Thanks to Chron for this:
Promising “stories the world could not look away from,” the Netflix anthology documentary series Trainwreck set a high bar indeed with its debut three-part episode looking at Woodstock ’99, the music festival marred by rape, arson, and rioting. At least one episode in the coming season promises to rival the squalor and despair of that notorious fiasco.
In “Poop Cruise,” the Trainwreck filmmakers revisit the ill-fated February 2013 voyage of the Carnival Triumph, which went awry after an engine-room fire caused widespread systems failure. When the power went out, so did the air conditioning and flushing toilets, forever branding the Triumph’s infamous nickname into a horrified world’s imagination.
The Triumph set out as do so many floating vacations: a simple four-day cruise from Galveston to Cozumel, Mexico, and back. Everything went according to plan until it was time to return to the U.S. Sparked by a leaky oil line, the fire happened shortly after midnight on Feb. 10 and disabled the ship’s propulsion systems, leaving the Triumph at the mercy of the Gulf of Mexico.
Arrangements were made to have tugboats tow the ship to the nearby port of Progreso, but the 3,100-plus passengers soon realized they had more disgusting problems.
Over the PA, the cruise directors asked passengers to use the ship’s red plastic bags if they must go No. 2. (Those needing to pee could use their cabin’s shower, they added.) That wasn’t enough to stop toilets from overflowing and backing up into the hallways, seeping onto the carpets and the walls as the ship listed to and fro—the Triumph’s internal stabilizers had been knocked out by the fire, too.
By then, the ship had drifted too far out to sea to make Progreso an option. The mounting heat and stench drove many passengers to move their mattresses to the public areas and erect a “tent city” on an upper deck normally used for tanning. Carnival’s attempt to pacify them with free beer and wine quickly backfired as some passengers became belligerent, venting their frustrations by tossing items into the ocean and further taxing the plumbing. Nerves frayed even more as food supplies grew scarce.
Panicking, some passengers hung bedsheets out their cabin windows bearing messages like “SOS” and “Help—get us to Eunice, La.” Despite spotty communication and nowhere to charge their phones, many shared their experiences with friends and family back home as their waking nightmare at sea became a global media event. News choppers circled the Triumph; cable networks went 24-7. Saturday Night Live devoted the opening sketch of its Feb. 16 episode to the situation.
The wife of a church youth worker in Oklahoma City was aboard the Triumph. She fed him regular updates, which he then relayed to the UK’s The Guardian. “We are fine knowing more food is now here, and we stashed some snacks,” she texted him after more food had been airlifted to the ship. “Started seeing some real anger yesterday … But people stood together against the angry ones and the good prevailed. So there’s no danger. The good still outweighs the crazies.”
It was still a painfully slow trip back to the States; the tugboats could only tow the Triumph a few miles per hour, and the towing ropes snapped several times. Finally, more than five days after she set out, the ship pulled into the Port of Mobile, Ala. Some passengers kissed the ground.
The Triumph needed $115 million in repairs but was back in action four months later. In 2019, she was rechristened the Sunrise and is currently based in Miami.
Carnival issued the traumatized passengers a full refund and $500 for their troubles. Some filed lawsuits within hours. The world, meanwhile, got a fresh example of how thin the veneer of civilization can be even under the most leisurely of circumstances. “Poop Cruise” will be released on June 24, two weeks after the airing of another Trainwreck installment of local interest, season premiere “The Astroworld Tragedy.”
Watch here
