Latest news with #PoopCruise
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Netflix's Poop Cruise chef disgusts viewers with worst phrase ever to describe carnage on board
Viewers of Netflix 's 'Poop Cruise' reacted with horror as a chef onboard the stranded ship described the clogged toilets on the doomed liner. The revolting documentary had audiences hooked as it covered the disastrous February 2013 voyage of the Carnival Triumph, which experienced an electrical fire on day four that knocked out all power, leading to the vessel being stuck out at sea for five days. What was supposed to be a pleasant four-day trip throughout the Gulf of Mexico quickly turned into a nightmare as the ship was plunged into darkness and toilets and air conditioning stopped working. The crew begged all 4,000 passengers to use red biohazard bags when they had to go number two and pee in the showers so the urine would drain away, but as multiple witnesses attested, many just continued to defecate down unflushable toilets. Fittingly, Abhi, a chef unlucky enough to be working on the Triumph, used a food analogy to paint a picture of what the toilets looked like. 'People were pooping on top of toilet paper, then pooping on top of that. It was layer after layer after layer. It was like a lasagna,' he said. At the end of the documentary, Abhi said he's 'never looked at lasagna the same way'. It's safe to say that Abhi's dreadfully vivid description has turned others off from the classic Italian dish as well. Most people were repulsed by the chef's unfortunately vivid description of the bathrooms 'Thanks for ruining lasagna for me, @netflix,' one person wrote on X. 'My friend was like 'tell me when you get to the lasagna part' and I didn't know what she meant but now I do,' another said. Others could not hold back their revulsion, with one woman writing: 'I'm finna throw up. This man said it was so much s**t and toilet paper in the damn toilets it was like a lasagna.' Others still found Abhi's description hilarious, even impressive. 'The chef has stolen the show,' one wrote, while another said, '2025 has a new Goat [Greatest of All Time].' The documentary was released on Tuesday as an episode in the running Netflix series 'Trainwreck,' which has looked at several different disasters. Past episodes covered the crowd crush at Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival and Woodstock '99, a music festival in upstate New York tainted by sexual violence and inadequate sanitation. Viewers of the 'Poop Cruise' episode were particularly horrified at how quickly social order broke down once it became clear the ship wasn't going anywhere. Passengers on the ship told the show that people were hurling bags of feces, having sex out on the pool deck, and hoarding food once supplies began to run low. Makeshift tent cities sprang up because there was no air conditioning in the ship. People dragged their mattresses out to the top and used their sheets to create shade for themselves. This mad dash led to fights over space on the deck. 'Watching the 'poop cruise' documentary makes me realize how much I don't like people,' one person wrote. Viewers were also irked by the 'privileged' behavior of some passengers. A trio of women on a bachelorette party for their friend, Ashley, drew the wrath of many of those watching as they seemed more interested in getting drunk and continuing their celebrations even as anarchy washed over the entire ship. '(They) HAVE to know how absolutely annoying and obnoxious they look in this documentary. Don't care about anything else besides getting a Margarita,' one person wrote. 'Tweedle dee. Tweedle dumb. And tweedle dumber.' One person compared the frenzied actions of the passengers to how Fyre Festival attendees responded when they found out the event was a complete fraud. 'I'm a bit embarrassed to say I enjoyed the same righteous indignation watching the #poopcruise as I did watching the #FyreFestival debacle,' someone said. 'Watching entitled, not-too-smart people go off the rails when there is no danger, but merely discomfort, is a #guiltypleasure.' Toilets onboard the ship began to fill up with feces as sewage spilled into rooms and hallways. Sheets tried to soak it up When it came to the crew's request for people to poop in bags, viewers were outraged that some passengers felt they were above doing that, which included Devin Marble (pictured) People reacted with frustration at the perceived privilege of many of the passengers interviewed for the documentary When it came to the crew's request for people to poop in bags, viewers were outraged that some passengers felt they were above doing that. This, of course, led to toilets overflowing onto the decks and creating a stench so horrific that people reported being unable to stand being in the interior of the ship. Devin Marble, who was on the ship with his newly-minted fiancé and his soon-to-be-in-laws, was one passenger who absolutely refused to use the bags provided. He instead found a lone bathroom that was able to flush when the ship tilted. 'This carnival poop cruise documentary is mostly a display of how f***ing privileged most people are. "I'm not pooping in a baaaag." I hate these people,' one person wrote. 'Watched the poop cruise doco on Netflix and they're all the most obnoxious annoying people you could possibly imagine,' another person wrote. 'Stoked they all got stuck on a s**t boat s****ing in bags and covered in s**t. Insufferable humans.' 'Omg these 'poop cruise' people y'all are the most spoiled people I have ever met acting like being stranded for 4 days was the end of the world knowing u would be saved eventually,' a third person said. Passengers made help signs, drew on robes and bedsheets to document the disaster. Food started to run out onboard and people were left eating grim-looking meals like this bread with mustard and slivers of ham Help finally arrived for them on Valentine's Day - February 14, 2013. Tug boats ushered the floundering ship for the Gulf to a nearby port in Mobile, Alabama, miles away from the cruise's original docking point. In a statement to Daily Mail 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) protocols that guide the entire Carnival Corporation fleet as we maintain our commitment to industry leadership in this area. 'We are 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. 'Carnival Triumph, like two other ships in the same class, was renamed after a $200 million bow-to-stern transformation.
