SAN DIEGO (AP) - Passengers from the Carnival Splendor are
praising the crew but otherwise describing their experience aboard
the cruise ship as a "nightmare" vacation.

Half a dozen tugboats finally dragged the Splendor into San
Diego Bay today after a fire in the engine room Monday left it
adrift.

Getting off also required considerable patience. Elevators on
the towering ship weren't working and it took hours for the 3,300
passengers to disembark.

Finally back on land, one woman said a highlight of the trip
came when she discovered her toilet was flushing again after not
working for 15 hours. Peg Fisher says she was so excited she ran
into the hall, shouting the news to fellow passengers who sprinted
back to their cabins.
 

With refrigerators also out and food spoiling, the Splendor's
cooks improvised. But Fisher says the fare was so awful, it was
probably the only cruise "where people lost weight instead of
gaining weight."
 

Despite the nightmare, passengers appeared eager for a momento,
snapping up $20 T-shirts with the phrase: "I survived the 2010
Carnival cruise Spamcation."