SAN DIEGO — The food on the disabled cruise ship Carnival Splendor is cold and the lines to get it stretch for hours.
And with the pool and casinos closed and rooms pitch black and stuffy, the nearly 4,500 people and crew on board pass the time with live music, scavenger hunts and trivia contests as they are slowly towed to San Diego.
The bar is open and offering free drinks.
Two tugboats were pulling the 952-foot ship back to the U.S. The journey could take at least until late today.
The ship entered cellphone range Wednesday, and the crew set up a bank of eight satellite phones, allowing passengers mostly cut off from communication since an engine fire disabled the vessel 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’s 9News, and said people were trying to keep their spirits up by singing, socializing and playing cards.
Rooms in the interior of the ship were dark, and passengers propped open their doors to let in air and emergency lighting from the hallways, Zambrano said.
“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, canned crab meat and other goods for the passengers and crew.
“It’s almost like a diet cruise because we’ve been eating salads and fruit and small sandwiches,” Zambrano said.