Extra.ie
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Poop Cruise makes 'Number 1' in TV ratings
If you're looking for something new to binge watch on TV this weekend, and if you have a strong stomach, then you might just enjoy the latest offering from Netflix about the Cruise Holiday gone wrong, better known as the 'Poop Cruise'. Luxury Cruise holidays have grown in popularity over the past decade or so, with thousands upon thousands of us choosing to sail around the Mediterranean, the Bahamas or the Scandinavian Fjords, to name just a few of the destinations on offer every year. Netflix timed it well with the release of this latest holiday horror for the senses documentary entitled 'Trainwreck – Poop Cruise' which shows graphic footage of the aftermath of a fire onboard the Carnival Triumph Luxury Liner in 2013. Pic: Courtesy of Netflix © 2025 The new documentary – and the clue is in the name, looks back on the really 'crap' time thousands of holidaymakers had on board the luxurious vessel, and memories of that infamous time are still burned into the minds of the unfortunate passengers and crew who found themselves trapped on board, with no toilets, for five long days. After the 14-storey ship lost its electricity as a result of a freak accidental fire in the engine room, passengers were no longer able to flush the toilets, and the situation quickly turned desperate and very unsanitary for the 4,000 people who were trapped onboard the ship in the Gulf of Mexico for almost a week. The journey was supposed to be a four-day pleasure cruise from Galveston in Texas to Cozumel in Mexico, but the blaze, which was contained to the engine room of the enormous vessel, turned out to have huge repercussions for the whole ship. GULF OF MEXICO – FEBRUARY 11: In this handout from the U.S. Coast Guard, A member of the GCG Vigorous watches as the cruise ship Carnival Triumph sits idle February 11, 2013 in the Gulf of Mexico. According to the Coast Guard, the ship lost propulsion power February 10, after a fire broke out in the engine room. (Photo by Paul McConnell/U.S. Coast Guard via Getty Images) The flames destroyed cables supplying the whole luxury liner with electricity and resulting in no power, lighting, refrigeration, or air-conditioning, but even worse than all of those, no way to flush the toilets. Passengers interviewed for the documentary told tales of the entire ship stinking of urine and worse, and of being initially being told by crew that they could do a 'number 1' in the showers, passengers were then instructed to collect red plastic 'Poo Bags' from the crew, and after use, these bags which would then be disposed of in bins on board the vessel. There were stories of queuing up for cold sandwiches, and of food running out, of people making up makeshift beds on the ships deck because the heat in the cabins was unbearable with no air-con and flooded floors, and tensions running high among passengers. Kalin, Ashley and Jayme in Trainwreck: Poop Cruise. Pic: Netflix © 2025 Along with interviews with passengers, and crew members who were on board, the hour-long Netflix special also features camera footage from holidaymakers, showing hallways and cabins destroyed with fecal matter and urine. With no power, the ship was drifting aimlessly in the Gulf of Mexico for days before finally being towed to Mobile in Alabama where the passengers eventually disembarked. Carnival Cruise Lines is believed to have reimbursed everyone for their ruined vacations. The company is also thought to have spent more than $500 million dollars to implement a range of new measures across their entire fleet of ships, dealing with everything from fire prevention to enhanced management systems on board their luxury vessels. The documentary is streaming now on Netflix.
