"I'm grateful, very grateful to be home," says Briggs.
Briggs' trip was meant to be a festive grip, planned for her granddaughter's 8th birthday. That dream trip took a terrible turn a week ago, when a fire on board blew out the engine and the power.
The problems only got worse hour by hour, day after day.
"The stench was horrible, and the toilets were filled," said Briggs.
Briggs then added that the toilets started overflowing. She and her family moved their mattresses to the fourth floor deck, where they slept outside for 5 days. For Briggs, a retired NYPD officer and 9/11 first responder, this was all about survival.
"I'm still trying to get over 9/11, and now this sets me back," she says.
Briggs plans to put her Carnival Cruise robe and her passenger card away for good. She hopes to soon forget about the smell and conditions on the Carnival Triumph. She has another name for the ship, but one that Eyewitness News cannot share.
The Staten Island resident knows she will be staying on land for a long time coming.
"Water, they can keep it, we have the Staten Island Ferry," Briggs says, "I don't think I'm ever going to get on that no more."
Carnival has offered passengers $500 a free flight home, a full refund, plus a credit for another cruise.
Briggs said that she has already contacted a local attorney with the hopes of getting more than that, saying the cruise company was negligent.
---
