The vessel is is sitting 477 miles southeast of Galveston. The Coast Guard has a ship at its location taking photos. They say there is some damage to the ship.
When the 3,143 vacationers boarded the ship Thursday, they thought they'd be home today.
"We did the 4-night because I've never cruised before," said passenger Debra Gillis from Dallas.
But a fire in the engine room of the Carnival Triumph yesterday morning knocked out power to the ship, according to the Carinval cruise line, and it's now adrift in the Gulf.
Bethany Nutt and a bunch of girlfriends are on that ship. Her husband told us on the phone last night he had no idea there was a problem for seven hours after the fire.
"Carnival called me to tell me that there was a problem," he said. "There was a fire in the engine room and that the fire was contained and everything was all OK."
The ship has no cell phone service and Bethany couldn't call until another Carnival Ship, the Elation, pulled up alongside the Triumph.
Brent Nutt didn't like what she had to say.
"She was crying and stuff and said that they had no power. They have no running water. They have no way to use the bathroom," he told us.
Carnival says they've been working on restoring the plumbing and that many toilets are now back online in certain sections of the ship. The cruise line also says that power has been restored to some of the elevators on board and there's some power in the Lido dining area, so they're able to provide hot coffee and hot food.
On Sunday, the Carnival Elation rendezvoused with the Triumph to supply dinner for the guests. This afternoon, the Carnival Legend will also be on site to do the same.
Carnival says late Wednesday, the Triumph will be towed to Progreso, Mexico, and from there, the cruise line will arrange travel home for its passengers.
All of the passengers on board right now will get full refunds plus transportation expenses, but for Brent Nutt, who says he doesn't know when he'll talk to his wife next, it's not enough.
"If they would tell you the truth, it would not be so bad," he said.
The ship's next two voyages are cancelled. They were scheduled to depart Monday and Saturday. If you have a ticket, you should receive a full refund, reimbursement on travel expenses and a discount on a future cruise.
Concerned family and loved ones of guests and crew may call 888-290-5095 or 305-406-5534.
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