USA Today
2 days ago
- USA Today
The 'Poop Cruise', explained
More than a decade after it set sail, one of the most infamous pre-Covid cruises is back in the news thanks to a Netflix documentary. Trainwreck: Poop Cruise splashed onto the streaming service this week, featuring passenger footage that takes viewers onto the ill-fated 2013 voyage of the Carnival Triumph. If the entire story has slipped your mind, or you weren't aware of it to begin with, have no fear. We're here to catch you up on the admittedly unsavory affair. No nose plugs required. So, what's up with the 2013 Carnival Triumph 'Poop Cruise'? In February 2013, the Carnival Triumph departed Galveston, Texas with 4,229 passengers and crew members headed on a four-day trip to Cozumel, Mexico and back. On Day 3 of the voyage, as the ship made it's way across the Gulf of Mexico and back to Texas, a fire in the engine room saw the vessel lose power without sufficient back-up. The fire didn't injure anyone, but the consequences were felt immediately. Per Hundreds of miles away in the Gulf of Mexico, what began as a dream voyage to a Mexican paradise had turned into a nightmare. The Carnival Triumph, stranded after an engine fire on February 10, was adrift without power, air conditioning, or functioning toilets. Passengers used blankets to shield themselves from the sun while seeking refuge on the open deck. Food ran scarce as passengers told stories about eating tomato-and-onion sandwiches. OK, but why was it dubbed the 'Poop Cruise' instead of the 'Fire Cruise'? There's no delicate way to put this, so we'll just state it plainly. The malfunctioning toilet and plumbing situation caused sewage to flood areas of the ship and left everyone aboard with only one option to go No. 2: They had to defecate into red biohazard bags. How long did the 'Poop Cruise' last? Before you think, "no way am I using a bag, I'll just hold it," consider the ship was dead in the water for four days — three days longer than the trip was scheduled for. The ship initially planned to get towed to port in Mexico, but the current pushed it much further north. Eventually, making port in Mobile, Alabama became the best option — despite the fact it's terminal hadn't been used by a cruise ship in two years. Multiple tug boats were required to tow the boat back to shore and passengers were finally able to get off. What happened to the passengers after the cruise? Most passengers were loaded onto coach busses for transport to New Orleans or Galveston, where Carnival had arranged further accommodations. Then the company got to work on making things right for their guests. Here's what Carnival formally announced at the time: All guests on the Feb. 7 Carnival Triumph voyage will receive a full refund of the cruise and transportation expenses, a future cruise credit equal to the amount paid for the voyage, reimbursement of all shipboard purchases made during the voyage, with the exception of casino, gift shop and artwork purchases, and further compensation of $500 per person. Carnival has also canceled 14 voyages of the Carnival Triumph through April 13, 2013. Guests on the affected sailings will receive a full refund of their cruise fare, as well as non-refundable transportation costs, pre-paid shore excursions, gratuities, and government fees and taxes. Guests will also receive a 25 percent discount on a future three- to five-day Carnival cruise or a 15 percent discount on a six- to seven-day cruise. Travel agent commissions will be protected. Sadly, this is not where our story ends. What happened to the Carnival Triumph after the 'Poop Cruise'? The vessel remained in Mobile, but was transferred from the cruise terminal to a local shipyard for assessment and repairs. This proved incredibly difficult and, ultimateIy tragic. More, from On April 3, with wind gusts reaching 66 mph, the ship broke its moorings at BAE Systems, where it had been docked for initial repairs. The nearly 900-foot cruise ship then floated uncontrolled across the river toward Mobile where it slammed into a pier and sent two shipyard workers plunging into the river. One of those workers, John R. 'Buster' Johnson, died from the incident. The Triumph then floated across the river and into the side of a marine vessel owned by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which was being repaired at Signal Ship Repair. The incident left visible damage to the Triumph's right stern. The trouble didn't end there, because not long after the April 3 incident, a nearby fuel barge explosion forced workers to evacuate the ship. Finally, 82 days after docking in Alabama, the ship sailed to the Bahamas for final repairs so it could be put back into service. Wait, the Poop Cruise boat is still in service!? Oh, you bet it is. The ship has since undergone $200 million in renovations and was renamed the Carnival Sunrise in 2019. It now sails out of Miami.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Inside the revolting story of the infamous ‘poop cruise': ‘Complete media bloodbath'
