A dream vacation turned into nightmare... That's what two valley natives experienced while on a Caribbean cruise. Ramie Simmons, who's originally from Jamestown, and her friend booked a vacation together on the Carnival cruise line. Fire caught in the ships engine room, causing the power to go out and sewage to back up.
In the middle of winter, a vacation in the Caribbean, sounds pretty nice.
Ramie Simmons says, "Just hanging out, relaxing and enjoying each other."
But when mayhem hits, that watery paradise sails away. Simmons and her friend who's were aboard a Caribbean Carnival Cruise line.
Ramie says, "They told us on the first day of the cruise that a fire is the worst thing that could happen, and that's was happened."
A fire in the engine room knocked out power, causing raw sewage to back up.
Ramie says, "It basically smelled like a really old outhouse."
Food and water were limited, and so were bathrooms.
They told us to pee in the shower and anything else in the red bags," says Simmons.
What happened on that ship was unexpected, and very unusual.
Travel Travel Cruise Counselor, Lisa Brasgalla, says, "It's an isolate incident. Things happen unfortunately, and cruising is still a very very safe way to travel."
She says the odds of something like this, or the Costa Concordia cruise ship crash happening while you're aboard are slim. But the agency has gotten calls from concerned customers.
"After hearing something like that they were a little uncomfortable," says Brasgalla.
To make up for the vacation disaster, Carnival gave everyone a free cruise voucher to use in the future. And even though Ramie says the staff was helpful and took care of them, she's got other vacation plans.
"I think I'm going to stick to resorts on land for a while," says Ramie.
Besides getting a free cruise in the future, passengers also got $500 and were refunded their money for this cruise. Ramie just got home Friday night and said the first thing she did was shower, and she's just thankful to be in her own bed and safe.
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