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Ahoy! Carnival's 'Splendor' Resumes Sailing from Long Beach
The Splendor, stranded at sea (AP Photo/U.S. Navy, Seaman Mikesa R. Ponder)
Hey, who wants to take a cruise to a country beleaguered by violence and kidnapping and risk catching one of those ship-board illnesses that often grip cruisers on a boat that caught fire in the middle of the ocean the last time it sailed? If this sounds like you, you'll be happy to know Carnival's Splendor is arriving back home in Long Beach this weekend, and is about to resume its Mexican Riviera cruise service, according to the Daily Breeze.Remember the Splendor? A fire in the engine room at sea in November 2010 left 4,500 passengers and 1,600 crew members stranded at sea for three days with no power and definitely a different kind of "fun" than the brochures promised.
The ship has been repaired, and is ready to get back to the business of making money for the company and for the port of Long Beach:
The economic impact of Splendor's absence is hard to estimate, but the cruise line spends about $50 million annually supplying its two Long Beach-based ships with supplies like food, fuel, alcohol, cutlery and other amenities.
Passengers also infuse Long Beach's economy with one or more nights of hotel stays, parking fees, dining, and shopping to the tune of an estimated $9 million annually.
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