The True Story of the "Poop Cruise": 4,200 People, No Flushing Toilets

What Was the "Poop Cruise"?

On Feb. 10, 2013, what was supposed to be the final day of a four-day voyage, the Carnival Triumph was on its way back from Cozumel, Mexico, to Galveston, Texas—carrying 3,143 passengers and 1,086 crew members—when a fire broke out in the engine room shortly before 5:30 a.m.

An automatic system quickly extinguished the blaze and no injuries were reported. By 6:15 a.m., passengers awakened by the emergency siren were being encouraged to go back to bed or have breakfast.

But as detailed in Netflix's documentary series Trainwreck: Poop Cruise, then the power cut out.

"Everything's out, from little things like making a cup of tea or a piece of toast, to the whole propulsion of the ship," cruise director Jen Baxter said in the episode. "Technically we are just floating dead in the water."

Emergency lights came on, and at least people could hang out on the deck to make up for the lack of AC, but, as Jen recalled, "then somebody realized the toilets weren't working."

Why Did the Power Go Out on the Carnival Triumph?

Once it was deemed safe to enter the engine room where the fire had been, crew members found that the flames had destroyed the ship's main power cables.

Therefore, Jen said, there was "no hope of getting the power back."

But Back to the Non-Working Toilets

"Half-jokingly I said we could do a No. 1 in the shower," Jen said in the documentary. "So it was, 'Oh yeah, that sounds good...pee in the shower.'"

But "for the No. 2," she added, "that was definitely a tricker problem than No. 1."

The immediate solution was to deliver red biohazard bags to everyone on board, Jen detailed, and passengers were instructed to "drop them off in the bins in the corridor."

You know, after they were used.

"You want me to what?" Triumph passenger Devin Marble remembered thinking at the time.

Recalled Abhi, a chef on the Triumph, "I never thought in my weirdest dream I would see a day when I had to poop in a red bag."

Passengers Start Going Stir-Crazy

That first night, passengers dragged their matresses out on the deck to sleep because it was too hot inside the un-air-conditioned cabins.

The following day, Feb. 11, Abhi said the kitchen staff threw away all the perishable food and started making sandwiches for 3,000 people.

In the documentary, Triumph bartender Hanna, who was born in what was then the Soviet Union, recalled seeing the crush to grab food and thinking, "Huh, now all these Americans somehow can feel what it was in dictatorship country, where s--t like this happens and it doesn't surprise anyone."

The power outage had also knocked out WiFi and cell service, so when a sister ship, the Carnival Legend, showed up to deliver food supplies, passengers rushed up to the deck with their phones in an effort to catch a signal from the other boat.

What Happens When People Are Peeing in Showers and Pooping in Bags

Kalin, who was part of a bachelorette party onboard, said in the Netflix doc that even just going to pee in the shower was an ordeal.

She described removing the beacon from her life jacket and pouring soda over it to trigger the emergency light, which produced a strobe-like effect in the dark bathroom.

Devin, who was on the trip with his fiancée's family and had primarily been concerned about getting along with his future father-in-law, was "determined" not to use the red bag, calling it "not the time" to go to the bathroom in a trashcan.

He vowed at the time, "I'm gonna make it."

By day two of the crisis, "I'm not going to make it," Devin continued. He had heard a rumor, however, that there were working toilets somewhere, so he started scouring the ship.

What It Was Like Onboard the Carnival Triumph "Poop Cruise"

Ashley, the bride-to-be who was celebrating her bachelorette with Kalin and pal Jayme, explained that by the afternoon of Feb. 11 (day two of the power outage) the pee wasn't draining from the showers anymore and was just sitting there, "with nowhere to go."

And passengers were apparently still using the toilets.

"I found this public restroom and I go inside," chef Abhi recalled. "It was the most nastiest thing I have ever seen in my life. People were covering the poop with the toilet paper and then again pooping on top of it. So it was layer after layer after layer, it was like a lasagna."

The Bar Reopens Aboard the "Poop Cruise"

Jen, Abhi and other staffers recalled in the doc that someone had the idea to reopen the bar for free drinks.

Jen said she was "against the decision" and predicted, per her recollection, "People will go nuts."

Soon enough, they're "peeing off the side of the ship," Triumph guest services manager Stephen said, while Abhi said he witnessed people throwing poop bags into the life boats.

When Did the Rest of the World Find Out What Was Going on Aboard the Carnival Triumph?

At first, as detailed in Poop Cruise by Carnival PR representative Buck Banks, the move was to release a "short holding statement" to the media explaining that the ship was without propulsion but the crew was working to fix it.

There was no mention of the toilets not working in that initial Feb. 10 statement.

The following morning, Carnival CEO Gerry Cahill said in a statement, "All our guests are safe, and we’re doing everything we can to make them as comfortable as possible. We’re terribly sorry for the inconvenience, discomfort and frustration our guests are feeling."

