The Spam Boat

Things haven't gotten a whole lot better for the poor people stuck on the Carnival Splendor:

The food on the disabled cruise ship Carnival Splendor is cold and the lines to get it stretch for hours.

And with the pool, bars and casinos closed and rooms pitch black and stuffy, the nearly 4,500 people and crew on board passed the time with live music, scavenger hunts and trivia contests as they are slowly towed to San Diego.

Two tugboats were pulling the 952-foot ship back to the U.S. The journey could take at least until late Thursday.

The ship entered cell phone range on Wednesday, allowing passengers mostly cut off from communication since an engine fire disabled the vessel on Monday to finally reach loved ones — and provide the first details of the conditions on board.

Among them was David Zambrano, who phoned his employer, Denver TV station 9NEWS, and said people were trying to keep their spirits up by singing, socializing and playing cards.

The ship's bars, casinos, pools and the upper deck were closed. Rooms in the interior of the ship were pitch black and passengers propped open their doors to let in air and emergency lighting from the hallways.

"So really, all we're doing is just kind of hanging out on a boat waiting for the next mealtime," Zambrano said.

Mealtime requires a two-hour wait for cold food, he said. Navy helicopters flew in Spam, Pop Tarts and canned crab meat and other goods for the passengers and crew.

The lowliest seaman on the nearby Ronald Reagan is probably having more fun right now than most of the passengers on the Splendor.