30 June 2023 - 15:00
M/V Carnival Splendor was preparing to depart Port Everglades, Florida for a cruise in the Gulf of Mexico. Captain Francesco La Fauci was making his rounds on the bridge while briefing his officers about rumored sightings of a mysterious creature lurking 3 hours south of Port Everglades. The crew was not worried and assumed it was another false report from the Coast Guard. 3,000 passengers and 1,000 crew would be on board this voyage to the Yucatan Peninsula before returning back to Florida. However, a problem was brewing somewhere in the Sea, and nobody would expect a tragedy of epic proportions.
30 June 2023 - 16:30
Carnival Splendor departs Port Everglades right on schedule and sets course for the Yucatan Peninsula. Meanwhile at the same time, a small fishing vessel was sailing in the Gulf of Mexico. The vessel was owned by an odd looking teenager named Ruby Gillman, who was actually a kraken that was trying to blend in to the human race as the rest of her family back home in San Francisco, California. Ruby was with her boyfriend Connor. Connor and his family brought Ruby along since she wondered what the Gulf of Mexico was like. Nobody on the Carnival Splendor and on the fishing vessel knew it was Ruby's true secret hidden within her family history that would bring disaster after her powers are revealed.
30 June 2023 - 19:30
The sun was setting on the Gulf of Mexico, and both vessels were now close to each other. Ruby was feeling strange, unaware that her powers were ready to activate, and she asked Connor's parents for a sea sickness bag. Once in the bed area of the small vessel, Ruby realized it was not sea sickness, it was her powers. She panicked as she transformed into her true kraken self, destroying the fishing vessel, but rescuing Connor and his family from drowning. Meanwhile on the Carnival Splendor, Captain La Fauci was enjoying dinner with the passengers on Deck 3 when he heard his radio go off. When he answered, he heard his officers panicking about something in their path. The captain immediately hurried to the bridge and to his terror and shock, he and his crew saw a giant kraken with a panicked movement in the ship's path!
"Hard to Starboard!" ordered the captain, and the crew began turning the 950 foot vessel to port. Moments later, Ruby saw the giant ship coming towards her, and in a panicky move, grabbed the ship with her enormous tentacles, believing it was all a bad dream. She then realized her tentacles were stuck, and she struggled to pull them off the ship, causing the 100,000 ton vessel to list heavily side to side. Captain La Fauci immediately ordered a general alarm, and radioed the Coast Guard about the situation. Passengers immediately grabbed life jackets and personal belongings that are vital to them from their cabins, and immediately raced to their muster stations on Deck 4.
30 June 2023 - 21:00
One hour and 30 minutes after the ordeal began, with Ruby Gillman trying to untangle her tentacles from the Carnival Splendor with no success, Captain La Fauci realized his ship was doomed, and gave the fateful order to Abandon Ship. Women and Children boarded lifeboats which were lowered away quickly. All 26 boats were launched half filled, and all Women and Children safely evacuated from the doomed cruise ship. All the men including Captain La Fauci and his crew. Moments later, Ruby Gillman freed her tentacles from the ship, and was horrified to the damage she caused as the Carnival Splendor sank to her watery , along with Connor, Connor's family, and all the Women and Children were now stranded in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico after a terrifying ordeal. All the men on the Carnival Splendor went down with the ship in such a heroic matter, that many wives and fellow sailors honored them while waiting for rescue by singing Nearer, My God, to Thee while waiting for rescue. By 23:00, the first Coast Guard vessels arrived on the scene along with the Costa Firenze to rescue Ruby Gillman (who has returned to normal at that point), her boyfriend Connor, Connor's family, and the 1,950 survivors of the Carnival Splendor
01 July 2023 - 12:00
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) began their investigation into the Carnival Splendor's encounter with a Kraken and her inevitable sinking which resulted in 2,050 men to perish while 1,950 women and children escaped in half filled lifeboats. At the same time, Ruby Gillman was reunited with her family, who helped her recover by bringing her to therapy.
31 July 2023 - 20:00
Carnival Cruise Lines gives the survivors a full refund of their cruise, along with the bonus of memorial funds for their lost loved ones. The NTSB established their final report on the tragedy.
"Probable Cause: Frightened Sea Creature accidentally causes Loss of Cruise Ship"
The Gillman Family pays tribute by donating to the Memorial funds and to survivors.
End of Story