‘I was told to poo in a bag on the cruise of nightmares’

A new Netflix documentary charts a shocking few days at sea for a group of cruise ship passengers (Picture: Netflix)

When Devin Marble stepped onboard the Carnival Triumph cruise ship at the dock in Galveston, Texas, he assumed his biggest obstacle to overcome would be to impress his future-in-laws.

Not long before, the 28-year-old had proposed to his high-school sweetheart Teresa and was set to spend a few days at sea with several members of her family, including her parents.

For a few days the group – along with 4,200 other passengers and crew members – lapped up the celebrations as the ship did a loop between Galveston, and Cozumel, Mexico.

But on their last morning, those on board were woken at 5am to alarms blasting through their cabins, as a woman’s voice repeated: ‘Alpha Team, Alpha Team, Alpha Team.’

After evacuating onto the top deck, passengers were panicked to see smoke billowing out of the big red fin, with many fearful they would be ‘the next Titanic’.

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Although they were quickly reassured the fire – which had happened in the engine room – was contained, power on the boat soon went out.

In 2013 the Carnival Triumph made headlines for all the wrong reasons (Picture: AP Photo/ Dave Martin, File)

The ship’s electrical cables had been destroyed by the fire, leaving the ship floating in the Gulf of Mexico without any lights, air conditioning, refrigeration and, worst of all – working toilets.

The next few unsettling days on board are now being retold in the new Netflix documentary Trainwreck: Poop Cruise, which details the revolting series of events that unfolded when passengers were told to pee in their showers and defecate in red plastic biohazard bags.

Despite some describing it as ‘the worst experience of their lives’, Devin is surprisingly jovial, as he tells Metro about his 2013 holiday from hell.

‘I hope I don’t have to poo in a trash can’

‘I don’t think any of us were prepared for what was in store,’ he laughs.

‘The first thought is “oh these poor people”…but we were all in the same boat.’

It was only when the crew alerted passengers to the issues with the toilets that Devin and his soon-to-be in-laws realised they had a problem.

Devin Marble was on the cruise with his fiancée and several of her family members (Picture: Netflix)

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He remembers being determined to avoid using the red bags, which passengers were advised to leave outside their rooms, so crew could collect and dispose of them.

‘I think you have to consider how small the trash cans on board are at that time. I’m going to break that thing. I didn’t know how these were going to work practically, and I hope I don’t have to do this,’ was his first reaction.

Although many did their business in this unconventional way, each day Devin would spend hours hunting down a working toilet on board. He’d learned that when the ship started tilting, the water in some toilets enabled them to flush, so he’d rush back to his family and urge them to quickly to use it too.

Describing the smell that soon began to waft through the cabins and corridors, Devin says: ‘Imagine going to a portable toilet in the middle of summer and someone turns the heating on and forgets to spray some Febreze – that’s what it smelt like on board. Just stagnant air.’

‘This type of crisis shows people’s true colours’

Unsurprisingly, the chaotic conditions on board soon lead to dystopian behaviour, with some passengers stockpiling whatever food they could find and fighting over chairs to create ‘tent cities’ on the deck with their sheets and mattresses.

After the power went out, many passengers resorted to sleeping on the deck (Picture: Netflix) Sewage then started sweeping parts of the ship (Picture: SWNS)

When tugboats finally arrived to rescue passengers five days after the power cut out, a storm also hit, leaving the ship leaning to one side – and spelling disaster for all the excrement that had up until that point been contained in the showers and toilets.

As passengers walked through the hallway, they were not only hit with a stomach-churning smell, but the realisation the carpets were soaked.

‘I learnt on the first day not to wander around the ship barefoot,’ remembers Devin. ‘The first time you walk down a hallway of carpet that is otherwise dry, and you think “well it didn’t rain inside”, you stop walking around around the ship with bare feet.’

Finally back on dry land

After five days stranded at sea, the Triumph finally made it back to port. As they disembarked, some passengers were photographed kissing the floor.

‘We were so happy because we could see lights and crowds. We were taking pictures and even put our life jackets on for fun,’ recalls Devin. ‘I will never forget the first thing I saw was Golden Arches. McDonald’s was there handing out Happy Meals – it was brilliant marketing!’

Many were ecstatic when the ordeal was over (Picture: AFP/ Getty Images)

As investigations were launched into the disaster trip, it was later discovered that Carnival had been aware of issues with fires on their ships before the Triumph set sail, but they insisted this incident had been an accident and the ship was fully compliant.

In return for their trauma, passengers were given a full refund, transportation expenses and a $500 ($366) payment. They were also offered a free cruise.

Carnival went on to spend $115million cleaning, repairing and refitting the Triumph – which still sails under her new name, Carnival Sunrise.

Despite enduring the cruise of nightmares with his future in-laws, Devin went on to marry his fiancée, and they now have two children.

Although, he admits, they haven’t been on a cruise ship since.

Reflecting on their week aboard the ‘Poop Cruise’, he says: ‘Looking back I don’t think it’s in the job description of the crew to walk around picking up adult sized doggy bags.

‘If there was one thing would have caused mass panic, it would have been for us to see the crew panic and they didn’t, so I give them props for that.

One was snapped kissing dry land when disembarking (Picture: AFP/ Getty Images)

‘They were going through it too and had to clean up after us. I think that’s pretty incredible – they were basically superheroes.’

In a statement to Metro, Carnival Cruises said: ‘The Carnival Triumph incident over 12 years ago was a teachable moment for the entire cruise industry.

‘A thorough investigation following the incident revealed a design vulnerability which was corrected and led Carnival Cruise Line to invest more than $500 million across our entire fleet in comprehensive fire prevention and suppression, improved redundancy, and enhanced management systems, all in support of our commitment to robust safety standards.

‘This is in addition to our vigorous Health, Environmental, Safety and Security (HESS) protocols that guide the entire Carnival Corporation fleet as we maintain our commitment to industry leadership in this area. We are proud of the fact that since 2013 over 53 million guests have enjoyed safe and memorable vacations with us, and we will continue to operate to these high standards.’

Trainwreck: Poop Cruise is streaming on Netflix.

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