BY ELLIOT SPAGAT
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN DIEGO -- Six tug boats pulled a stricken cruise ship into San Diego Bay early Thursday, bringing the nearly 4,500 passengers and crew closer to freedom after three days of limited food, smelly toilets and dark cabins.
Escorted by Coast Guard cutters, the nearly 1,000-foot Carnival Splendor reached the harbor mouth shortly before 7:30 a.m., Coast Guard Petty Officer Rachel Polish said. It's expected to take another two hours to dock and several more before the nearly 4,500 passengers and crew disembark.
Docking will be a tricky operation because the vessel has no propulsion and can't steer, Polish said.
"It has to come in at a certain angle," she said. "You can't just pull it in as you would at a parking spot."
Just about anything that requires electrical power was knocked out by a Monday morning fire in an engine room. There was no air conditioning, no hot food, no hot water, no casino. The swimming pool was off-limits because there was no way to pump chlorine.
"Every day is getting more frustrating for some people. You can tell some people are just angry," passenger Kate Kapelka told CBS's "Early Show" on Thursday morning.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/11/10/1919918/passengers-cheer-as-hobbled-ship.html#ixzz154QN8Ms9
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