Fire on Carnival Triumph. No engines, running on emergency generators.

[Pushka]

If the ship is over 100 miles off shore, how are people getting texts from friends and family members onboard? I assume the cellular at sea isn't working and that's too far out of range to pick up towers from land.

 

This is how:

When another Carnival cruise ship, the Legend, rendezvoused with the stranded vessel overnight, supplying Triumph passengers with food and supplies, Texas resident Brent Nutt was able to briefly chat with his wife, Bethany, who could draw a mobile phone signal from the visiting cruise line.

 

 

http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/cruise-ship-carnival-triumph-adrift-near-mexico-with-4200-aboard/story-e6frfq80-1226575819982

[deborahjo]

I got a text at 4:00 pm Dallas time.

No tug yet. No toilets.

 

Would love to know if the tugs were there or not. To bad we don,t have pictures.

[ducklite]

I would think it would be the same as airlines, Priority passengers first and then those with mobility issues and those with children. I would hope that priority was taken out of the mix though but that would be unlikely because those are loyal customers.

 

I'm going to guess it will be those with passports, then those with special needs and infants, then suite customers then repeat cruisers in the order of their "level" then everyone else based on some arbitrary order--by last name, deck #, any number of other options.

[San_Antonio_Ex]

oops sorry

[Clinty76]

For those of you who have family on board. I just received a call from Carnival

 

They are not going to Progresso! They are being towed to Mobile Alabama!!

 

The boat has drifted so far North it is the same distance so they chose Mobile!

[Maryscooking]

Me too....and I also find it very strange how many adult people refer to the restrooms/toilets as "potty".

 

They probably have small children in their lives.

 

More than once, I told my husband I was going to the potty, only to later realize I was talking to an adult, not a two year old. And he has done it before too. Pretty funny to hear a gruff firefighter refer to himself and the "potty" in the same sentence.

 

If he reads this, he is gonna kill me :D

[ducklite]

The ones that are not US citizens should be easy to spot - they'll be the ones carrying the foreign passports. Only US citizens are allowed to cruise with the government issued picture ID and BC on the closed loop cruise.

 

To keep the "closed loop", they'll use chartered aircraft. It will be treated the same as if they closed the last leg of the closed loop by tendering ashore.

 

Chartered aircraft are not exempt from the same CBP rules as commercial airlines. I don't think it's going to be a fast easy process like it typically is getting off a cruise ship. I think there is going to be a lot more scrutiny and it will take hours to process each plane load. The CBP isn't going to refuse people who can prove they are citizens entry, but they aren't going to just wave them through, either.

[Loonbeam]

The charter status of the airport is irrelevant. If you travel via air, there is a documentation requirement, no matter type of flight, or type of aircraft.

 

Every passenger will need to be cleared by CBP, those without passports under a waiver, which should be granted. This can occur at either end of the trip, but the most likely scenario is special processing set up in Houston with additional staff. Cancun might, but Meridia most likely does not have the secure communications channels the CBP needs back to the US and they are not going to set them up for this situation.

 

The far most likely scenario. Passengers will disembark in Mexico with a perfunctory Mexican customs check (since theoretically they can get to the airport and then leave). They will be bused to one of the nearest airports and fly direct to a designated US Airport (Houston most likely IAH). From there they will proceed to international arrivals. Those with passports will clear arrivals as normal, probably with additional staffing. Those without will go to a separate area for secondary screening. Persons with sufficient documentation will be cleared fairly quickly, those without will be taken aside for the full no-doc check and verification process and then permitted to proceed.

 

A couple of notes - first, Carnival will be very limited in how they can assist people without passports. This is a CBP process and 3rd parties other than interpreters are not permitted. Second, if there are any passengers on the no-fly list, they will likely be permitted to board but will be extensively screened upon arrival.

 

Wow, how judgmental. Apparently you missed the part about them returning on chartered aircraft - not commercial. This could be used to fill the "closed loop" requirement, and passport regulations can be waived very easily.

 

But, since this is your first post, and rather inflammatory at that, I'll just assume that you're a troll passing through....

[RRLLAL]

Oh look, another one of "those" threads. Where a few people who have no skin in the game choose to use a sad situation to do nothing but hate on Carnival.

 

Sent using my Commodore 64 on Tapatalk 5.3

[2013LibertyCruiser]

Just a curious question here...where are the red bags placed when someone is done with them? That would be a lot of waste to put somewhere...

[dwjoe]

The thing is that this incident could very well be totally unrelated to the previous propulsion problems. The ship lost electrical power, not just propulsion. Until they investigate the causes and find out what happened, trying to connect the prior mechanical issues with this incident is pure speculation.

If a ship has persistent mechanical issues over two months but is kept in service... and subsequently has an engine fire and goes adrift... I call that reason to ask tough questions.

[deborahjo]

For those of you who have family on board. I just received a call from Carnival

 

They are not going to Progresso! They are being towed to Mobile Alabama!!

 

The boat has drifted so far south it is the same distance so they chose Mobile!

