Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, above, moved boxes of supplies destined for the Carnival Splendor. Reuters

Thousands of passengers on a luxury cruise to the Mexican Riviera traded lobster tails for Spam on Tuesday after a fire disabled their ship.

The Carnival Cruise luxury liner that's stranded off the coast of Mexico is now headed to San Diego. Food has been brought on board for the forty-five-hundred passengers. Video courtesy Fox News.

A U.S. Navy aircraft carrier was diverted from a training mission in the Pacific Tuesday to deliver food, water and other provisions to the approximate 4,500 passengers and crew stranded on the cruise ship about 50 miles off the coast of Mexico.

Navy personnel loaded boxes of food onto a plane headed toward relief efforts for the stranded Carnival Splendor Tuesday in San Diego. Gregory Bull/Associated Press

The Carnival Splendor, which was disabled after an engine room fire, was expected to be stuck at sea until late Thursday. A Mexican tugboat began pulling the 952-foot-long luxury liner to San Diego, with several more tugboats en route, Carnival said late Tuesday. But the vessel could still be re-routed to the Mexican port in Ensenada, which is closer, if the vessel "is unable to maintain sufficient speed under tow," the company said.

Helicopters are distributing around 65,000 pounds of supplies and canned and boxed foods such as Pop Tarts, croissants, crab meat—and Spam.

"It's a pretty safe situation, but it's not nearly the posh circumstances they went out there for, I'm sure," Lt. Patrick Montgomery, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman, said.

A Seahawk helicopter flies supplies. Associated Press

The ship, which departed from Long Beach, Calif., Sunday on a seven-day voyage to the Mexican Riviera, was about 200 miles south of San Diego when a fire ignited in the engine room, cutting off power, telephone service and air conditioning, according to Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines.

No injuries were reported among the 3,299 guests and 1,167 crew, the company said.

The cause of the fire is unknown. William Garzke, a naval architect who investigates ship accidents and sinkings, said the blaze could have been triggered from a burst pipe or the short circuiting of an electrical cable. "If it's an accident, those are the things that can happen," said Mr. Garzke, who hasn't had any contact with the company but is familiar with cruise ship design.

The Coast Guard boarded the Splendor and was conducting an investigation Tuesday. A Coast Guard rescue ship is also on-site to help assist and monitor with any medical emergencies.

"We are working to get our guests home as quickly as possible," Gerry Cahill, chief executive of Carnival Cruise Lines, a unit of Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise liner, said in a statement.

Passengers were ushered at 6 a.m. Monday from their cabins to the ship's upper areas after the fire broke out. The ship was using generators to provide auxiliary power for the use of toilets and cold water.

The Carnival Splendor Reuters

Passengers were allowed to move freely around the ship, and Carnival was offering live-music performances, blackjack tournaments and trivia contests to keep people occupied, a company spokesman said.

Internet service was knocked out because of the loss of power. Phones were too far from cellphone towers to get reception.

Carnival said it was in the process of booking the necessary hotels and flights. Once ashore, passengers will be given a full refund and offered credit equal to the price they paid for a future Carnival cruise, the spokesman said.

Carnival Cruise Lines, which mostly caters to the North American mass market, operates roughly 1,400 voyages a year, carrying nearly four million people aboard its 22-ship fleet.

In 2006, another Carnival ship, the Star Princess, was set ablaze by a cigarette left on the balcony, killing one and injuring 11 others. That incident led to more sprinklers being installed on balconies and fewer smoking areas.

Write to Timothy W. Martin at