At the end of the new Netflix documentary, it’s said that following the “Poop Cruise”, Carnival Triumph change its name. I mean, that was probably the least of its worries.
In 2013, the luxury cruise met disaster when a fault meant it was stranded at sea. The ship suffered a fire in an engine room which then knocked out power. The boat drifted for four days in total. For the whole time guests and staff were without air conditioning, and largely without lights, water, food or working toilets.
People on the ship were told to “do a number one in the shower” and a “poop in a red bag”. The Netflix documentary gives a first-hand telling of what happened, from those who were on board.
Following the so-called Poop Cruise, Carnival Triumph was renamed Carnival Sunrise. “After this incident Carnival spent $115million cleaning, repairing and refitting The Triumph,” the Netflix doc explained. “Today she still sails under her new name, Carnival Sunrise.”
via Paul Brown/Shutterstock
Why did the Carnival Triumph change names after the ‘poop cruise’ disaster?
In short, the name change brutally happened because of associations with the 2013 incident. Carnival spent millions revamping the ship, along with others in its fleet. As part of this, Triumph had a full rebrand. The hope was to leave the associations with the doomed cruise behind.
It has also been reported ticket sales went down after the incident, which would probably be expected. The new name was to reflect the boat’s complete transformation. There was probably an element of hoping people wouldn’t know what happened, but nobody will ever admit to that.
Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line said at the time: “The introduction of Carnival Sunrise will provide our guests with an array of exciting dining, bar and entertainment choices. The new Carnival Sunrise is part of our multi-billion-dollar ship enhancement programme that is transforming our fleet on an unprecedented scale.”
The ship was officially renamed, and the ceremony for this took place on May 23rd 2019 in New York. It is still operating today around The Bahamas and the Caribbean.
Carnival Cruises has since released a statement to The Tab about the Netflix doc. It called the incident “a teachable moment”. The company said it invested millions on improvements after what happened, and will now “continue to operate to these high standards.” Read the full statement here.
Trainwreck: Poop Cruise is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news and drops, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. Featured image via Paul Brown/Shutterstock and Zuma/Shutterstock.
