Tagged: Carnival Cruise Mobile

Passengers who finally got to disembark from a disabled Carnival cruise ship in Alabama are checking into hotels or heading home by bus.

The vacation ship carrying some 4,200 people docked late Thursday in Mobile after five numbing days at sea without power.

Passengers raucously cheered the docking after days of what they described as overflowing toilets, food shortages and foul odors.

Mobile is getting ready for the return of the crippled Carnival cruise ship Triumph that is being towed to the port there after an engine room fire left it powerless at sea for days.

It's been more than a year since a cruise ship was based in Mobile. But Sheila Gurganis, who is general manager for the terminal, says it still has the infrastructure needed to accommodate a ship like the Triumph on Thursday. On board are 3,100 passengers and 1,000 crew members.

Carnival Cruise Lines has canceled plans to dock its ship Elation in Mobile and is sending the ship to its regular port in New Orleans.

Carnival had originally announced plans to temporarily dock the ship in Mobile due to the remnants of Hurricane Isaac. But Carnival now says an assessment of the port facilities in New Orleans shows the ship can dock normally.

Mobile used to be a cruise port, but Carnival pulled out because profits weren't sufficient. The city is trying to find another company to dock ships at its $20 million cruise terminal.