A Cruise Without Much Splendor

Yesterday the Carnival Splendor left Long Beach for a seven day Mexican cruise.  They didn't get far (from Carnival Cruise Lines):

At approximately 6 am this morning (U.S. Pacific Standard Time), a fire was detected in the aft engine room aboard the cruise ship Carnival Splendor. The fire has been extinguished. There were no injuries to guests or crew.

The ship has been operating on auxiliary generators throughout the day and engineers have been unable to restore additional power to the vessel. As a result, the current voyage is being terminated. Tugboats are currently en route to the ship which is located off the coast of Mexico, approximately 150 miles south of San Diego. The tugs will tow the vessel to Ensenada, Mexico in an effort to get the guests home as quickly as possible.

Currently several key hotel systems, including air conditioning, hot food service, flushing toilets and telephones are not available. The ship’s crew is actively working to restore partial services.

Regular announcements apprising guests of the situation began at approximately 6.30 am. Guests were initially asked to move from their cabins to the ship’s upper open deck areas. At this time, guests have access to their cabins and are able to move about the ship. Bottled water and cold food items are being provided.

The vessel’s command is in contact with the U.S. Coast Guard which has deployed aircraft and cutters to the cruise ship’s location.

Guests on the current voyage will be receiving a full refund along with reimbursement for transportation costs. Additionally, they will receive a complimentary future cruise equal to the amount paid for this voyage.

Given the conditions on board, no air conditioning, no hot food, no flushing toilets, it's almost like they've got a little slice of Mexico at sea. Very realistic.