Carnival Triumph cruise ship: From honeymoon to hell - Unlucky couple marry only to become stranded aboard

Instead of a romantic wedding at sea, one Texan couple's nuptials has descended into hell because they are currently stranded on the Caival Triumph cruise ship in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.

Rob Mowlam, 37 and Stephanie Stevenson, 27 of Nederland, Texas were married by the captain of the now stricken vessel on Saturday night, but the next day an engine fire disabled the 900-foot vessel leaving it a bobbing cork in the ocean.

Instead of a champagne breakfast, the newly married couple are now stranded along with 4,200 other passengers surrounded by cabin carpets soaked in urine, reduced to going to the bathroom in plastic baggies left in corridors.

Indeed the stench is reported to be so great that some of the unlucky passengers are becoming physically sick due to the stench, while overflowing toilets and scarce food supplies are causing some to make panicked and teary cell-phone calls home - if they can.

Now into the fourth day of their 'honeymoon' Mowlam and Stevenson are patiently waiting for the vessel to dock in Mobile, Alabama, on Thursday afteoon, if the weather allows them.

'[Rob Mowlam] had been with his girlfriend, or fiance, for a long period of time and they just took the next step,' Mowlam's brother James Mowlam III told ABCNews.com.

'The captain is the king of the world when they're on the boat and he hitched them up.'

James Mowlam told ABC News that he has not been able to communicate with his electrician brother, but that his father has been having sporadic communication with him.

'It would be my guess that this would probably not be on anyone's great list of memorable wedding experiences,' Mowlam said with a laugh.

'Although, my mom told him that she was hoping they had a memorable wedding and I think this would classify as a memorable wedding experience.'

The bride's brother, Justin Davis, told ABCNews.com that his sister was gifted the cruise from colleagues at the doctor's office she works in.

While David has not been able to speak to his sibling, he did say that her two young sons are being cared for by their grandmother.

'She might be a little aggravated at the situation, but I'd say she's [probably] handling it really well,' said Davis.

The grooms father, Jimmy Mowlam, 63, said, 'We have brief conversations because it is extremely expensive and everybody else is trying to get lines too.

'They said they would be in touch when they could.'

Mowlam said his son told him the lack of ventilation on the Triumph had made it too hot to sleep inside and that many passengers had set up camp on the ocean liner's decks and in its common areas. Mowlam said he wasn't sure where his son was sleeping.

'He said up on deck it looks like a shanty town, with sheets, almost like tents, mattresses, anything else they can pull to sleep on,' said Mowlam, of the southeast Texas town of Warren. His son is from nearby Nederland.

Mowlam said his son indicated that passengers are trying to make the best of a bad situation.

Coming to the rescue: Another Caival cruise liner called the Legend went off course to help the other boat but dropping off supplies proved difficult in high seas, according to one passenger

On the move: The coastguard said that the Caival Triumph is about 200 miles south of Alabama on Wednesday

'So far people have been pretty much taking it in stride,' Mowlam said his son told him.

Rob Mowlam told his father the ship's crew had started giving free alcohol to passengers.

'He was conceed about what that was going to lead to when people start drinking too much,' Mowlam said.

Kim McKerreghan told CNN that her daughter Allie Taylor was stuck on the cruise ship with her ex-husband and was becoming hysterical over the 'scary' conditions.

Ms McKerreghan said: 'She said ''Mommy, it's so scary. I want to come home. Just come get me.'''

One passenger, Anne Barlow, sent a text message from on board saying that less able passengers were 'struggling', the smell was 'gross' and her room was leaking sewage.

Helpless: Ms McKerreghan's daughter Allie Taylor and her friend Mary Poret's daughter are highly emotional at being stuck in dire conditions on the cruise ship

Emotional time: Kim McKerreghan said that her ten-year-old daughter Allie had called from her vacation on the cruise ship and said she was 'scared'

Frightened: The little girls, who are used to going on cruises, have been crying on the phone during brief calls to their mothers

Long way from home: Both mothers had driven from their homes in Texas to Alabama armed with food and antibiotics for their daughters

Some of the people on board reported that cabin carpets are soaked in urine, passengers are sleeping in tents on deck and scarce food supplies that has reduced them to eating cold onion sandwiches.

Vacationers were fighting over food, elderly people running out of medications and formula and diaper supplies were limited for babies, according to some reports.

One of Mrs Barlow's twin 11-year-old sons, Colby, told ABC: 'I just hope that she comes back safely and sound.'

The Caival Triumph, which is carrying 4,200 passengers and crew, is expected to dock on Thursday afteoon - weather permitting.

A group of 500 McDonald's were reportedly on board, said CBS, to take part in a supposed 'team-building trip'.

Other passengers have described more dire conditions, including overflowing toilets and limited access to food.

Dustin Martinez, from San Antonio, Texas said that he was conceed for his mother who was on board. He last heard from her on Sunday.

He told KSAT: 'I got a phone call from her. Very brief. Basically saying, ''I'm fine, We have food. No toilets.'''

Passenger Donna Gutzman texted click2houston: 'There's no water and you can't flush, so everyone is going in little plastic baggies and putting it outside their room.'

Brent Nutt, whose wife Bethany is on board, claimed that brawling has broken out among hungry passengers because food is so scarce.

Mr Nutt, of Angleton, Texas, said his wife called him to say the plumbing wasn't working - but he was horrified by what he heard next.

