Gross Cruise Is Finally Over

After five days smelly days spent disabled at sea, the Carnival Triumph cruise ship has finally docked in Mobile, Alabama, to the delight of passengers who cheered, danced, and sang "Sweet Home Alabama." Hundreds of people awaited the arrival of the biggest cruise ship ever to dock in Mobile. Passengers began exiting the boat an hour after its arrival, the AP reports; all passengers are now off the ship, according to Carnival's Twitter feed, via CNN. CEO Gerry Cahill boarded the Triumph and apologized to departing customers over the PA system.

"I don’t want to hear the word 'cruise' ever again," said one passenger. Added another: "It’s like being locked in a Porta Potty for days. We've lived through two hurricanes, and this is worse." Now, Carnival must brace for a flood of potential lawsuits, though passengers' legal actions are restricted by cruise terms. What does all this mean for the soaring cruise industry? Experts are divided, the New York Times reports. "There are more ships out there, so we are seeing a higher number of incidents like this, and that is not good for the industry," says one. But another says people have simply grown accustomed to cruise-related horror stories in the news. (More Carnival stories.)