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FLAVIO CADEGIANI VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
An image taken aboard the Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas shows damage to the deck on Monday.
MIAMI >> Federal transportation officials might soon be looking into a Royal Caribbean cruise ship that ran into high winds and rough seas in the Atlantic Ocean over the weekend.
Sen. Bill Nelson has called for the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate the voyage that forced frightened passengers into their cabins overnight Sunday as their belongings flew about, waves rose as high as 30 feet, and winds howled outside.
“The thing about this storm was that it was forecast for days. So why in the world would a cruise ship with thousands of passengers go sailing right into it?” Nelson said Monday on the Senate floor, according to a news release from his office.
The National Weather Service’s Ocean Prediction Center had issued an alert for a strong storm four days in advance, Susan Buchanan with the weather service said. The first warning was issued Saturday for possible hurricane-force winds in the area the ship was scheduled to sail through.
Royal Caribbean announced Monday that the ship was turning around and sailing back to its home port in New Jersey. No injuries were reported, and the ship suffered only minor damage.
“I was shaking all over,” passenger Shara Strand of New York City wrote to The Associated Press via Facebook on Monday. “Panic attack, things like that. … I’ve been on over 20 cruises, I’ve been through a hurricane, it was never like this. Never.”
Sixteen-year-old Gabriella Lairson says she and her father, Sam, could feel the ship, Anthem of the Seas, 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.”
The ship — with more than 4,500 guests and 1,600 crew members — sailed Saturday from Cape Liberty, New Jersey. It was scheduled to arrive for a stop at Port Canaveral, Florida, at noon Monday, then move on to other stops in the Caribbean. But Royal Caribbean said on its corporate Twitter account that the ship would turn around and sail back to Cape Liberty.
“This decision was made for guests’ comfort due to weather forecasts” that would continue to affect the ship’s itinerary,” Royal Caribbean tweeted.
Guests will get a full refund and a certificate toward a future cruise. Passengers onboard buzzed happily about that news, Strand said.
Gabriella Lairson said that by early Monday morning, people were out and about on the ship, checking out the minor damage in some public areas.
Lairson praised the crew and captain. “They did everything they could to make us feel comfortable,” she wrote to the AP on Facebook. She said she and her father were a little disappointed the ship was turning around, but she called it “the best thing for the safety of everyone.”
Fellow passenger Jacob Ibrag agreed. “I can’t wait to get home and kiss the ground,” said Ibrag, 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. The 25-year-old from Queens, New York, then stayed in his cabin until noon Monday, at one point filling his backpack with essentials in case of an evacuation.
Robert Huschka, the executive editor of the Detroit Free Press, was onboard and started tweeting when the inclement weather hit. He told USA Today that the ordeal was “truly terrifying.” He described the cruise director nervously giving updates, and he later posted photos of shattered glass panels on a pool deck.
But Huschka was among passengers who found a silver lining in the storm. On Monday, he posted: “The good news? They never lost the Super Bowl signal. Perfect TV picture throughout storm!”
Royal Caribbean gave guests free Internet access and a complimentary cocktail hour, spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez said in an email. “Feeling better after the happy hour they just put on for the guests,” Sam Lairson joked.
And despite her own worries, Strand said her daughter, 8-month-old Alexa, slept through the entire episode.
Associated Press writers Janelle Cogan in Atlanta and Tamara Lush in Tampa, Florida, contributed to this report.
Is the senator that bored? Seems like the Captn and company handled the situation.
I believe his point is that it should never have sailed into a forecast disaster—just like the cargo ship going into that hurricane going to Puerto Rico. But hindsight is 100% accurate.
The Captain and crew seem to handle the situation well. Happy to learn the passengers will be compensated for their ordeal!
Congress has better things to do than second guess RCL and the cruise line. The ambulance chasing lawyers will take care of it.
Man the torpedoes, full speed ahead, Captain’s orders! Was on a pre-inauguration cruise out of London on the Crystal Symphony and encountered a storm so the Captain changed course by sailing toward the Azores for the night and then returned to course. Many expensive dishes where destroyed in the Italian, Prego restaurant as well as the Kyoto restaurant which were separate from the main dining room. The ship for awhile listed about 13 degrees on the starboard side as we made our way to New York City. The ship arrived a day late and was greeted by several water spraying fire-boats. Angela Loungsbery christian he vessel the next day.
When you look at the video of the high waves, it was obvious should something have happened to the ship’s propulsion there was no way for a safe evacuation. Royal Caribbean dodged a bullet by allowing their ship to sail into the path of this storm.
What if the engines had been lost, preventing the ship from pointing into the storm to reduce the effects? Ship would have rolled side to side far worse causing more injuries and damage. If power was lost, no pumps to remove any water, could have been a disaster worse than the Titanic.
It appears RC’s management, safe and warm on land, had the same false impression about their ship the builders of the Titanic had, saying “God could not sink this ship.” Wanna bet?
Investigate what went wrong with RC and ensure it does not happen again.