A cruise ship is a self-sustaining unit. There's no power cord to connect it to the mainland or a magical system that delivers power to it. If an engine fails, obviously the plumbing, electricity and other capabilities of the ship will be affected.
Just my 2 cents (or 2 euros)...
When I travel and choose to go on a cruise or on a flight, I know there are certain things that can happen - even if rarely - which may make my travel more inconvenient or dangerous. I know that there are certain things (described in insurance terms as 'acts of God') that could happen. To pretend that things can never go wrong is naive and unrealistic.
On a flight, this would include turbulence, engine problems, crashes, equipment failure, pilot error, acts of violence/terrorism, noisy babies, smelly bathrooms and crappy food, as well as uncomfortable seats and rude passengers/flight crew, etc.
On a cruise ship, this could include engine malfunctions, system failure, drunk captain (see Francesco Schettino), crappy food, rude passengers/crew, drunks, domestic disputes, etc.
While certainly I can sympathize with the passengers and crew aboard the Triumph, at the same time I feel that there is only so much one can do to prevent things like engine fires or failures. The reality is that any system is bound for failure at some point. With the many cruise ships around the world, this is a relatively rare occurrence, the same as with planes having engine failures.
Certainly, it's not fun to be around sewage and feces or eat onion sandwiches instead of lobster and baked Alaska, but unfortunately the ship is in dire straits and there is no other option. Sure, it's nasty and not an ideal way to spend a vacation, but what else can be done realistically? With over 4000 people in the middle of the ocean, it's not possible to swim to shore or to get flown out or ferried out.
The passengers are being refunded the cruise, are getting a free future cruise and an extra few bucks. That's pretty good. Having been on many of these cruises, unfortunately a lot of passengers are very rude to the crew and very inconsiderate around the ship. I have witnessed many episodes of people who were drunk crapping in the hallways, throwing food around, being horrible to non-English speaking crew and being total assholes in general. While I'm sure the conditions are poor, I am equally sure that some passengers are not helping or assisting the crew or other passengers and/or trying to improve the hygiene at all, all the while complaining and thinking about lawsuits.
Other posters have suggested collecting feces and waste in buckets and then throw them in the ocean. This would certainly be a better alternative to crapping in the hallway. Onion sandwiches are not so bad compared to starvation. What are the crew supposed to do? Without refrigeration I'm sure a lot of the food has spoiled. Can you imagine the ruckus if the crew were to serve spoiled food?
I'm not trying to absolve the company or to assume that maintenance or inspection could have not prevented this problem at all, but I do know that people tend to be very naive and fail to realize that things beyond anyone's control do happen.
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