Couple’s dream cruise holiday ruined after pipe explodes and they’re covered in ‘horrible slush’

By BENJAMIN PARKER

Published: 16:22 BST, 18 June 2025 | Updated: 16:54 BST, 18 June 2025

An idyllic Caribbean cruise took a disgusting turn for a British couple after filthy kitchen waste gushed into their cabin.

Pam and Ken Jackson, from Merseyside, were on board the Marella Explorer 2 when the foul incident occurred – leaving ‘horrible slush’ over them.

The pair, both in their seventies, were only three days into a three-week cruise across the Caribbean Sea.

‘I just heard this whooshing noise, then this horrible slush came through the ceiling and covered me head to toe, and Pam was covered in it as well. The bed and all our belongings,’ Ken told the Liverpool Echo.

‘We were covered head to toe and it smelled like vomit.

‘It was macerated kitchen waste going down to the bilges to be offloaded on the next port, so it was really foul-smelling, and it was pouring out.

‘We stank something awful, and goodness knows what was in it apart from food waste.’

Pam added: ‘It flowed all over the bed, covering our personal possessions and medication and out through the door.

Ken and Pam Jackson were three days into a three-week cruise holiday when their cabin was flooded 

Pam was caught on video saying that the liquid ‘stinks’ and was ‘running down the walls’

‘We were covered from head to toe.’

Footage from the cabin shows brown liquid dripping through the ceiling and down the walls, onto a stained bed.

Pam can be heard shouting: ‘The lights are going on and off and everything.

‘Oh it stinks, it’s everywhere. It’s on my slippers. It’s running down the walls there.’

Following the pipe exploding over the couple’s bed, Ken and Pam were moved to a different cabin.

However, the pair claim their problems continued.

‘They took our clothes away and washed what they could, but in the process shrunk a lot of our clothes, particularly my trousers and a couple of dresses of Pam’s,’ said Ken.

The Marella Explorer 2 is a 1,814-capacity ship in the Marella Cruises fleet.

The Marella Explorer 2, part of the Marella Cruises fleet, can hold almost 2,000 passengers

Marella Cruises is operated by TUI, Europe’s biggest tour operator. The firm has apologised to the couple.

A TUI UK & Ireland spokesperson said: ‘We would like to apologise to Mr and Mrs Jackson for experiencing a broken pipe in their cabin during their Marella Cruises holiday.

‘We always do our best to ensure customers have the best possible holiday experience.

‘We ensured that we promptly moved the customers to a new cabin, and also offered compensation, which has been accepted.’

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Couple’s dream cruise holiday ruined after pipe explodes and they’re covered in ‘horrible slush’

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