A passenger on the notorious Carnival Triumph “poop cruise” said the upcoming Netflix documentary fails to capture the true horror of four days at sea without food, power and sanitation – “the scariest thing I’ve ever been through”.
The cruise from Texas to Mexico spiraled into chaos after an engine room fire triggered a massive electrical failure leaving over 4,000 passengers and crew wading through urine and feces, and camping on deck.
It’s the focus of an upcoming Netflix documentary “Trainwreck: Poop Cruise,” set to be released on June 24.
But one of the passengers, Tay Redford, 24, has watched the trailer and is “hurt”.
Now a bakery owner from Enid, Oklahoma, she was just 12 when the ship lost power, leaving passengers in darkness, surrounded by sewage, and struggling for basic necessities.
She recalls the fear and chaos vividly, saying Carnival didn’t offer meaningful support after the ordeal.
Gripped by long-term trauma, Tay worries the documentary doesn’t represent survivors’ voices – and vows never to cruise again.
“I’ve only seen the trailer, but from what I saw, it doesn’t even scratch the surface,” she said.
“It’s just Carnival workers telling the story.”
She added: “It’s really hard watching the documentary come out and seeing all these people making money from it.
“To me, it feels like they’re profiting off something that deeply affected and traumatized me.”
On February 10, 2013, a fire ignited in the Carnival Triumph’s aft engine room off the coast of Mexico after a flexible fuel oil return line failed, spraying fuel onto a hot surface and severely damaging the ship’s generators.
This knocked out all main power and propulsion, leaving over 4,000 passengers and crew adrift in the Gulf of Mexico for four days.
Sewage flooded many cabins, and basic services collapsed as the ship was eventually towed to Mobile, Alabama over several days.
Tay was aboard the ship with her parents, older brother, and a group of family friends.
Intended as a family vacation, the trip quickly turned into a harrowing ordeal.
“It was the most fear I’ve ever felt in my life,” Tay recalled. “I’m not that old yet, but that was hands down the scariest thing I’ve ever been through.”
The fire knocked out the ship’s power, plunging the vessel into darkness and leaving passengers without basic services.
Tay’s family was forced to abandon their cabin due to sewage and a lack of airflow.
“My first thought is we’re sinking, we’re going down. That was the only thing I thought. I was crying hysterically, trying to follow my parents around in the dark,” she said.
“When we went down to our room, we were up to our ankles in sewage and urine and feces, and there was no air flow. There were no lights.”
The situation was chaotic and frightening, forcing the family to camp on the top deck for nearly four days.
Access to food, water, and sanitation was severely limited.
“They ran out of water to give us, so they said, ‘Hey, we’ll open up the bar and let people drink liquor,’” she recalled.
The decision reportedly backfired as frustrated, intoxicated passengers – angry over the lack of information and worsening conditions – began fighting.
According to Tay, some even resorted to “throwing their bodily fluids over the ship” as tensions escalated.
“They forced their housekeeping staff to stay in rooms infested with sewage, withheld proper meals, and made them eat out of the trash,” Tay recalled.
“Carnival called my nana and was like, ‘We just wanted to let you know there was a fire onboard. There are no casualties, but your family’s just on an extended vacation. Have a nice day.’”
Amid the chaos, Tay’s brother became a source of ingenuity.
“My brother actually had this great idea,” Tay recalled.
“He said, I’m going to build a tent out of these sheets. And he cut the sheets up and invented Tent City where everybody followed him to make tents to keep us out of the sun.”
The disabled ship was slowly towed back to port in Mobile, Alabama, as passengers endured days of hardship before finally reaching land.
While Carnival eventually provided a small compensation – $500 and a refund for the trip home – Tay says the company never truly addressed the trauma experienced by those onboard.
“Carnival never reached out – never,” she said.
“They gave us $500 and reimbursed my parents for the trip home, but that was it. After that, it was like nothing ever happened. No one was supposed to talk about it.”
The lack of communication and support from Carnival left Tay and her family feeling abandoned.
The experience left deep scars. Tay now suffers from long-term trauma and anxiety, particularly around the ocean and extreme weather.
As for her own future, Tay is resolute. “I would absolutely never go on a cruise again.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