Elevator pitches don't get much more captivating, and possibly revolting, than 'poop cruise' – a modern day Gilligan's Island tale that's almost too good to be true. For those who may have missed the headlines in 2013: a two-day transit from Galveston, Texas, to Cozumel, Mexico turned disastrous when an engine room fire struck the Carnival Triumph and stranded its 4,100-odd passengers and crew in the Gulf of Mexico. The fire devastated the Triumph's electrical nerve center and crippled the auxiliary systems aboard the ship, from the wifi to the toilets – which literally backed up into cabins and spilled into the hallways. After three days adrift, the Triumph was towed to Mobile, Alabama – but not before the limits of socially conditioned behavior approached a breaking point. Related: Poop Cruise review – a fascinating look at a toilet disaster that still haunts passengers 12 years later To widespread relief, however, the saga ended with passengers kissing the ground and laughing off the calamity as they disembarked – and the stricken Carnival cruise went from a potential Titanic epilogue unfolding in real time to the ultimate shaggy dog story. 'When you hear 'Poop Cruise', you think '… OK'', says Bafta-nominated director James Ross. 'But actually there's a lot more layers and twists and turns to the story.' His latest film, Trainwreck: Poop Cruise, follows recent documentaries in Netflix's Trainwreck series on the fall of Toronto mayor Rob Ford and the Astroworld festival tragedy. Poop Cruise doesn't just dive head-first into the graphic details; it deftly walks the line between the serious and the side-splitting while reconstructing the epic yarn in 360 degrees. Right away, we're introduced to a cross-section of Triumph cruise survivors: the bachelorette party looking to blow off steam, the nervous fiance traveling with his future father-in-law for the first time, the divorced dad who just wanted to have a nice vacation with his 13-year-old daughter. Their passive experience aboard the cruise – the bachelorette party ominously skipped the safety briefing upon boarding the ship and headed straight for the bar – is juxtaposed with perspectives from the cruise director, bartender and other non-Americans on the crew pulling 70-hour work weeks to keep the good times rolling. (Think Upstairs, Downstairs on the high seas, with bed-hopping above and below deck.) 'It's hedonism,' says Ross. 'There's this huge extreme of people on one end who are there just to really enjoy themselves and the crew who are there to facilitate that. But it was also important to show that this terrible scenario didn't just happen to the passengers; the crew were in it as well.' Poop Cruise cleverly puts viewers back onboard the Triumph, setting its expert witnesses inside kitschy dining halls, bars and other backdrops that suggest locations on the actual ship. At one point during the interview with the nervous bachelor, Devin Marble, the lights flicker out – a fortuitous and poetic echo of real life, as it happens. 'We were shooting in an arcade shop in a mall in Houston, and there was a power cut midway through,' says Ross. Poop Cruise also features one of the better applications of scene re-enactments in a documentary, especially when it comes to reconstructing anecdotes. (One memorable scene takes shape as one member of the bachelorette party recalls her disco-like endeavor to use a blacked-out cabin bathroom with a flashing beacon between her teeth.) Ross says he wanted the re-enactments to 'not feel too real' but also signal to viewers that 'you're in this kind of hyper real place, because the real footage is the star of the show'. Ross had his pick from hundreds of hours of passenger-generated footage, each adding to this mosaic of civilizational collapse in miniature. Passengers go from cannonballing into the pool and hoofing around the disco to creating tent cities on deck and contemplating how long they can hold off on going No 2 before they have to break down and defecate in a crew-issued hazmat bag. Finding the footage of those critical story beats, says Ross, was just a matter of tracking down insiders such as Marble (whose vlogs became a critical window into the crisis) and sorting through the trove of video and photo evidence that was submitted for the disaster investigation. Ultimately, the fire was blamed on a fuel leak – a preventable failure that Carnival knowingly sailed right past. Poop Cruise could have easily gone sideways again trying to shoehorn such a wide-ranging story into a tight 45 minutes. But it benefits from natural time constraints (five days) and legitimately earned twists that raise the stakes from scene to scene. A major inflection point sneaks up when the Triumph, which has drifted out of range for a Mexican rescue, crosses paths with a sister Carnival cruise liner – the Legend (which diverted its course to help). Triumph passengers go from thinking they're saved to realizing there's no way all 3,143 