Disabled Cruise Ship Arrives in San Diego

The Carnival Splendor arrived in San Diego Harbor around 7:30 Thursday, after nearly four days without power.

The cruise ship lost power and electricity after an engine room fire early Monday morning while it was 130 miles west of Ensenada, Mexico.

The U.S. Coast Guard responded to the scene to ensure the safety of those onboard, luckily no one was injured and the fire was extinguished quickly. After the fire, engineers were unable to restore power to the ship leaving passengers without electricity or operational toilets. In a statement on Tuesday, Carnival said, “several key hotel systems, including air conditioning, hot food service and telephones are not available.”

Sometime later Tuesday, Carnival reported that toilets had been restored to some staterooms and most public restrooms.

A U.S. Navy aircraft carrier was called in Tuesday night to bring supplies and food to the stranded cruise ship. The USS Ronald Regan made 15 round trips to the ship, providing it with 60,000 pounds of food, bottled water and supplies, received via airlift.

Lines for food stretched on for hours, offering options like spam and other non-perishables, including military rations.

The panama-flagged Splendor is carrying 3,299 guests and 1,167 crew members, and set sail Sunday from Long Beach, California for what was scheduled to be a seven-day cruise.

In a statement released Wednesday Carnival said, “Guests on the current voyage will be receiving a full refund along with reimbursement for transportation costs. Additionally, they will receive a complimentary future cruise equal to the amount paid for this voyage.

Carnival has also cancelled the Nov. 14 seven-day cruise from Long Beach. Guests scheduled to sail on this voyage will receive a full refund of their cruise fare and air transportation costs, along with a 25 percent discount on a future cruise.”

Six tugs were needed to bring the ship into port as she could not steer herself.

To track the ships progress visit, http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/default.aspx?mmsi=372808000¢erx=-117.245¢ery=32.56665&zoom=10&type_color=6