He told CNN: 'She said that that would be the last phone call I was going to get. They have no power, there's no way to charge cell phones or anything.

'To hear your loved one crying saying she just wants off of the ship and it all has to end.

'All of the girls in their group were calling their family members as well and they were crying. Everybody wants off of this. It's a big mess, there's no power, there's no toilets, there's no food - it's like a bunch of savages on there.'

Anxious: Ann Barlow, pictured with her 11-year-old twin boys, is on the Caival Triumph, where she texted that the smell was gross and the elderly and disabled were struggling

Ruined: Bethany Nutt poses with a Caival cup before disaster struck on the ill-fated Triumph cruise ship

Another passenger, Debra Rightmire, texted ABC: 'Conditions are getting worse by the hour. Cabin carpets are wet with urine and water.

'Toilets are overflowing in the cabins, we are having to sleep in the hallways. Onion and cucumber sandwiches last night.'

Another Donna Gutzman wrote: 'There's no lights, no water, we can't flush. Some people were able to shower.'

Despite a forecast of stronger winds and higher seas, the Coast Guard and Caival said they did not expect conditions to deteriorate aboard ship.

A cold front was expected to cross the central Gulf where the vessel is being towed, bringing north and northwesterly winds of 15-25 mph and seas of four to six feet, said Dennis Feltgen, spokesman for the National Hurricane Center.

However, such conditions shouldn't affect conditions aboard ship, said Bill Segelken, from the Coast Guard Galveston command center.

The ship was about 200 miles south of Mobile at the start of Wednesday, the Coast Guard said.

The ship left Galveston, Texas, for a four-day cruise last Thursday with 3,143 passengers and 1,086 crew members.

Cry for help: The stranded passengers on the Caival Triumph line the top deck today in the Gulf of Mexico. The picture was taken by a guest on the Triumph Legend when the sister ship pulled up alongside to drop off supplies

Vacation from hell: Dustin Martinez, from San Antonio, Texas, said that his mother (left) was on board the ship and had call briefly to say that conditions were dire

The ship was about 150 miles off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Sunday when an engine room fire knocked out its primary power source, crippling its water and plumbing systems and leaving it adrift on only a backup power.

No one was injured in the fire, but Caival spokeswoman Joyce Oliva said on Tuesday that a passenger with a pre-existing medical condition was taken off the ship as a precaution.

Everyone else likely will have to remain onboard until the ship reaches Mobile which is expected to happen on Thursday, weather permitting.

Besides two tugs, at least two other Caival cruise ships have been diverted to the Triumph to leave supplies and a 210-foot Coast Guard cutter was at the scene, Coast Guard Petty Officer Richard Brahm said on Tuesday.

Jay Herring, a former senior officer for Caival Cruise Lines, said one of the biggest conces crew members will have until the ship docks is the potential for disease outbreak, particularly norovirus, which causes vomiting and diarrhea.

Safety measures: The U.S. coastguard posted this picture today as it follows the Caival Triumph while it crawls to shore after being stranded in the Gulf of Mexico

Nightmare vacation: Bethany Nutt (center) pictured with two friends who had joined her in a group trip on the Caival cruise. She called her husband hysterical about the conditions on board the boat

Worry: Brent Nutt said that his wife Bethany had called him hysterically crying from on board the ship to say that conditions were horrendous

Diabolical: Passengers are reporting that cabin carpets are soaked in urine because toilets are overflowing on board the stranded ship (this is a stock image which has been posed by models)

Party's over: The Caival Triumph normally offers abundant buffets for guests - who are now being forced to eat onion sandwiches and queue four hours for a hamburger (stock image)

'Housekeeping, others are probably working double shifts to keep the mess clean and wipe down and sanitize all the common areas,' said Herring, who worked for Caival from 2002 to 2004 and spent four months on the Triumph.

Caival hasn't determined what caused the fire, said Oliva, the company spokeswoman.

The National Transportation Safety Board announced Tuesday it has opened an investigation into the cause of the fire. The NTSB said the Bahamas Maritime Agency will lead the investigation because the ship carries a Bahamian flag.

The ship was originally going to be towed to a port in Progreso, Mexico, but after currents pushed it northward, the company decided to take it to Alabama, saying it would make it easier for passengers without passports to get home.

Caival Cruises CEO reassured families on Tuesday that it is making passengers stranded on the  ship as comfortable as possible with running water and some working bathrooms - contradicting the accounts of passengers who told relatives of filthy, hot conditions and eating cold onion sandwiches.

President Gerry Cahill said most of the boat's 23 public restrooms and some of the guest cabin bathrooms were working.

The Heat is on: Caival owner Micky Arison watches his team Miami Heat play on Tuesday night as thousands of his cruise ship passengers remained stranded at sea

He downplayed the possibility of an outbreak of disease from unsanitary conditions, saying the ship had not seen an abnormal number of people reporting to the infirmary as being ill.

'No one here from Caival is happy about the conditions onboard the ship,' Cahill said at a news conference in Miami.

'We obviously are very, very sorry about what is taking place.'

Cahill said Caival has reserved more than 1,500 hotel rooms in Mobile and New Orleans for Thursday. The company plans to retu passengers back to Houston on Friday using charter flights.

A similar situation occurred on a Caival cruise ship in November 2010. That vessel, named Splendor, was stranded with 4,500 people aboard after a fire in the engine room. When the passengers disembarked in San Diego, they described a nightmarish three days in the Pacific with limited food, power and bathroom access.