It was anything but flush for hundreds aboard the Crown Princess last week.
The Crown Princess returned to Galveston Saturday after toilets broke down during the seven-day Caribbean cruise to Honduras, Belize and Cozumel - the latest in a recent rash of problems for parent company Carnival.
A blockage within the vacuum toilet system caused commodes in 410 staterooms in the aft part of the ship to temporarily stop flushing, said Julie Benson, a cruise line spokeswoman. Public restrooms were available to passengers in the affected cabins, and passengers were kept "continuously updated about the progress of repairs," she said.
What was supposed to be a relaxing vacation turned into a soggy, stopped-up mess for Fonda Boyd, 44, of Dallas and several of her friends.
They reported foul odors, long lines for public bathrooms and flooded rooms for up to three days.
"I had the expectation of being able to totally relax and be carefree, but they really messed it up for me," Boyd said. "It was a big inconvenience."
The cruise line apologized for the inconvenience and will give $50 to each affected passenger. The ship has already departed Galveston for its next vacation.
The Crown Princess, which carries 3,000 passengers and 1,200 crew members, is part of Princess Cruises, which is owned and operated by Carnival.
In December, 96 passengers fell ill to the norovirus, a form of gastroenteritis, aboard the Crown Princess during a 20-day Italian cruise. Symptoms of the highly contagious virus include fever, vomiting and diarrhea. Six crew members were also affected by the illness during the 20-day trip.
A few months later, the Carnival Triumph made headlines when an aft engine fire left the Triumph dead in the water after a leak in the diesel-fuel return line sprayed onto a hot surface and caught fire.
Adrift in the Gulf
The blaze left the 893-foot ship adrift in the Gulf of Mexico about 150 miles from the Yucatan Peninsula. Eventually, three tugboats brought the ship to the Alabama port.
During that incident, some of the passengers reported a shortage of food, lack of power, having to sleep in makeshift tents on the deck, and having to use bags as bathrooms. Among the worst reports from the ship were of sewage running down the walls and floors, making the vessel smell so foul people reportedly were vomiting.
As for Boyd, she said she probably will not go on another cruise, with any cruise line.
"It was just a simple vacation, a relaxing, needed vacation to get away from work and school," she said. "The cruising industry is so big that from their perspective they can j