New Netflix documentary about Galveston’s ill-fated Poop Cruise
Dustin Chase
When over 4,000 passengers left Galveston on February 7, 2013, they were expecting a fun vacation aboard the Carnival Triumph. What they didn’t expect was to be, featured in the Netflix documentary series “Trainwreck: Poop Cruise.” Twelve years later, Director James Ross interviews passengers who endured one of the most talked-about cruises of our time. The 55-minute documentary, featuring footage from the ship and news stories, debuts on Netflix on June 24.
After an engine room fire destroys electrical cables supplying the entire ship, the boat is left drifting with no power for propulsion, refrigeration, lighting, air-conditioning, or, worst of all … flushing toilets.
The documentary focuses on three different groups of guests and multiple crew members recounting the not-so-triumphant vacation. Initially, a four-day cruise leaving Galveston, stopping in Cozumel, and then returning turned out to be a much longer endeavor. Most of us watched the news in horror as the details leaked out. Passengers pooping in bags, buckets, and sloshing around in human excrement, the “Poop Cruise” became a national news story and a PR nightmare for Carnival Cruise Line.