Marooned Cruise Ship Being Towed To San Diego

Nearly 4,500 passengers and crew members aboard The Carnival Splendor are now being towed to San Diego. The cruise ship became marooned in the Pacific about 150 miles south of San Diego on Monday due to an early morning engine room fire.  A tugboat was going to pull the ship to Ensenada but plans changed and it will now be towed into San Diego on Thursday.

No one aboard the ship was injured when the fire broke out in the engine room, but several people reportedly suffered panic attacks during the emergency.  Passengers and crew have no air conditioning or hot water.

According to a statement from Carnival Cruise Lines, the fire started around 6 a.m. Monday.  The 952-foot luxury liner was about 55 miles west of Punta San Jacinto on the first leg of a seven-day Mexican Riviera cruise. The Splendor departed from Long Beach on Sunday.

Bobbie Findlay, owner of Bobbie's Travel and Cruises in Carmel Mountain Ranch, said she knows a family whose 18-year-old son is aboard the Splendor.  Findlay says his mother was very concerned.  "I can understand why she was panicking. … people start thinking this is like the Titanic. She was worried because she couldn't get a hold of her son," said Findlay.

On Tuesday, 70,000 pounds of food and supplies were being flown by helicopter to the disabled cruise ship.  The stranded vacationers will get a full refund along with reimbursement for transportation costs, according to Carnival officials. They will also receive a complimentary future cruise equal to the amount paid for the aborted voyage.

Findlay says she is already receiving a lot of calls from worried travelers about future cruises aboard the Splendor.  "People have paid a lot of money and now we'll just have to wait and see what happens after Carnival assesses the damage," Findlay said.

For a complete video story from CBS News8 in San Diego, click here.