A family on a Carnival Cruise recently claimed to have gone through a complete plumbing failure that left their room flooded with sewage. They recorded the whole event on video and shared it with their followers on TikTok, where the footage quickly drew attention.
Donyia, who posts under the username @yaybay_, shared the footage with her 5 million viewers. The TikTok video included on-screen text that read, “Carnival’s poop ship couldn’t get their plumbing together.” The clip appeared to capture the family scrambling to deal with the mess in the middle of the night.
As found by Brobible, the footage showed what appeared to be backed-up water spilling out from a bathroom pipe, with dark chunks visible and a bubbling sound coming from the drain. As the video shows, the water moved from the bathroom into the main cabin, it appeared to soak the carpet and created what the family described as a very stressful situation. The woman said it began while they were asleep.
Family describes the late-night response and the move to a new cabin
“This was the noise we woke up to at 2 o’clock in the morning,” Donyia said in the video. “Like this s- was so disgusting it stink. We was calling the front desk for about 15 minutes. Finally my fiancé had to run downstairs to get somebody.” When a crew member finally showed up, the situation reportedly did not improve much. According to Donyia, the employee asked whether they really wanted to switch rooms, despite what she described as health concerns.
The family said they eventually moved from their balcony room to an interior cabin, but claimed the process was difficult. According to Donyia, they had to pack their belongings and wake up their son, Ethan, in the middle of the night. She said they were told someone would help move their things, but alleged they ended up carrying everything down to the first floor themselves.
@yaybay_ Day 2 room evacuation #carnivalcruiseline #carinvalcruise #vacation #carinvalsunrise #poopship
♬ original sound – Yaybay| Lifestyle
In a follow-up video, Donyia described the smell that she said remained in the room as “horrible,” comparing it to a porta-potty. According to the TikToker, the family was offered a one-night refund or the choice to stay in the room, but said they decided to leave. She claimed they received a dinner voucher and were told their wet clothes would be washed the next day. In the video, her son was even heard on camera calling their new spot on the first floor “ghetto.”
@yaybay_ Partial refund and dinner voucher #carnivalcruiseline#carinvalcruise#vacation#carinvalsunrise#poopship
♬ original sound – Yaybay| Lifestyle
Commenters on the platform reacted with shock, with many calling the situation a biohazard and saying the family deserved more compensation for the trouble. Viral clips like this one regularly spread fast, much like the products people buy from TikTok trends. The incident also reminded some viewers of the 2013 Carnival Triumph ship, as one commenter said, “did we learn NOTHING from the carnival cruise in 2013?!? they’ve had problems for a LOOOOOONG time.”
The ship was apparently nicknamed the “poop cruise” after a fire reportedly knocked out its power and plumbing. A commenter said, “Wait was this THE poop cruise????” According to Matador Network, that event left thousands of passengers dealing with overflowing biohazard bins and sewage spreading through the hallways.
The family’s experience on this trip appeared to be on a much smaller scale. Not every viral moment ends well, though, as seen when one TikTok trend sent a woman to the ER. Despite the chaos, Donyia said in a second follow-up video that they had tried to “make the best of it,” sharing footage from what appeared to be their visit to Nassau.
