The Culinary Disaster Aboard a Cruise Ship Lost at Sea

It has been two days since the Carnival Triumph was left stranded in the Gulf of Mexico after a fire knocked out its propulsion system, and shit is getting real. As in, four hour waits for a burger real. The fire had also knocked out the ship's power and even though they were able to get auxiliary power back up and running in the Lido dining area, as ABC News reports, passengers still had only "limited access" to that food (or the hot coffee) on Monday. Worse yet, "With lack of power, there's no refrigeration so the stink on board is apparently intense."

So what exactly does "limited access" mean? Well, passenger Shelly Crosby texts the network to report, "We stood in line for four hours to get a hamburger," while Debra Rightmire tersely notes that she ate a cucumber-and-onion sandwich. Meanwhile Serena Peña tells the New York Times that lines for meals are lasting upwards of an hour. Of course, certainly it's a good thing that there is food at all on board, and Carnival says there is plenty of that. The Coast Guard tells the New York Times that two other Carnival cruise ships have been delivering supplies of food and water.

But all these reports echo the unfortunate tales from back in 2010 when the Carnival Splendor was trapped in the Pacific Ocean causing two-hour-long food lines. Back then, the cruise line had the Navy air-drop in some supplies, including Pop-Tarts, Spam, and canned crab meat. Here's hoping the emergency dining options have improved? (But, seriously, here's just hoping everyone arrives safely in Mobile, AL, on Thursday.) Here's the ABC News report:

Video: Passengers on Crippled Cruise Ship Describe Worsening Conditions

· Passengers on Crippled Carnival Cruise Ship Describe Worsening Conditions [ABC News]
· Passengers Face 2 More Days of Foul Conditions on Stranded Ship [NYT]
· All Cruise Ship Coverage on Eater [-E-]