 

WOW changing quickly here.

[DryCreek]

People flying into the US on charters have the same CPB regulations as those on commercial airlines.

 

I was just going on what I experienced in the service. I never had a passport until 2010, and I flew chartered all over the world. Many of them were through Air Mobility Command (used to be call MAC), but they were treated as charters nonetheless. Could be that they have tightened things up a bit since then. We embarked at commercial jetports (stateside) and when we landed we were all herded into a chartered bus and taken to base.

[ducklite]

:eek::eek::eek: You're right...

 

after seeing some crazy stuff on you tube just over pax going crazy and organizing protests in the atriums over something as expected as missing a port because the Captain wouldn't sail into a hurricane, what in the world is going to happen when you actually have 3,000 plus people who all have a legitimate interest and right to get home and want to be first!:eek: However they decide will just have to be accepted, bc in this situation, CCL will not be able to tolerate even the least amt of civil unrest. Everyone's gonna have to keep it in check -- no matter how frustrated they may be at whatever method CCL decides to implement.

 

That's where those with passports will say "screw it" and leave the pack, buy tickets on a commercial airline, go home, and then submit the costs to their travel insurance/CCL. And rightfully so.

[onthehighseas606]

For those of you who have family on board. I just received a call from Carnival

 

They are not going to Progresso! They are being towed to Mobile Alabama!!

 

The boat has drifted so far south it is the same distance so they chose Mobile!

 

IMO that is good news. I would be nervous if it were towed to Mexico. Better to be on US land and probably easier to deal with Americans and the Coast Guard.

[Loonbeam]

That would make very little sense, as drifting south would put them closer to Progreso. Drifting east, maybe. And unless they went far east, Galveston is technically closer than Mobile.

 

 

For those of you who have family on board. I just received a call from Carnival

 

They are not going to Progresso! They are being towed to Mobile Alabama!!

 

The boat has drifted so far south it is the same distance so they chose Mobile!

[nitro2448]

Oh look, another one of "those" threads. Where a few people who have no skin in the game choose to use a sad situation to do nothing but hate on Carnival.

 

Sent using my Commodore 64 on Tapatalk 5.3

 

Surprising isn't it

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Maryscooking]

yes Ive been reading for hours and a bad day aboard ship is better then a good day at work.

 

Good lord, you must have a terrible job to want to be on a ship with 3000 people who haven't showered for days, are eliminating in plastic bags, and eating coleslaw and cheese sandwiches that they have to wait two hours in line for.

 

It would take way more money than what two free cruises would add up to for me to volunteer to be on that boat! And I have had some bad days at work (I am a hospital med-surg RN, if that says anything).

[dwjoe]

If the ship is over 100 miles off shore, how are people getting texts from friends and family members onboard? I assume the cellular at sea isn't working and that's too far out of range to pick up towers from land.

 

 

I agree. I think there are some "stories" being told here.

 

Of all the lack of empathy expressed on this thread, I think the accusations of outright fabrication are the toughest to deal with.

 

If you read upthread you'll see that folks were able to text off the cell towers of the adjacent ships.

[truecruiser]

For those of you who have family on board. I just received a call from Carnival

 

They are not going to Progresso! They are being towed to Mobile Alabama!!

 

The boat has drifted so far North it is the same distance so they chose Mobile!

 

Awesome!!!! so happy for them! directly back to american soil.

 

Thanks for the update!

[Bobblefrog]

For those of you who have family on board. I just received a call from Carnival

 

They are not going to Progresso! They are being towed to Mobile Alabama!!

 

The boat has drifted so far south it is the same distance so they chose Mobile!

 

Well now that's at least some good news! I know that must be some small relief.

[reallyitsmema]

For those of you who have family on board. I just received a call from Carnival

 

They are not going to Progresso! They are being towed to Mobile Alabama!!

 

The boat has drifted so far North it is the same distance so they chose Mobile!

Wow, big change. Thanks for letting us know.

[ducklite]

The USCG is there to help and will board any ship to make sure US citizens are okay.. Inless its a russian or chines ship I dont think US cares about pissing off little smaller countries..

 

This is not the case at all. Many of those "little smaller countries" are important allies.

[Loonbeam]

Military flights are exempt from the WHTI requirements.

 

Per the navy website:

 

US Military.

a. Military personnel on official business do not require passports but do require military ID cards and travel orders.

 

 

 

I was just going on what I experienced in the service. I never had a passport until 2010, and I flew chartered all over the world. Many of them were through Air Mobility Command (used to be call MAC), but they were treated as charters nonetheless. Could be that they have tightened things up a bit since then. We embarked at commercial jetports (stateside) and when we landed we were all herded into a chartered bus and taken to base.

[jimboridesmtb]

I'm going to guess it will be those with passports, then those with special needs and infants, then suite customers then repeat cruisers in the order of their "level" then everyone else based on some arbitrary order--by last name, deck #, any number of other options.

 

You're right, passport holders will be first. All the more reason to have one.