Travel News

A severe late-winter snowstorm battered northwestern Europe on Tuesday, causing widespread travel chaos with the cancellation of hundreds of flights at main airports and the suspension of train services including cross-Channel Eurostar trains, AFP reports.

Passengers on the nightmare Carnival cruise ship stranded in the Gulf of Mexico are using patchy cellphone coverage today to reveal that 'conditions are getting worse by the hour.'

Some of the 4,200 people on board reported that cabin carpets are soaked in urine, passengers are sleeping in tents on deck and scarce food supplies has reduced them to eating cold onion sandwiches.

 
The ship has been stranded since Sunday after a fire in the engine room crippled the power system.

The first tug boat reached the Carnival Triumph on Monday night and it is being towed to Mobile, Alabama at the rate of a few miles per hour. It is expected to crawl into its destination on Thursday.

Reports say that there are only five working bathrooms for the more than 3,000 passengers on board.
 
The rest are being asked by the crew aboard the vessel to urinate in cabin showers and defecate in bags.
 
Ann Barlow told CNN: 'It's disgusting. It's the worst thing ever.'
 
She told the network that the staff has been helpful, but that is doing little for the putrid conditions, including the unbearable heat and long lines for food and bathrooms.

Another passenger, Debra Rightmire, texted ABC: 'Conditions are getting worse by the hour. Cabin carpets are wet with urine and water.
 
'Toilets are overflowing in the cabins, we are having to sleep in the hallways. Onion and cucumber sandwiches last night.'
 
Another Donna Gutzman wrote: 'There's no lights, no water, we can't flush. Some people were able to shower.'
 
Those on board were only able to make contact with land via their phones when sister ship, the Carnival Legend pulled up alongside to drop off limited supplies on life rafts.
 
Holidaymakers have been forced to sleep outside as there is no air conditioning in their sweltering cabins.
 

Some passengers have no options other than bags or buckets for toilets with reports of 'raw sewage running down the walls'.
 
The news came amid claims that those on the ship have turned into 'savages' and are fighting over food, relatives said.
 
Passengers are reportedly queuing up to four hours to get a hamburger.

David Raynes, from New Hampshire, is on sister ship the Carnival Legend.

He took a picture of passengers on the Triumph on Monday, lined along the top deck, staring out to sea.
 

He wrote on Facebook: 'Our ship shuttled supplies to them, which was not an easy task due to the wind and high waves – it was hard for the boat they were using to get up close to the other cruise ship and then back to ours. They made at least two trips.
 
'Another ship, the Conquest, came along to bring more food to them. We could hear announcements from the Triumph, and their guests cheered when they heard the news that a tugboat was just 17 miles away. It arrived before we left. We were there about five hours.

The Triumph made a pass by us and the guests cheered and waved to us.'
 
CBS Houston reported that 500 passengers are McDonald's workers from the Houston area, mostly local franchise owners and executives of the restaurant chain.

 
The ship is listing to 4.5degrees and although not dangerous, the angle of the boat is 'not normal and would definitely be felt by passengers walking around', an expert told MailOnline. 

A 25-mph south-southeasterly wind has made it too difficult to tow the ship to its original destination of Progreso, Mexico, so the vessel has changed course and is heading north to Alabama.

 
Carnival Cruise Lines president and CEO, Gerry Cahill, said: 'All guests on the current Carnival Triumph voyage will receive a full refund for the cruise, along with transportation expenses.
 

'In addition, they will receive a future cruise credit equal to the amount paid for this voyage, as well as reimbursement of all shipboard purchases during the voyage, with the exception of gift shop and casino charges.
 
He added: 'We're terribly sorry for the inconvenience, discomfort, and frustration our guests are feeling.

'We know they expected a fantastic vacation, and clearly that is not what they received. Our shipboard and shoreside teams are working around the clock to care for our guests and get them home safely.
 
Brent Nutt, whose wife Bethany is on board, claimed that brawling has broken out among hungry passengers because food is so scarce.
 
At least one person has also been transferred off the ship because they are in need of dialysis and can't wait for the power to come back on.
 
The National Transportation Safety Board said it has opened an investigation into an engine room fire that crippled a cruise ship carrying more than 4,000 people in the Gulf of Mexico.
 
The NTSB said in a statement Tuesday that the agency and the U.S. Coast Guard are sending investigators to Mobile.
 
The NTSB says the Bahamas Maritime Agency will lead the investigation since the ship carries a Bahamian flag.

The Carnival Triumph was left stranded 150 miles off the coast of Mexico after a fire broke out in the engine room.
 
By Monday afternoon, some of the ship's power had been restored, but not enough to get the disabled ship moving again.

 
Although none of the 3,150 passengers and 1,100 crew were injured, the ship was adrift off southern Yucatan peninsula for an entire day before the tugboat arrived.
 
Mr Nutt, of Angleton, Texas, said his wife called him to say the plumbing wasn't working - but he was horrified by what he heard next.
 
