A Royal Caribbean cruise liner is turning around and returning to New Jersey after encountering hurricane-force winds in the Atlantic Ocean — a hellish travel experience passengers are documenting in social media posts.
The Anthem of the Seas is headed back to its homeport due to upcoming weather patterns, as well as guests’ comfort, Royal Caribbean announced.
“I was shaking all over,” Shara Strand of New York City wrote to The Associated Press via Facebook. “Panic attack, things like that … I’ve been on over 20 cruises, I’ve been through a hurricane, it was never like this. Never.”
The liner encountered hurricane-force winds after departing Saturday from Cape Liberty, New Jersey, causing damage to some of the ship’s public areas and guest staterooms.
No serious injuries were reported.
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Passengers were forced to stay in their cabins amid the high winds and rough seas.
Sixteen-year-old Gabriella Lairson says she and her father, Sam, could feel the ship begin to sway by 2:30 p.m. Sunday. The captain directed passengers to their cabins. There, the Lairsons heard glasses shatter in the bathroom, and they put their belongings in drawers and closets to prevent them from flying across the room. They ventured to the balcony, where Sam Lairson shot video of wave after wave rising below.
“The winds were so strong that I thought the phone would blow from my hands,” Sam Lairson, of Ocean City, New Jersey, said in an email. “After that we had to keep the doors to the balconies sealed.”
Photos show passengers who appear to be leaning – but who were actually standing up straight as the ship listed.
The ship – which is carrying more than 4,500 guests and 1,600 crew members – faced 30-foot waves on its journey to Port Canaveral, Florida, and other destinations in the Caribbean, but ultimately never reached its intended destinations.
The company was sensitive to passengers enduring an “uncomfortable ride,” and said in a statement that a return “minimizes the risks of further bad weather affecting our guests’ voyage.”
Passengers were quick to thank the crew members and captain.
“I can’t wait to get home and kiss the ground,” said Ibrag, 25, of Queens, who saw water flowing down stairs and helped some people who were stuck in an elevator Sunday as he made his way to his cabin per the captain’s orders.
Royal Caribbean is giving all passengers on the ship a full refund and a future cruise certificate worth 50% of the cruise fare paid, the company announced.
Despite the issues, the ship “remained seaworthy at all times,” Royal Caribbean said.
With News Wire Services
