Carnival Splendor Docks in San Diego with “New Chilean Miners”

Early morning on Veteran's Day, November 11, tugs dragged the dead-in-the-water Carnival Splendor into the Embarcadero.

The cruise ship had been disabled since a November 8 engine-room fire. Tugs brought the vessel and its nearly 5000 passengers and crew a distance of approximately 200 miles to port.

Passengers on the decks screamed with delight and were seen jumping up and down as passing motorists honked their horns. A few passengers began to shout at the passing parade of people gathered along the Embarcadero: "Anyone want to buy a [cruise] ticket?" A passerby yelled, "You are the new Chilean miners!"

News helicopters hovered overhead, and giant buses roared down North Harbor Drive to pick up some human cargo that probably doesn't care to see Spam or Pop Tarts on the menu anytime soon.