Oklahoma passengers recount time on board ill-fated cruise ship

It’s a vacation that thousands of passengers on the Carnival Triumph wish they could forget.

After five days without power, the ship finally docked in Mobile, Alabama on Thursday night. Many of those passengers are just now getting back to their homes.

Kristi Barnes could hardly wait for her sister, Kari and her family to get back. With balloons in hand, she raced to hug her as the horror stories on board continue to play over and over in her mind.

“She said the smell was really bad and they were sleeping out on the decks because of the smell,” says Kristi.

‘I’m not going to lie it was a little scary because you’re out in the middle of the ocean floating on a big ship without really knowing what’s going on,” says passenger, Kari Hedges.

Because the ship lost power, the passengers were asked to use plastic bags for a bathroom.

“A lot of the toilets overflowed and it caused a big problem for the lower decks. They worked really hard to get a lot of the toilets working, but mainly we had to use a little red bag and it was quite an experience,” says Kari.

She says if it weren’t for the staff, the whole ship would have fallen apart.

“The staff I have to say was absolutely incredible the whole time. Having to put up with angry upset people and emotional people, but overall they were absolutely awesome,” says Kari.

I asked her if she would ever consider going on another cruise again.

“Yes I would go on another Carnival cruise but probably not anytime soon and probably on a newer boat,” she says.