"We were having such a good time," said the 2002 Woodland High School graduate. "We were eating so much food."
After having fun on land, Pena and her two friends from Missouri's Cottey College returned to sea aboard the Carnival Triumph. They were sleeping when, at about 5 a.m. Sunday, an announcement went over the loud speaker, "Engine team to station."
"You could smell smoke so you knew something wasn't normal," Pena said Saturday.
The cruise ship's engine room had caught fire, cutting off the vessel's power, sewage, heating and air-conditioning systems, according to media reports this past week.
"Even when the fire happened, I don't think we realized what was ahead," she said.
Pena was stuck in the Gulf of Mexico on the cruise ship that was supposed to return to land Monday, then Tuesday, until finally the ship and its 4,200 passengers and crew arrived in Mobile Bay, Ala., Thursday night. This was a week after it initially departed for a four-day cruise from Galveston, Texas to Mexico.
The ship's crew told everyone not to panic, Pena said, but this was before days of rotten conditions, which included waste everywhere with no working toilets or showers.
"It was a very scary situation," she said.
The remaining food was served buffet style with people either using tongs or their unwashed fingers, which Pena said "was a giant
illness waiting to happen." She felt nauseous at times while according to wire reports, other passengers became ill.Even though Pena is "definitely not feeling great" now that she is home in Sacramento, she said it's "manageable. She will be returning to her work in real estate Monday after she was supposed to be back last Wednesday.
Pena said it was strange sleeping in the Hilton after arriving on dry land Thursday. She had a working toilet and shower for the first time in five days.
"It was really weird," she said. "Coming back to civilization was surreal."
Carnival has refunded the passengers their four-day fare, which Pena said was inexpensive ($1,018 for three). In addition to paying expenses on board, the cruise line offered a voucher for another trip.
"Absolutely not," she said. "You cannot pay me to go on another cruise."
Pena had been on a cruise to Catalina Island with her husband and stepchildren before her trip to Mexico. So she didn't expect anything to go wrong.
There are "so many things that Carnival needs to answer," she said. "Could this have been prevented?"
The Triumph had experienced mechanical issues before the journey and will be idle through at least April.
Follow Katherine Jarvis at twitter.com/katherinejarvis
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