(CNN) - Squalid, smelly and steamy, the crippled ship Carnival Triumph limped toward port Thursday, its passengers and crew looking forward to an end to their hellish cruise.
The laborious slog through the Gulf of Mexico tested not only the senses of the thousands on board, but their patience as well.
Rough weather overnight slowed the Triumph and the tugboats leading it to Mobile, Alabama. The ship, now accompanied by four tugboats, is expected to arrive at the port between 8 and 11 p.m. (9 p.m. to midnight ET), according to the latest guidance. At one point it had been expected as early as 3 p.m.
It's been a nightmare five days for the 3,143 passengers and 1,086 crew members on board the 900-foot, 14-story Triumph, where a fire broke out in the engine room early Sunday.
This morning on "Starting Point," moms Kim McKerreghan and Mary Poret talk about their emotional wait for their daughters's return.
READ MORE: Passengers count hours on 'floating petri dish' of a cruise ship as it limps to port
This is journalism at its worst. Get real people, this is a floating resort gone amuck, not a Syrian refugee camp, not the MS St. Louis, & not the Costa Concordia. 4 days with overflowing toilets and people sleeping outdoors in make shift tents with limited food sounds like my last camping trip at Bonnaroo, nobody is dying here.
soledad o'brien should be ashamed, I expect a more critical approach from CNN not pandering to hysterics. It smells like these women are simply trying to justify a lawsuit