david zambrano was on board with his girlfriend. at 6:00 al, he realized something was terribly wrong. >> i woke up to the smell of smoke. so i immediately knew something was inside. my gut will me something was happening. >> reporter: passenger stumbled out of their rooms. the ship's crew tried to keep everyone calm. >> there is absolutely nothing to worry about. if there was, i would tell you. >> reporter: soon the fire was contained but the splendor lost power and propulsion. the ship began to sway side to side. >> it was devastating. >> this is nothing for them. >> reporter: it didn't take long for some passenger to get sick. it didn't help th some toilets weren't working. by night fall, perishable food was going bad. marquis won't forg his birthday aboard the splendor. >> the worst part about the whole thing was the food and the

david zambrano joins us live and he's onboard that ship. thank you for joining us. it like right now? >> well, it's a little stuffy. we have some passengers that have full service restored as far as water and bathroom services, but no light, no power, no electricity, no air flow. there are rooms that are in that are in the dark and they have no air flow because they use the air conditioners to do that. their bathrooms are all backed up and they're really uncomfortable and those are the people on the lower levels inside the ship. >> how would you describe the overall conditions? is it pretty nasty onboard with the heat and some of the bathrooms backed up? >> i think it could be had they not gotten some of the bathrooms on three quarters of the ship working yesterday. we were without bathroom facilities for a day and a half and everybody was in the same clothes. it all started when 30 pieces of luggage landed in the water. we have people on the board that don't have any clothes to wear. they're just walk around in robes. overall, the general mood is just patience and

here's how david zambrano described the situation. >> everything is shut down, although the bars are closed, the casino is closed. people are doing their best to stay in good spirits. they're singing. the musicians are coming up to play to keep everybody calm. there's no power on the ship whatsoever. they have no food. they have nothing to cook with. it's almost like a diet cruise. because we've been eating salads and fruit and small sandwiches. the only thing that made it tough is when all the bathrooms weren't working and people were starting to get uncomfortable. there are still people in the dark here. there are the inward cabins that have no windows, so they have to prop their doors open. in order to see and breathe because there isn't any air. so they have three tug boating out here towing us to san diego. many of the people that i talked to said that they will never take another cruise again. >> again, that eyewitness report from onboard ship, the "splendor" is expected to dock in san diego tomorrow, three days after the fire that set it adrift. >>> now we turn to "education n

. >> let's talk to david zambrano from denver. how many days have you been stuck on the "splendor" now. >> four days. it's been stressful because of the condition but i have to tell you the crew was phenomenal in the way they snapped to and made everyone feel comfortable and relaxed. made sure they had food, water blankets. did everything they could to accommodate the passengers of the ship. >> i was reading about the fact that the ship lost power. it knocked out some of the stabilizers on the ship which meant passengers were complaining they could feel the ship rocking more than normal. did you see other passengers getting seasick? >> there were a few that were getting sick. a lot of them were just kids getting sick. i'll tell you, a lot of the passengers had -- they were just really happy and they felt comforted. you know, when you have good leadership, i'm talking about leadership of the captain of the ship and the entire crew. i have to give them credit. they really maintained order. there was no chaos. everybody did exactly w

david zambrano is one of the passengers stranded aboard the carnival "splendor." good to see you.ow are you doing this morning? >> thank you. i'm doing fine, chris. nice to be on dry land. >> happy to be off that ship, are you? >> yes. actually, yes, i am. >> whats was the worst of it? >> probably the worst of it was when the bathrooms were backing up. they started getting leaks on the floors below through the ceiling and they were having buckets out there and towels and the buckets were starting to fill up a little bit with urine. >> oh, never a good thing. and maybe -- >> never a good thing. >> maybe it didn't matter that you didn't have the lovely buffets that we've come to associate with cruises. nevertheless, do you have a newfound appreciation for spam this morning? >> well, actually, in all honesty, i didn't get any spasm. >> are you disappointed about that? >> i actually love spam. >> there you go. see, the one thing he wanted, the spam. >> all i got was bread. and here's why. is because the people in the front of the line were actually taking the one slice of meat that wa