of them can be transferred over to the other ship safely. (The Triumph crew does manage to grab critical supplies from the Legend, and one passenger who required medical attention makes it across.) Worse, the passengers aboard the Legend shrug off the Triumph's plight, gawking at the destitute ship as if it were a breaching humpback before resuming the good time that Triumph passengers had themselves signed up for. But when Triumph passengers realize they can 'steal' the Legend's working wifi, they throng to the deck with phones in hand and reach out to their loved ones. Shockingly, it was through those mayday calls that the world learned that Triumph was in crisis. Up to that point, Carnival corporate's PR strategy was to relate as few details about the fire as possible – a scheme that kept the media uninterested at first. ('You give them what you believe they need,' says company spin doctor Buck Banks, 'and no more than that.') But once those Triumph distress calls started cropping up on Twitter and elsewhere online, Carnival was forced to reckon with a 'complete media bloodbath', says Banks. CNN was one notable outlet that struggled to justify covering the Triumph fire story over Barack Obama's State of the Union, Pope Benedict's abdication, saber rattling in Pyongyang and other pressing news. But once the fuller picture of the situation aboard the ship came into focus, the network – which had just been placed under the management of former NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker – went all-in on the story, and competitors swiftly followed their lead. Once the ship was under tow and within striking distance of shore, there was a mad scramble to intercept it in the air and go live with the first images of the deterioration. For many aboard the ship, that media onslaught was their first indication that their very own 'three-hour tour' from hell was in fact drawing to a close. Of course there will be some who might not have the stomach for Poop Cruise. Besides holding the potential for inducing claustrophobia, it traffics – by necessity – in the scatological. (One of the cooks aboard the ship likened the desperate scene he found inside a god-forsaken lavatory to a 'poop lasagna'.) But the thing most likely to turn off viewers is that Carnival didn't really face any serious repercussions from the poop cruise. (In general, cruise passengers give up their right to sue when they purchase a ticket.) After a $115m clean-up effort, the Triumph was relaunched under a new name: the Sunrise. Buyer beware. The average person would never think to book a cruise again after surviving such an ordeal. But Poop Cruise is more than a deep rewind on 12-year-old clickbait. It's a rollicking allegory for the precariousness of our modern world and the resiliency of the human spirit. 'People were saying this was the best cruise they'd ever been on, I think because the crew worked so hard,' says Ross, who seized on the opportunity to make a different sort of documentary. 'This was an opportunity not to tell a kind of dark sad story about a crime or whatever, but to do something where in the end nobody died. Yes, it was a terrible experience, and people learned from it. But it was also one of those 'holy fuck' stories.' Trainwreck: Poop Cruise is available now on Netflix
Scottish Sun
3 days ago
- Scottish Sun
Tourists defecated in BINS to dodge ‘poo lasagnes' in toilets & floors squelched with wee aboard infamous ‘Poop Cruise'
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) IT should have been the trip of a lifetime... instead it turned into the ultimate holiday from hell. Passengers went from sipping cocktails on deck and enjoying sumptuous dinners to wading through pools of raw sewage and sleeping in a makeshift tent city outside after a catastrophic power failure left the Carnival Triumph cruise liner floating adrift - with no flushing toilets. 20 Passengers aboard the Carnival Triumph slept in makeshift tents on board when a power failure left it floating adrift with no flushing toilets in 2013 Credit: © 2025 Netflix, Inc. 20 Desperate holidaymakers were forced to defecate in bins or 'poop sacks' provided by staff - which many complained were too small Credit: AP 20 The ship drifted in the Gulf of Mexico for four days Credit: AP:Associated Press 20 The stench and heat from a lack of working air con became so unbearable that people decamped to the decks Credit: AP:Associated Press In the ultimate final degradation, holidaymakers were even asked to defecate in red plastic bags instead of using the over-flowing loos. It was a huge PR disaster for the luxury Carnival cruise line and led to the ship being known around the world as the 'Poop Cruise'. Passenger Devin Marble tells The Sun none of the passengers were prepared for the horrifying announcement that the toilets were going to stop working. "That was some rough news for sure," he recalls. "And no-one expected the red bags at all. They were adult-sized poopy bags - and those bags aren't very big.' The 13 storey, 9,000ft long luxury liner embarked on a four day trip out of New Orleans throughout the Gulf of Mexico in February 2013. For Devin it was the first time meeting his then wife-to-be's extended family and he wanted to make a good impression. 