Cruise ship passenger tells FOX 5 about troubled trip - KMSP-TV

A passenger on the crippled cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico talked to FOX 5 on Thursday about the troubled trip.

Jacob Combs said that the trip turned sour early Sunday morning when the fire alarm sounded.

"The first thing we hear is, ‘alpha team, alpha team -- report to the engine room.' It's an intercom system that goes throughout the whole boat and it's the loudest think you've ever heard," said Combs.

Shortly after, Jacob says the fire doors of the Carnival Triumph shut and smoke poured into his part of the ship, where makeshift evacuation centers had been set up.

"It was a pretty neat situation, actually, when we left. A lot of people were helping the elderly. My brother and I and one of my best friends carried a lady named Marita, who has cancer and can't walk very well, we carried her out on the stairs," Combs said.

Jacob said the toilet situation is as bad as previous reports had suggested.

"People are going in the sink, going in trash cans, going anywhere they could. They started distributing red bags that had biohazard symbols on them," Combs said.

Passengers used some ingenuity, cannibalizing an ATM for power to charge their devices and Coast Guard helicopters dropped supplies once they got within 180 miles of shore.

"They dropped generators; they dropped all kinds of things to try to give us enough power. Just, I think, so that our captain can talk with the station in Miami," Combs said.

Despite all the travails the passengers have been through, Jacob hesitated to complain.

"They're doing the best they can. I don't want to talk bad about the crew. They're really working hard, but it's just -- it's crazy and people are frustrated and just want off, you know," Combs said.

Jacob says because of there's only one elevator and other factors, he doesn't expect to get off the ship until 4 or 5 in the morning.