A number of passengers on the bottom deck of the Carnival Triumph told Local 15 that not only were conditions deplorable, they were extremely upset with the crew and cruise manager.
"We didn't hear from them for 12 to 15 hours at a time," Kelly Stone told Local 15. "We didn't know what was going on."
Stone and her best friend Allison Rhodes had a bottom floor cabin near the engine which caught fire.
"We had to run up, and it was smokey and scarey and we thought we were gonna die," Stone said.
Once they escaped the smoke, Rhodes said they weren't allowed to go to their emergency muster station.
"It took them 15 to 18 hours to assess the fire," Rhodes said. "Meanwhile we're locked in the casino still. They wouldn't let us go to our muster station."
Barbara Montemayor and Marcy Lucario, both of San Antonio, told Local 15 they were staying in a cabin right next to the engine, and didn't even know there was a fire.
"Nobody notified us," Montemayor said. "We slept through the whole thing. No one knocked on our door."
Montemayor said communication was bad, the food worse.
"It was three hours just to get a piece of bread," Montemayor said. "You wanted a meat burger, you were gonna have to wait six hours."
It was Montemayor and Lucario's first cruise.
"Never again!" Montemayor said. "We're selling that free cruise they promised."
"Craigslist!" Lucario chimed in.
