The Carnival Splendor fiasco: By the numbers

What happens when a cruise ship hosting a convention of magicians gets stranded at sea? Here's a numerical look

The Carnival Splendor
(Image credit: Getty)

The thousands of passengers aboard Carnival's Splendor cruise ship signed up for a worry-free, weeklong trip to Mexico — but instead endured a nightmare after a fire in one of the ship's generators left the ship stranded at sea for three days without power. (Watch an AP report about the fire.) With its harrowing journey finally over, here's a numerical look at Carnival's less-than-fantastic voyage:

4,466

Number of people onboard the Splendor — 3,299 passengers and 1,167 crew

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

952

The ship's length, in feet

13

The ship's height, in stories

7

Days the cruise was supposed to last

14

Hours after the ship left port that the power went out

600,000

Pounds of provisions the Navy airlifted to the ship, beginning on Tuesday

70,000

Pounds of food provided by the Navy, including canned meat, Pop Tarts, and spam

$1 million

Daily cost to the Navy of diverting the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier to assist the cripple cruise ship

48

Hours some passengers' toilets were non-functional after the power outage

250

Magicians on board the ship as part of a conference gathering; after the power outage they became a primary source of entertainment for other passengers

6

Tugboats required to pull the Splendor back to San Diego

4 mph

Speed at which the Splendor was towed by the tugs

Sources: The New York Times, Los Angeles Times (2), USA Today, CBS News