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Netflix released the long-awaited documentary Trainwreck: Poop Cruise on June 24, 2025, which revisits one of the most infamous events in modern cruising history. Over 4,000 passengers and crew members were trapped on a cruise ship with no power for days. The film shows their shocking, uncomfortable, and bizarre experiences.
The documentary is mostly about the Carnival Triumph's trip, which started normally on February 7, 2013, from Galveston, Texas, headed for Cozumel, Mexico. However, on February 10, a fire damaged the ship and left people without power, plumbing, bathrooms, air conditioning, and other basic needs for four days.
So, what exactly happened on the Carnival Triumph? As Trainwreck: Poop Cruise showed, the ship lost all power on February 10 due to a fire in the engine room. The toilets stopped flushing, and the air conditioner stopped. Soon, passengers had to deal with hot, dirty conditions and had to put their waste in red biohazard bags because raw sewage was running through the hallways.
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Trainwreck: Poop Cruise: The fire that started it all at Carnival Triumph
On February 10, 2013, just days into the cruise, an early morning fire broke out in one of the engine rooms of the Carnival Triumph. It was around 5:30 am when the blaze started. Though quickly extinguished, it destroyed the ship's main power cables.
Jen Baxter, the cruise director, recalled in the documentary:
“Everything’s out, from little things like making a cup of tea or a piece of toast, to the whole propulsion of the ship.”
The ship was left adrift in the Gulf of Mexico, dead in the water. Emergency lighting was activated, and passengers were allowed onto the deck for air. However, the toilets were not functional. Waste began backing up with no flushing system due to the failed vacuum-powered waste system. Baxter admitted:
“[There was] no hope of getting the power back.”
As reality set in, the crew handed out red biohazard bags for passengers to use as toilet substitutes. People were instructed to relieve themselves in the bags and drop them in the hallway bins.
One passenger, Devin Marble, thought at the moment:
“You want me to what?”
Marble, trying to maintain dignity in front of his fiancée’s family, resisted using the bag. But by the second day, he confessed that he would not be able to make it.
He began scouring the ship, looking for a working toilet. Rumors circulated that a few restrooms still worked, and people desperately searched for them.
Chef Abhi shared a horrifying description:
“People were covering the poop with toilet paper and then again pooping on top of it. So it was layer after layer after layer. It was like a lasagna.”
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Food, water, and the fight for basic needs
With refrigeration gone, the crew had to throw away perishable food. The kitchen staff began preparing sandwiches for 3,000 people using non-perishable items. Bartender Hanna, from the former Soviet Union, compared the scramble for food to life under a dictatorship.
People dragged mattresses out onto the deck to get away from the unbearable heat below. By February 11, the bathrooms smelled like urine because the showers were no longer draining. In the dark bathrooms with strobe lights, people used soda and light beacons to see.
Passengers on board were desperate for any way to connect to the outside world. People put their phones up to try to get a signal as the Carnival Legend ship came in to deliver supplies.
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Trainwreck: Poop Cruise: The delayed rescue and rough seas
Carnival had first planned for the Triumph to be towed back to Progreso, Mexico. However, the fire sent the ship more than 100 nautical miles off course. On February 11, tugboats started pulling the ship along, but bad weather made the trip more difficult. Baxter described how the weather turned for the worse.
Passenger Larry Poret said in the documentary:
“Everything overflowed to the floor and kept overflowing.”
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Media attention and Carnival's response
On February 11, family members on land began calling the press. Former CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin recalled the incident, saying:
"That's when we started saying, 'That's a story.'"
Initially, Carnival released a short holding statement, failing to mention the broken toilets. Later, Carnival CEO Gerry Cahill addressed the public, sharing:
“All our guests are safe, and we’re doing everything we can to make them as comfortable as possible.”
In the end, as Trainwreck: Poop Cruise shows, on February 14, 2013, the ship finally made it to Mobile, Alabama. Some people kissed the ground with relief as they disembarked. Carnival gave full refunds, paid for the travelers' expenses, and gave them a $500 goodwill payment and a credit that they could use on a future cruise.
Even though they were paid, lawsuits soon followed. Frank Spagnoletti was a maritime lawyer who helped a lot of passengers.
“This was something that was totally preventable,” he said in Trainwreck: Poop Cruise.
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Industry changes and Carnival's rebirth
The Triumph disaster led to the creation of the Cruise Passenger Bill of Rights (CPBR). The Netflix documentary confirms that Carnival removed its previous legal language that shielded it from responsibility.
Since 2013, cruise ships have had backup generators above deck. These generators, which are often made by Caterpillar, power the toilets, kitchens, and lights in case the power goes out. Ships also have two sets of engine rooms, improving security.
Following the event, Carnival spent $115 million to fix the Triumph. In 2019, Carnival Triumph was renamed Carnival Sunrise after a lot of repairs and improvements. It now sails to the Bahamas and the Caribbean from Miami.
The ship now has new restaurants, more modern rooms, a better spa, and safety features that are meant to keep it from breaking down again. Carnival has spent more than $500 million across its entire fleet to make it safer, prevent fires, and make sure there are backups.
At the end of the documentary, the crew of the Triumph is thanked. Even though they were going through a lot, passengers praised them for their efforts. Carnival was proud to say that since 2013, over 53 million people have sailed with them without any major problems.
Trainwreck: Poop Cruise is available to stream on Netflix.
