Fresno, Oakhurst cruise passengers return home

Many valley residents who were passengers on that cruise are now making their way back home.

Fresno residents Stanley and Marqui Hastings still wear their carnival hats despite being stranded on the crippled cruise ship splendor for three days.

For Stanley the worst part of the trip was the cold food. Some of it is seen here in these photos.

"They were real creative with sandwiches. I think I opened up a piece of bread and it a beet sandwich. Like a sugar beet. It was just a slice of beet. So I tried it I'm game. Awww that was the worst sandwich I've ever eaten," Hastings said.

Wayne Warner of Oakhurst was also a passenger on the cruise ship. He says with no electricity -- people with disabilities had a hard time getting in line to eat.

"One of our members was in a wheelchair. She had to be hand carried from the lower deck all the way to the top deck with no elevators," Warner said.

Wayne's wife Bonnie says the quest for food also brought out the worst in people. "I saw people hoarding food. And even though we were criticizing people carrying huge amounts of food down to their rooms, which you knew they weren't going to eat they were just hoarding it. We found ourselves doing it also on the third day stealing little boxes of cereal," Bonnie Warner said.

But things weren't all bad on the splendor.

The Warner's used the little boxes of cereal as currency while playing poker for hours on end. "We had no chips. So we got the cheerio boxes, opened it up and we used that for our chips," Wayne Warner said.

Passengers arrived at a San Diego port Thursday -- happy to be back on dry land.

The Hastings say this experience won't stop them from going on another cruise in the future.

But for bonnie the decision is not as easy. "I don't know if I'll cruise again for a long time," added bonnie Warner.

Both the Warner's and Hasting's say carnival did a marvelous job in handling the situation. They've even been comped for their trip which includes another free cruise from the company down the road.