Urbandale Couple Stranded at Sea - ABC5 News Des Moines, IA

Urbandale Couple Stranded at Sea

Jessica Daley

jdaley@myabc5.com

@TheDaleyReport

An Urbandale couple is in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico on the Carnival Legend cruise ship slowly making their way back to Tampa, Fla.

"We've really been rocking and rolling, I'll tell you," said John Tillman of Urbandale.

Tillman and his wife Judy sailed off from Tampa aboard the Legend five days ago for fun and sun in the western Caribbean.

The problems started the first night. Tillman said there were vibrations so strong the beds shook. The cruise liner informed passengers they were having propulsion problems and were trying to fix it.

But they couldn't repair things enough. They had to skip two stops and are now slowly heading back to Tampa.

The Tillmans had this trip planned for awhile so last month when they heard about the other Carnival cruise ship Triumph that broke down, they were going to take the gamble.
 
"We were concerned something might happen. We were hoping that it wouldn't happen because you see how bad things can get," said Tillman. "I'm really going to miss the fact that we didn't get to see Belize and I'm really going to miss the fact we didn't get to go to Grand Cayman."
 
He said everyone on the ship is keeping their cool for now, but he's not sure if that can last through Saturday when they expect to make it back to Tampa.

Tillman said Carnival offered passengers $100 credit on their bill and 50% off the next cruise they book. He said he won't be taking advantage of that offer.