 150 miles off the Yucatan Peninsula after a fire erupted in the aft engine room Sunday, knocking out the ship’s propulsion system.

"There's water and feces all over the floor," said Brent Nutt, who was told about the conditions by his wife who is a passenger on board. "It's not the best conditions. You would think Carnival would have something in place to get these people off the ship."

Passengers also are getting sick and throwing up, he said, adding that his wife told him: "The whole boat stinks extremely bad."

To be sure, passengers aboard a cruise vessel stranded in the Gulf of Mexico have limited access to bathrooms, food and hot coffee, and were just given a new destination: Mobile, Ala.

Carnival Cruise Lines President and CEO Gerry Cahill said in a statement Monday that the Carnival Triumph had drifted so far north of its original position that it will be towed to the southern U.S. port, instead of the original plan to take it to Progreso, Mexico.

More On This...

Jimmy Mowlam told The Associated Press on Tuesday that his son Rob and new daughter-in-law got married onboard the Carnival Triumph on Saturday and are among the roughly 3,100 stranded passengers.

He says his son told him by phone Monday night that many passengers are sleeping on deck because the lack of ventilation made it too hot to sleep inside.

He says his son says passengers were mostly "taking it in stride."

Cahill said strong Gulf currents caused the Triumph to drift about 90 miles north of its original position off the Yucatan Peninsula.

Cahill's statement said the ship should arrive in Mobile on Thursday and that the change will allow for less complicated re-entry for passengers without passports.

The ship left Texas last Thursday on a scheduled four-day cruise with 3,143 passengers and a crew of 1,086.

Two tugboats arrived on the scene of the stranded vessel Tuesday to tow it to Mobile. Besides the two tugs, at least two other Carnival cruise ships have been diverted to the Triumph to leave supplies, and a Coast Guard cutter reportedly was at the scene. The Coast Guard has informed Mexican authorities of the situation in their waters, a spokesman said.

Melinda Ramos, meanwhile, said her father was laughing when she briefly spoke to him Sunday.

"He might be completely joking, but he said they're sleeping in tents outside," the 19-year-old daughter of Mary and Matt Ramos told The Houston Chronicle.

A similar situation occurred on a Carnival cruise ship in November 2010. That vessel was also stranded for three days with 4,500 people aboard after a fire in the engine room. When the passengers disembarked in San Diego they described a nightmarish three days in the Pacific with limited food, power and bathroom access.

Carnival said in a statement that it had cancelled the Triumph's next two voyages scheduled to depart Monday and Saturday. Passengers aboard the stranded ship will also receive a full refund, the statement said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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How do Cruise Ships Get Rid of Human Waste (the Poop)

Have you ever wondered what happens to human waste on a cruise ship?

Or perhaps been asked by a youngster, “where does poop go on a ship”?

Whatever your age, it’s a question many people wonder about.

Is it just dumped in the ocean, and would that be bad for the environment?

Or is it treated and disposed of responsibly?  

With more and more cruise ships being built and seemingly getting ever larger it is certainly a question worth looking into because the amount of raw sewage produced equates to thousands of tonnes a year.

Some of the modern-day mega-cruise ships, including the largest Royal Caribbean cruise ships, can carry well over 6000 passengers and have over 2000 crew members on board.  The Royal Caribbean Icon class cruise ships will be even larger.

Do Cruise Ship Toilets Drain Into The Ocean?

To prevent pollution of our marine environments, an IMO convention known as Marpol prohibits cruise ships from dumping or draining toilet water into the oceans.

Marpol Annex IV states:

“ the discharge of sewage into the sea is prohibited, except when the ship has in operation an approved sewage treatment plant or when the ship is discharging comminuted and disinfected sewage using an approved system at a distance of more than three nautical miles from the nearest land; sewage which is not comminuted or disinfected has to be discharged at a distance of more than 12 nautical miles from the nearest land. “ Source: imo.org

Where Does Waste Water On A Cruise Ship Go?

Wastewater on cruise ships is separated into two categories on a cruise ship gray water and black water.   Toilet water is classed as black water and is treated onboard the ship.  Only when the water is deemed safe is it released into the oceans according to specific guidelines. 

On a cruise ship, these types of wastewater can be collected and stored in ballast tanks before both being treated separately onboard the ship, as we have outlined below.

Gray water is wastewater from

Although gray water doesn’t contain the harmful bacteria that black water does, it does contain a broader range of chemicals.  Think of the laundry detergents, shower gels, shampoos, and sun lotions that people wash off their bodies. 

This is one reason it is not mixed in with the black water because all these different chemicals could negatively affect the early treatment processes using live bacteria, which could be destroyed by unknown contaminants.

Gray water is filtered and discharged in permitted areas away from coastlines.

Sometimes the gray water is added to the final treatment stage of the blackwater when it is chlorinated. 

