Trainwreck: Poop Cruise- Did anyone die on the cruise? Details explored

Officially known as the 2013 Carnival Triumph incident, the infamous Poop Cruise is noted for its horrible sanitary crisis and the pandemonium that followed the vessel's loss of power in the Gulf of Mexico.

Following the event, more than 4,000 passengers and crew were marooned for several days with no functioning toilets, restricted food, and intense heat. Although there was great anguish and dangerous conditions, there were no reports of passenger fatalities during the event.

Many sources state that although conditions were bad, all passengers and crew members survived the ordeal and finally disembarked safely as the ship was dragged to shore. It is interesting to observe, though, as shown in the film, that the captain of the ship perished on a subsequent, unrelated voyage, not during the 2013 incident itself.

Poop Cruise: The sequence of events

On February 10, 2013, the Carnival Triumph left Galveston, Texas, heading for Cozumel, Mexico. The cruise went as planned until the return leg, when catastrophe hit. The engine room caught fire on February 11. Though the fire was quickly put out, it damaged the ship's primary power cables, thus rendering the ship adrift without propulsion, cooling, or operating toilets.

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Four days stuck at sea for both the crew and passengers. Originally slated to be towed to Mexico, the ship drifted more than 100 nautical miles from land. The ultimate destination, Mobile, Alabama, increased the suffering by three more days. Arriving tugboats were meant to drag the ship, but severe weather made matters worse by rocking the vessel and pouring raw sewage onto the decks.

Life onboard during the crisis

Conditions aboard the Carnival Triumph quickly worsened. Toilets stopped operating without electricity, and raw sewage started spilling into corridors, cabins, and even the ship's dining spaces. Crew members told passengers to use red biohazard bags for bowel movements and to urinate in showers, leaving those bags in hallways once trash bins filled up.

One crew member compared the restrooms to a "poop lasagna"—layers of feces and toilet paper—while passengers reported walking through corridors with excrement underfoot. Many travelers had to haul mattresses onto the deck to sleep outside, forming makeshift tent cities, since there was no air conditioning.

Food stocks shrank and tempers flared as people fought for seating, deck chairs, and available supplies. Despite these challenges, there were no deaths or serious injuries noted among the crew or passengers during the occasion.

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The aftermath and the industrial response

After four days lost at sea, the Carnival Triumph was towed to Mobile, Alabama, where passengers disembarked on February 15, 2013. For the hardship, Carnival Cruise Line gave everyone on board complete refunds, a $500 payment, and a complimentary cruise.

Frequently referred to as the Poop Cruise because of the poor circumstances, the event became a major news story and sparked considerable public discussion. Emergency preparedness and safety procedures were harshly criticized in the cruise industry. Reviews of cruise ship safety systems and backup power plans were prompted by the Carnival Triumph disaster.

The occurrence also underlined the necessity of contingency planning and good communication for significant events on water. Through passenger, crew, and archival video interviews, the Netflix documentary Trainwreck: Poop Cruise explores the events again to give a thorough description of the mayhem and fortitude shown during the crisis.

Trainwreck: Poop Cruise aired on Netflix. It was released on June 24, 2025, as part of the Netflix anthology series Trainwreck. The film recounts the 2013 Poop Cruise disaster.