Triumph of the Human Spirit

The drama aboard Carnival Triumph came to an end as a steady stream of passengers departed the vessel in Mobile, Alabama Thursday night and into the early hours of Friday morning.

Segments of live coverage on CNN were introduced to the strains of “Sweet Home Alabama” as reporters awaited passengers to interview—some of whom they’d been in contact with as the ship neared port. If media members expected horror stories, no doubt they got some; however, by and large the interviewees were upbeat and smiling. One group of ladies, whose family member was evacuated to another ship early on in the ordeal due to her need for dialysis, held a banner reading “Thank You For Your Prayers” and proclaimed that prayer and faith sustained them. Two young women donned Carnival bathrobes against the chill of the night with ‘Float Trip’ scrawled on the backs. They explained that what began as a cruise turned into a trip floating around in the Gulf of Mexico.

I turned the TV off at 1am, but without exception the passengers I saw on CNN praised the crew and their efforts to make them comfortable. It was mentioned that crewmembers were laboring under the same adverse conditions.