However, it should be borne in mind that gray water is known to contain large amounts of microplastics, originating in particular from large of amounts of laundry, all the bedding, for instance.

What Do Cruise Ships Do With Sewage?

Cruise ships treat raw sewage, otherwise known as black water, within a sewage plant in the engine rooms. It goes through a process of filtration, aeration, settlement, and sterilization before being safely released back in permitted sea areas.

Black Water

Black water is raw sewage discharge that contains or may have come into contact with some forms of solids (including poop).  It’s mostly water from toilets .

This includes:

• Feces (poop)
• Toilet paper

Black water is dangerous because it contains harmful bacteria and viruses.  It is also toxic due to the chemicals added to toilets and any holding tanks it is stored in.

If just released or dumped into the sea it will be environmentally harmful to marine life and also humans if it washes up upon coastlines.

What Do Cruise Ships Do With Black Water?

Both types of wastewater can be stored separately in ballast tanks in the bottom of the cruise ship’s hull.  

Ballast tanks are used to help support a cruise ship and lower its center of gravity as well as being used for wastewater, they can be used to keep a ship upright in rough seas and are one means to prevent a cruise ship tipping over too far to one side.

Cruise ships have their own sewage works systems down in the engine room areas.

This is where all the collected black water is sent to be filtered and treated so it’s safe and could in theory, be reused.   Much the same as sewage plants work on the land.

It is a 4 step process:

• Screen filtered into a sedimentation chamber (to remove any extra-large objects)
• Aeration – where it’s broken down by aerobic bacteria
• Settlement chamber – where sewage and water separates
• Sterilization – Water is chlorinated and sterilized 

You can see an illustration of the process in the video below:

Although the raw sewage is fully treated onboard and results in clean potable water (drinkable), the water itself is not reused onboard.  It is stored and later discharged in permitted locations.

Any leftover residues will eventually be safely disposed of ashore.  

There are adequate suppliers of fresh water on a cruise ship when it disembarks to last the entire journey and more.  

Carnival “Poop Cruise”

In 2013, a fire broke out in the engine room of Carnival Triumph (renamed Carnival Sunrise).  Although the fire was extinguished, the events that unfolded led to the event being dubbed the now infamous “ Poop Cruise .”

The fire was quickly extinguished by automatic fire prevention systems in place.  However, the event caused a loss of power, and the ship lost propulsion, so the ship was not moving.

Initially, passengers were relieved to be told the fire had been extinguished, and the crew was working in the engine room.

However, passengers soon realized the toilets were not flushing, which is a huge problem on a ship with about 4000+ people onboard.

The solution was to give passengers red plastic bags in which to poop and then leave in the corridors.  

People who needed to urinate were told to pee in the showers.  However, with the cruise ship’s stabilizers not working due to lack of power, the ship rocks from side to side.   This resulted in the sewage overflowing from the showers onto the deck floors.

The whole event lasted five days and was subject to 24/7 news coverage.

Subsequently, this led to Carnival installing backup generator systems on all cruise ships in the fleet in an effort to prevent a disaster like this from ever occurring again on a cruise ship.

Further Reading:

• Why Is a Poop Deck Called a Poop Deck? (True Meaning)
• What do Cruise Ships do with Food Waste? (Is it dumped in the ocean?)
• Do Cruise Ships Dump Trash in the Ocean? (What do they do with the garbage waste?)

Frequently Asked Questions

Do cruise ships dump poop in the ocean.

Cruise ships are prohibited from dumping untreated sewage or “poop” into the ocean. Cruise ships are equipped with advanced sewage treatment systems that process black wastewater before it is discharged.

Is The Filtered Water On A Cruise Ship Recycled From Toilet Water?

Filtered water on a cruise ship is not recycled toilet water, or any other water from the ship.  Toilet water is filtered and processed as black water.  Once treated, it is released into the ocean in permitted locations only.

Where Does Toilet Water go on a Cruise?

Toilet water is treated as black water on a cruise ship.  It is initially stored in a ballast tank before being treated via an onboard sewage plant in the ship’s engine room.  Once the water is deemed safe, it is released into permitted ocean areas.

Related Posts

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How Many Doors on a Cruise Ship? (Yes, I Counted)

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Earlier Outbreaks on Cruise Ships in VSP's Jurisdiction

At a glance.

Learn more about outbreaks of gastrointestinal (GI) illness on cruise ships from 2019 through 2023 in the Vessel Sanitation Program's (VSP) jurisdiction.

Earlier outbreaks (2023)

Earlier outbreaks (2019-2022), about outbreak reporting.

We post outbreaks when they meet all the following criteria:

• Ship is under VSP jurisdiction (on voyages including both U.S. and foreign ports)
• Ship carries 100 or more passengers
• Voyage is 3-21 days long
• Voyage has 3% or more of passengers or crew reporting symptoms of GI illness to the ship's medical staff

We may also post information on outbreaks of public health significance that do not necessarily meet the above criteria.

