We sat there for about 4 to 4 1/2 hours...maybe longer. Some of the crew members talked to all of us from the stage (it was a little hard to hear them) and the captain spoke (over the PA) periodically. The muster instructions were repeated in every language imaginable, except Italian. I thought this was weird since the captain was Italian. There was a family from Italy sitting nearby, and they were trying to catch bits an pieces. Finally, someone let the captain know and he repeated the whole thing in Italian for their benefit.
We could hear the crew taking down the lifeboats, and spilling shark-repellent in the water. They were obviously getting ready to abandon ship, but the process stopped at some point. My guess is they were finally successful in extinguishing the fire. They finally told us we would not have to abandon ship as we were safe right where we were. But, we still just sat there, and we were all getting thirsty and hungry. Since there was no power...there was no air-conditioning. It doesn't take long for a ship to get hot in the middle of the Atlantic, that's for sure. They would send up rations of bottled water, but it was pretty warm by the time it made it up to our balcony. This was one huge theatre! And man...did we want a cigarette. This was still an emergency situation, and there was no smoking or alcohol allowed.
Connie and I decided to take a chance and sneak out to the Lido deck for a quick smoke. There was nothing going on at this point...we had been sitting there for hours with nothing to do and they sure weren't updating us. Since we were sitting right by a doorway, we just sort of slipped out unseen and headed out. We couldn't believe what we saw when we got outside. There were passengers and crew members out there eating, drinking, playing music and dancing...having a great time! I know we're blond, but it didn't take us long to realize we were getting a "bum deal". We quickly went back down to the theatre and got the guys.
There was no water rationing on the Lido Deck...no alcohol or smoking ban, either. Shortly afterward, they sounded the alarm to call off muster. We were still outside, and getting pretty hungry, really. It was way past dinner time...but there was nothing to do. We finally saw some sort of line developing up by the restaurant area...and we saw a crew member walking around. It occurred to me, suddenly, that there we only a handful of crew up there. I wondered where everyone else went? But, we asked this guy if they'd be setting up another station for food soon as the existing line was too long. He said, yes and to wait right here.
About an hour later, someone set up some tables and brought out bowls of shaved, discolored ham and a mushy looking salad. We were standing right by the table, but everyone started shoving at the table and I couldn't get to the food. Another passenger, a woman, was pretty small, and able to squeeze under some people and shovel some food into a few bowls for me. I took four (I don't know where Connie & Tim were, but I thought I'd get some for them in case they couldn't find food). There were no utensils, and you had to eat the food with your hands. I brought two bowls to our cabin and kept them on ice.
The cabin was still pretty cool as it had been closed up, and there was no smoke smell to speak of. There was still some ice in the bucket and a couple of bottles of Evian on the counter. We didn't touch the water...we didn't want to get charged $3.50 a bottle, and we honestly thought they'd get the power on and we'd have water again at any time, now. We had heard nothing from anyone concerning the situation, and there wasn't a steward in sight. As a matter fact, you would be hard-pressed to find any employee of Carnival. They all just sort of dissappeared. No tips...no service, I guess. Connie and Tim got in, and told us they had found some food, too. So, we had leftovers...that was cool. We were bound to get hungry later on, and I really didn't think they'd feed us again. I was right.
We didn't know what else to do, so we thought we'd go outside and keep the door to our cabin closed so it would stay as cool as possible, as long as possible. Oh yeah...this is not the best thing to talk about, but it was the worst part of this whole thing. The toilets would not flush. No power...no flushing. But, we had to go anyway. It's amazing how 4 people can fill up a toilet. Before we left the cabin, we made sure the bathroom door was closed, too.
Bruce and I went outside, and saw a ship coming! Cool. Maybe these guys would bring supplies or get us off this thing. But I didn't recognize it as Coast Guard or Navy, and there were no colors flying on it. The ship came close by and stopped. It wasn't close enough to see people on it...but it just stayed there for the longest time. Then we saw the Coast Guard cutter coming up pretty fast. Apparently that ship shouldn't have been there. The cutter's "big gun" was pointed at them. I later found out it was a group of pirates.