He told CNN: 'She said that that would be the last phone call I was going to get. They have no power, there's no way to charge cell phones or anything.
 
'To hear your loved one crying saying she just wants off of the ship and it all has to end.
 
'All of the girls in their group were calling their family members as well and they were crying. Everybody wants off of this. It's a big mess, there's no power, there's no toilets, there's no food - it's like a bunch of savages on there.

'People are fighting over food and stuff - that's a bunch of savages. It's ridiculous. Carnival has nothing at all in plan in case something like this happens.'
 
Asked if his wife had been given any help, Mr Nutt said: 'The only help they've got is that they told them they needed to stay on the decks or in common areas.'
 
Writing on Cruise Critic, a blogger named Clinty76 whose wife and mother-in-law are on the ship, painted a similar picture.

He wrote that they told him: 'We are about to get supplies from another cruise ship and apparently the tug boats should be here tomorrow around noon.
 
'We have no power AT ALL, which means we can't use the toilets, wash our hands, or take a shower.'
 
On USA Today, Gary Keyes of Baton Rouge, La, wrote: 'My wife (is) on this cruise and has said the conditions were horrible. No power, no water, having to use the bathroom in bags'.
 
Carnival said that none of the passengers are in danger and that many of the toilets are being brought back online.
 
It also said that some power has been restored to the buffet, meaning that limited food and hot coffee service is being offered.

The engine room fire, which took place on Sunday morning, was quickly contained thanks to the automatic fire extinguishing system and but the ship was left to operate on emergency generator power, Carnival Cruise Lines said in a statement.
 
This is the latest commercial catastrophe to hit Carnival Cruise Lines, which reported it's 'most challenging year' in the history of the company in 2012.

In January last year, the Costa Concordia, a 114,500 ton luxury cruise ship operated by the Carnival-owned Costa Cruises, ran aground and sank off the Tuscan island of Giglio in Italy, killing 32 people.
 
Last month, Costa Cruises said Italian investigators were looking into Carnival Cruise Lines' potential responsibility for the shipwreck.
 
The company lost more than $310 million in full-year revenues compared to 2011 and although bookings for 2013 were at the same capacity as previous years, the company has been forced to lower their prices.

The Carnival Triumph set sail from Galveston, Texas, on Thursday, and was due back on today.
 

However, recent travelers with the Carnival Triumph were not surprised, San Fransisco Gate reported.

Cruise fans took to Twitter and online forums saying recent trips with the vessel had been plagued by engine problems with some experiencing delays and others prevented from reaching their destination.
 
A Carnival official told the paper that he was uncertain of problems on previous cruises.

 
Carnival said all passengers would receive a refund and ‘cruise credit equal to the amount paid for this voyage’ and the next two voyages for the ship has been cancelled.

Travel search site Skyscanner recently released a list of the world’s rudest nations for visitors, naming the countries whose smiley and friendly natives are apparently confined to their promotional videos.

The result, which lists 34 countries, is based on Skyscanner’s online poll, which received more than 1,200 responses from Europe, North America and Australia.
France, the champion of impoliteness

La Belle France was declared the champion of impoliteness, garnering nearly 20 percent of the total votes.

French people are known for “their abrupt and curt nature,” especially while facing foreign tourists,  Edinburgh-based Skyscanner told International Business Times.

Russia took second place with 16.6 percent of the votes, followed by the United Kingdom (10.4 percent), Germany (9.93 percent) and a puzzingly labeled “Others” (miscellaneous countries).

China (4.3 percent) ranked sixth on the list, leading Asia.
Language barriers and cultural differences are the main causes

China-based etiquette expert Lawrence Lo (卢浩研) pointed out that language barriers and cultural differences are the two major players behind the ranking.

“The French are very protective of their language, and customers can get different responses for ordering in French or in another language,” said Lo.

Yi Bao, Skyscanner marketing manager for China, gave an example to back the "culture difference" theory.

According to Yi, though queuing is a social norm in the West, it’s not a common behavior for Chinese people, “so [it] could be interpreted as being rude [by international travelers.]”

The personality of hospitality staff is another contributing factor.

Lo said many restaurants’ waiting staff in Chinese cities are usually young women from rural areas, and that the Chinese are naturally more shy than Westerners.

“[These waitresses] don’t have the confidence or language skill to handle foreign travelers. Sometimes, they’d rather avoid them,” said Lo.

“On the other hand, a lot of French waiters have worked in this position their whole life, so they have a superiority complex in front of travelers.”

Lo also said the result of the survey depended on what type of travelers were voting.

"For many backpackers, challenges in language and culture actually form part of the fun of traveling," said Lo.

Here are the 10 rudest countries on Skyscanner’s list:

1. France
2. Russia
3. United Kingdom
4. Germany
5. Others
6. China
7. United States
8. Spain
9. Italy
10. Poland

The countries voted least rude were:

25. Japan
26. Denmark
27. Canada
28. New Zealand
29. Indonesia
30. Portugal
31. Thailand
32. The Philippines
33. Caribbean region
34. Brazil