'It was really important to me to make a good impression on my father-in-law,' he explains. 'I wanted to be the man who can provide, and he feels confident in me, we had just got engaged. I met her uncles, nephews, nieces and all the cousins. I just hoped everyone like me. 'When we landed at the first stop, we had a lot of fun. We went snorkelling, ate some delicious food, and that would have been really awesome to keep replicating for the next three days. "Enjoy each other's time and have great experiences together.' What happened on the Carnival Triumph 'poop cruise'- Netflix Trainwreck documentary explained- But a day later an electrical fire broke out in the middle of the night and turned the entire trip into a horror movie. At first passengers were panic-stricken thinking the ship was going down. Devin says: 'You know, smoke was probably a big indicator. Hearing 'Alpha Team, Alpha Team' waking you up out of a dead sleep, then the lights are out. "We got out of bed and my brother-in-law and I went looking to see where the smoke was coming from. "Our biggest concern was 'Is this a cruise line or is this the Titanic? What is the problem here?'' The crew soon reassured the passengers that the fire was contained and the ship was seaworthy. 'We certainly thought that they must have more than one engine,' says Devin. 'They described it as the door being shut and it is contained. So we thought they will put the fire out, we are going to be slower with one engine, but we are going to be punting along, but that did not happen.' Foul stench 20 Passengers complained the cafeteria floors were swimming in urine and faeces Credit: SWNS 20 Devin Marble was on board and tells how he walked around barefoot and felt the carpets 'squelch' Credit: © 2025 Netflix, Inc. 20 Some passengers continued to use the over-flowing toilets and even did their number twos in waste bins, leading to the entire ship smelling of faeces Credit: AFP 20 Crew member Abhi describes seeing what he described as a poop 'lasagne' in a bathroom Credit: © 2025 Netflix, Inc. Nobody was prepared for what happened next. The loss of power had left 4,000 passengers and crew with no refrigeration, air conditioning or sanitation. The giant cruise liner was effectively dead in the water and drifted powerlessly for four days in the Gulf of Mexico. As the toilets stopped working, it was left to straight-talking British cruise director Jen Baxter to break the news to passengers to do 'number ones' in the showers and 'number twos' in the red plastic bio-hazard bags. But some continued to use the over-flowing toilets and even did their number twos in waste bins, leading to the entire ship smelling of faeces. Our biggest concern was 'Is this a cruise line or is this the Titanic? What is the problem here?' Devin Marble The sewage system soon became overwhelmed and began leaking the excrement of thousands of people onto the floors and hallways. Devin recalls: 'It wasn't long at all before we started to smell stuff. "Everyday I would go out looking for a working bathroom. I used to go to the lower decks and the lower you go, the thicker the air gets, the more putrid the smell is. 'It was maybe two days into this when I was walking around barefoot, which you do on a cruise ship, and suddenly I felt the carpet squish, squish - and it doesn't rain inside. "Those moments I won't forget.' Meanwhile crew member Abhi describes seeing what he described as a poop "lasagne" in a bathroom - piles of excrement interspersed with layers of toilet paper - while the cafeteria floors were swimming in urine and faeces. 'Tent city' 20 The giant cruise liner was effectively dead in the water and drifted powerlessly for four days in the Gulf of Mexico, with passengers helplessly stranded on board Credit: SWNS 20 Passengers used their bed sheets to create tents and shelter from the sun Credit: SWNS 20 Makeshift tents lined the decks of the ship for days Credit: AP With the rancid stench and suffocating heat due to the lack of aircon, passengers dragged their mattresses from their cabins and set up a 'tent city' on the upper decks to escape the smell and soaring temperatures. The lack of refrigeration meant food soon ran low, and instead of five-course dinners the passengers were forced to survive on ham and cheese sandwiches. Devin Marble says: 'It was like more of a camping trip than we planned for. We were never without food, it is just that we went from eating lobster to cold cuts. 