It was to be a trip of a lifetime for Adele and Lorne DeLong.
They were going on a trip to Disney Land and on a cruise on the Carnival Splendor. They would travel by car with their daughter Kimberley, son-in-law Duncan and their three grandchildren Henry 4, Kenny 7 and Amelia 10.
Before the trip started Adele became ill and could not travel with the group.
The rest travelled to Long Beach where they boarded the ship on a Sunday afternoon. They were treated to a wonderful supper of prime roast beef and all the fixings. After supper they were called on deck for safety training just in case of an emergency. Lorne visited the casino and then retired.
At 6 a.m. Lorne opened the door of his cabin to find the hallways full of smoke. He could tell by the smell that it was an electrical fire (Lorne was previously an electrician). Suddenly, the fire alarm went off.
A calm voice over the intercom spoke to all 3,600 passengers on board. The cruise co-ordinator told everyone what was happening and they were instructed to go to their stations where they were to stay for an hour or two and then would be able to go back to their cabins.
There was no water, no power and no sewer, so that meant no facilities (bathrooms) or elevators and none of the theatres, games room or other entertainment centres were useable.
Lorne said it was blacker than the ace of spades. The family got together and went for breakfast. With no electricity everything was cold and there was no coffee.
They had fresh fruit, cereal, juices and milk. They were able to eat only during the day and only the emergency lights were on in the hallways so people could get to their cabins.
It took four days to tow the disabled cruise ship to port.
Even though CNN had reported that all the passengers had to eat was Spam and Pop Tarts, this was not quite true. They had all the fresh fruit, vegetables, bread, croissants and dry cereals with milk, bottled water and pop they wanted.
Later food was brought to them by the air craft carrier The Ronald Reagan and helicopters. Along with the Coast Guard, the Navy stayed with the cruise ship till it was docked at San Diego.
Lorne stated that the cruise co-ordinator was fantastic. He kept everyone updated on what was going on. All the staff was helpful with any needs any of the passengers had. They were entertained by playing cards, roulette, and black jack in the casino. The children on the cruise were entertained by a group of magicians who were there for a convention. (What a treat). People gathered on the deck by the pool. Those who had instruments jammed. The pools could not be used because there was no filtration. The entire staff of the Splendor went above and beyond in looking after the people and their needs, there were just no hot meals, coffee or elevators, Lorne said.
The worst part was no washrooms. The porter used pails and ladles and scooped the waste and take it to be dumped. Wednesday the bathrooms were functional but there was still no power, so they had no fans or lights.
The president of the Carnival Line came on the ship and stayed until the ship docked. Compensation was given to anyone who was on the cruise. They all had Carnival debit cards they could use to buy drinks, buy gifts at the gift shop and could be used at the casino. Any expenditures that had been put on the debit cards were reimbursed up to Monday morning. For the passengers who used credit cards to book their trip the money was credited to their cards the very next day. The passengers were also given a voucher for another cruise anywhere Carnival travels.
Arrangements were made for those passengers wanting to fly home when the ship docked in port late Wednesday afternoon. Anyone who drove was compensated for gas, hotel rooms and any other expenses.
The ship was towed in by four tug boats to the dock in San Diego. Some passengers were given flights home from there and some put into hotels until the next day and the rest were bussed to Long Beach where they were put up in hotels for two to three days, meals included, at the expense of Carnival Cruise Lines.
The cost of getting the ship and passengers to port was estimated at around
$56 million.
Lorne and the family then continued with their trip. They drove to Venice Beach, toured the Hollywood Walk of Fame and stayed in Disney Land for five days. They headed to Las Vegas and stayed for two days where Lorne got to see David Copperfield, which was a big thrill for him because he always wanted to see him. They would have been gone longer but Adele landed in the hospital again so they were on their way.
They ran into black ice which made them travel slowly. They arrived in Saskatoon Nov. 25 and on Nov. 26, Lorne's son-in-law drove him back to Maymont. They had been gone for 22 days.
I would like to thank Lorne for sharing this experience with us and I hope you all enjoyed reading about it.
