began to fill the huge ship. they just said there was lots of smoke, lots of smoke but no fire. reporter: chris harlan grabbed his video camera as smoke poured out, apparently from the engine room. that can t be good. reporter: passengers were told to evacuate their rooms but an announcement over the ship s p.a. system tried to be reassuring. there s really no need to be by the life boats. reporter: life on board was transformed from luxurious to lousy. was it an adventure or it was terrible? it was camping on the ocean and i hate camping. it started smelling like rotten milk. people were hording. we went for breakfast and they grabbed fruit and boxes of cereal because we didn ted to stand in line for lunch. reporter: carnival cruise line said everyone will get their money back plus a free cruise if they want it. in our 35 years we ve never had anything happen to this level. reporter: but the company has not yet identified the cause. the national transport
couric: good evening, everyone. their ship finally came in, and for the 4500 passengers and crew not a moment too soon. conditions on board the carnival splendor were anything but luxurious after a fire knocked out power on monday, leaving the massive cruise ship stranded in the pacific. but today after being pulled by five tugboats it docked in san diego. many of the passengers are now laughing about their cruise to nowhere but as john blackstone reports, there was nothing funny about that fire on board. reporter: after three helpless days at sea, the nearly 1,000-foot-long carnival splendor was pushed and pulled through san diego s harbor, more than 3,000 passengers lined up on decks and balconies while the ship was nudged up to the pier. there was obvious relief that three days of cold showers and cold food was over. no more sandwiches, please. reporter: as passengers got off into a crowd of cameras and reporters, they told how early monday morning the ship tre