'The crew did a really good job of getting us supplies. One of the bigger challenges for me was that these types of crisis situations show people's true colours. It was maybe two days into this when I was walking around barefoot, which you do on a cruise ship, and suddenly I felt the carpet squish, squish - and it doesn't rain inside Devin Marble "So when you see people in line and they are leaving with five plates and you just think to yourself, 'I really hope you have a room full of kids and that is why you are taking five plates'.' In a bid to cheer up the desperate passengers, the crew made a bizarre decision - to open up a free bar for the night. 'This is when people's inhibitions really let loose,' says Devin. 'I think people just allowed themselves to panic. "We heard yelling, we heard disagreements. 'At the time we thought the bar was a great idea. We went and had drinks and played cards. But we weren't panicking. "In hindsight, probably not the best idea. The dehydration, the toilets were out, and alcohol makes you want to go to the toilet.' Cabin fever 20 People slept on deck for days during the ordeal Credit: SWNS 20 The lack of refrigeration meant food soon ran low, and instead of five-course dinners the passengers were forced to survive on ham and cheese sandwiches Credit: SWNS 20 Passengers spell out the word 'HELP' aboard the disabled Carnival Lines cruise ship Triumph Credit: AP 20 Help finally arrived on Valentine's Day, when tug boats ushered the floundering ship from the Gulf to a nearby port in Mobile, Alabama, miles away from the cruise's original docking point Credit: © 2025 Netflix, Inc. After days of ruined plans, rationed food and the desperate toilet situation, insanity started to creep in. Passengers made help signs, and drew on robes and bed sheets to document the disaster. And whenever they got internet connection they desperately called relatives and friends, or posted on social media to let the world know of the disaster unfolding at sea. 'We would go right to the edge and hold our phones out to any cruise liners coming by to try to get some of their WiFi,' says Devin. 'We would run around the ship to see if we can get roaming. Our primary goals were to get the message to our families and friends that we were safe, or call my work and tell them I'm not coming in tomorrow.' Help finally arrived on Valentine's Day, February 14. Tug boats ushered the floundering ship from the Gulf to a nearby port in Mobile, Alabama, miles away from the cruise's original docking point. And they sailed straight into a media frenzy. Devin recalls: 'I will never forget when we pulled in, there was a crowd of people, lights, flashbulbs. And when we walked down that ramp there were microphones, cameras, we were hit with a wall of media. 'And I will never forget the smell of a Happy Meal - it was great to see those golden arches. And a clean bathroom.' I will never forget the smell of a Happy Meal - it was great to see those golden arches. And a clean bathroom Devin Marble Some passengers decided to take legal action against the cruise company - but ended up with a steak reminder always to read the small print. Maritime lawyer Frank Spagnoletti, represented a number of passengers who took Carnival Cruise Line to court. 'This was something that was totally preventable, so we definitely had a good chance," he told the Netflix Poop Cruise documentary. "The problem is, you run into the ticket.' Carnival's lawyers insisted that those on board the ship had no right to sue in the wake of the disaster, citing that when people booked their holidays with Carnival Cruise Line, they accepted a clause in the terms and conditions that eerily predicted what unfolded on board. The ticket contract read: "[Carnival] makes absolutely no guarantee for safe passage, a seaworthy vessel, adequate and wholesome food, and sanitary and safe living conditions.' 20 One passenger declared she survived the 'red bag special' - a nod to the poop bags provided Credit: AP 20 Passengers made help signs, and drew on robes and bed sheets to document the disaster Credit: AP:Associated Press 20 Jubilant passengers celebrated with McDonald's Happy Meals Credit: AFP 20 A relieved passenger was pictured kissing the floor when they finally made it to dry land Credit: AFP Frank added: "It's amazing. I think if most people actually knew that existed at the time, they probably would never buy a ticket. I certainly wouldn't.' Carnival Triumph passengers received a refund, $500, transportation reimbursements, and a voucher for a free cruise. Despite the ticket clause, in 2015 a Florida judge awarded 27 passengers compensation of between $3000 and $15,000. Since the disaster, Carnival has changed their terms and conditions, removing the caveats about wholesome food, sanitary and safe living conditions, safe passage and a seaworthy vessel. Devin and his family decided not to bother with legal action and just to go back to their lives. 'They gave us a free cruise ticket, but we were like, thanks but no thanks,' he laughs. Carnival Triumph underwent a big refurb and as of 2019, it started sailing under a different name: Carnival Sunrise. It is still operating today around The Bahamas and the Caribbean. Trainwreck: Poop Cruise is streaming on Netflix now.