But Feb. 11 was when the real news started to trickle in.

Family members of people on board started calling news outlets, including CNN, as remembered in the show by former anchor Brooke Baldwin. Once they got wind about what was really going on, she noted, "that's when we started saying, 'That's a story.'"

CNN's enthusiastic deep dive into the "poop cruise" went on to become its own story, but the coverage delivered a ratings boost for the network all the same.

The Boat Floods, and Not With Water

When the first of two rescue tugboats reached the Triumph on Feb. 11 and started to tow, "suddenly the weather turned for the worst," Jen said in the doc, and then she thought, "Holy s--t. No, like, literally."

Because, as Devin recalled, the "angle of the ship had adjusted, everything tilted to the side."

Larry Poret, who was on the cruise with his daughter Rebekah Poret, said in the Netflix show, "Everything overflowed to the floor and kept overflowing."

Added Devin, "You know what you're standing in...We were in excrement."

Toby Barlow, whose wife Ann Barlow was onboard the Triumph, told CNN at the time that she had managed to text him and relay that there was "sewage running down the walls and floors."

Things Get Weird Aboard the Carnival Triumph

A tent city sprang up onboard as passengers used bed sheets and lounge chairs to make individual shelters for their own groups on deck, and some people started a prayer group.

Noted Devin, "You start feeling like a prisoner."

Why Did the Carnival Triumph Rescue Take So Long?

A tugboat from Progreso, Mexico, was supposed to come meet the Triumph at noon on Feb. 11 and tow them the rest of the way to Texas, guest services manager Stephen said in the Netflix show.

“We evaluated a wide range of options including using another ship to transport guests, but the safest solution was towing the ship back to port," Carnival stated on its Facebook page at the time, per CNN. "We have a huge team involving multiple departments working around the clock to get our guests home as quickly as possible."

At 12:17 p.m., however, Stephen said he got a call that the plan had changed, that the Triumph had drifted more than 100 nautical miles and they were nowhere near Mexico.

It was instead going to take two or three days to tow the 14-story, 900-foot-long Triumph to Mobile, Ala.

“Given the strength of the currents," Carnival noted on Facebook, "it is preferable to head north to Mobile, rather than attempt to tow against them."

What Happened to the Passengers When the "Poop Cruise" Got to Alabama?

As they got closer to Mobile on Feb. 14, Jen said in the doc, "people just wanted to get off and go home, hot shower, nice bed." 

Carnival told CNN at the time that all Triumph passengers would be fully refunded, flown home at no cost to them, and reimbursed for all expenses—minus casino and gift shop purchases—from this excursion. They were also given a credit that could be put toward a future trip.

Buck, the Carnival PR representative, recalled in the doc that he still "anticipated a complete media blood bath" when the ship docked.

But, he said, "far and away we were shocked and relieved that so many of them credited the Carnival crew members with superhuman effort."

That was hardly the end of it, but at first the disembarking passengers were just thrilled to be home.

"I'll never take a private bathroom for granted again," Kalin said in the Netflix show. Ashley later presented her bridesmaids with gifts in red biohazard bags.

Rebekah told a news crew at the time, "I feel a little stronger than I was before."

And her dad Larry reflected in the doc that the trip proved "how we can get through things together, good or bad."

Meanwhile, Devin and his father-in-law remain travel buddies to this day.

What Did Carnival Do After the "Poop Cruise"?

All that triumph of the human spirit aside, a number of lawsuits were filed in the aftermath of the cruise.

"This was something that was totally preventable, so we definitely had a good chance," maritime attorney Frank Spagnoletti, who represented some of the plaintiffs and reached settlements in those cases, said in the doc. "The problem is, you run into the ticket."

The cruise line indeed pushed back, maintaining that when tickets were purchased, passengers were agreeing to the terms of their ticket contract, which absolved the company of a wide variety of liability.

But Carnival did ultimately change its terms and conditions, and says it committed to safety improvements after the Triumph debacle.

"The Carnival Triumph incident over 12 years ago was a teachable moment for the entire cruise industry," the company said in a statement in response to the Netflix doc. "A thorough investigation following the incident revealed a design vulnerability which was corrected and led Carnival Cruise Line to invest more than $500 million across our entire fleet in comprehensive fire prevention and suppression, improved redundancy, and enhanced management systems, all in support of our commitment to robust safety standards."

They  continued, "This is in addition to our vigorous Health, Environmental, Safety and Security (HESS) protocols that guide the entire Carnival Corporation fleet as we maintain our commitment to industry leadership in this area."

What Happened to the Carnival Triumph After the Infamous "Poop Cruise"?

Carnival spent $115 million to clean, repair and refit the Triumph, according to the doc.

In 2019 it was rechristened the Carnival Sunrise and it primarily sails out of Miami to the Bahamas and other parts of the Caribbean.