Notes about the data

GI illness is a commonly used term for acute gastroenteritis (AGE).

Cruise ships report cases that meet our case definition for AGE. We define a reportable case of AGE as:

• Three or more loose stools within a 24-hour period or what is more than normal for that person OR
• Vomiting along with one of the following symptoms: diarrhea, muscle ache, headache, abdominal cramp, or fever.

What case totals mean‎

Learn how passengers can protect themselves with these tips for healthy cruising .

Find more information on

• VSP outbreak response
• Recent outbreaks
• Archived outbreaks (1993–2018)

Read our publication on cruise ship GI outbreaks during 2006-2019.

The Vessel Sanitation Program helps the cruise ship industry prevent and control the introduction and spread of gastrointestinal illnesses on cruise ships.

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Public health.

Carnival Cruise Line shares a big smoking rule decision

Smoking has become less popular in the U.S., but it has not fallen fully out of favor.

That creates a challenge for cruise lines, as they must accommodate smokers while also taking into account the health and safety of nonsmoking passengers.

Cruise ships are not bound by U.S. laws that prohibit smoking indoors in every place except in select casinos. In addition, cruise passengers can't simply leave the ship to smoke, and they most certainly can't smoke in their cabins.

Related: Carnival brings back a controversial fan favorite activity

So if the cruise lines want to attract smokers to sail on their ships, they must designate smoking areas. Carnival Cruise Line ( CCL ) ships, much like rival Royal Caribbean's ships, designate multiple smoking areas.

Both cruise lines also allow smoking in part of their casinos while also having designated outdoor smoking areas on the pool deck. Smokers generally want more smoking areas while nonsmokers, especially casino players, don't like being exposed to secondhand smoke.

It's challenging for both companies as they want to keep all their passengers happy. In the case of the casino, the answer has been dictated by money. Royal Caribbean has tested banning smoking in its casino multiple times, and it results in lower revenue, so the decision to allow smoking in parts of the casino is clear.

Where to allow smoking outdoors, however, is a bigger question, and Carnival's brand ambassador, John Heald, recently weighed in on the controversial topic.

Carnival says no to smokers

Carnival has an area on its ships called the Serenity Decks. These are adults-only areas that vary by ship, but they generally have hot tubs, a pool, a bar and plenty of seating for people to enjoy the outdoors away from children,

"Look, you'll still be on the same ship as the kids, the hoopla, and all the Carnival-style excitement ... but you could easily forget because when you’re at Serenity you could not be further from it all," the cruise line says on its website. 

"The world you'll find yourself in is one of complete peace, sea breezes, and, of course, a nearby bar. It's the place to get done the kind of stuff you just can't seem to do anywhere else — reconnect with your partner, finish that book, or do absolutely, blissfully, nothing at all."

More Cruising:

• Royal Caribbean fixes a problem that's unique to big ships
• Carnival Cruise Line fixes a passenger payment problem
• Carnival Cruise Line shares controversial onboard dining policy

Currently, you can do a lot of things on the Serenity decks, but you can't smoke. That's something Heald addressed on his Facebook page.

"One thing I will not be able to help with are the changes people requested for the gorgeous Serenity Decks we have on our ships," he said. "Firstly a request to make one side a smoking section. 'P' said 'we live in a free society, and if Carnival’s smokers want to smoke, then that is their right and that includes on Serenity Deck.'” 

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Heald made clear that that was not going to happen.

"Well, we do indeed live in a free society but we also live in a more non-smoking world than ever before. So while we will continue to provide outdoor smoking areas for as long as possible we will not be allowing smoking on Serenity Deck," he added.

Carnival passengers share their smoking thoughts

Where people can smoke on a cruise ship is a contentious issue, but it's not a simple one, where all smokers want more smoking areas.

"Good morning! I am a smoker but I totally agree with no smoking on the Serenity Deck because just because I smoke not everyone else does. I respect that," posted Angel Goins. 

That's not an uncommon feeling even among smokers.

"Thank you for keeping the serenity deck smoke-free. I’m a smoker and find the smoking areas to be quiet, kid-free, and relaxing," Tessa Jones added.

Other smokers would like to see the current rules modified.

"Vaping should be allowed on Serenity and more outside areas. There is no fire, hazardous smoke, or ash," Jeff Henderson wrote. 

ALSO READ: Carnival brings back a controversial fan-favorite activity

Many nonsmokers shared their appreciation for Carnival limiting where passengers can smoke.

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"People who smoke, unfortunately, do have a right to kill themselves. That being said, they DO NOT have the right to take us with them. That's why I appreciate Carnival keeping them away from me," posted Frances Storey.