The Independence of the Seas cruise ship was set to embark on a voyage from Port Canaveral in the Bahamas when heavy rain and violent winds battered the cruise ship, sweeping away everything in its path.
The dramatic moments experienced on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship when a sudden storm broke out were recorded by passengers on their mobile phones.
The cruise ship Independence of the Seas was scheduled to begin a voyage from Port Canaveral in the Bahamas at approximately 4 p.m. on June 16, when heavy rain and violent winds battered the 15-deck, 1,112-foot cruise ship. Videos capture what followed on the cruise ship, showing how the strong winds swept everything in their path onto the deck, lifting chairs and sunbeds.
Instead of telling people to come up to the top deck when we have a severe thunderstorm warning, maybe you should be more worried about your guests and employees and tell them to get inside. #royalcaribbean #mikesweatherpage #independenceoftheseas #dobetter #portcanaveral pic.twitter.com/OTYFYZWczB
— Lucas Sparrow (@LucasSparrow12) June 16, 2023
“Just a fun night leaving Port Canaveral last Friday. No announcement from the captain before or after, no mention of what happened. Just pretend it didn’t happen, I guess”TikTok user Lucassparrow1110 posted.
Another passenger also posted terrifying footage on Twitter of chairs and umbrellas dangling from the ship as passengers screamed for shelter from the storm.
“Instead of telling people to go to the upper deck when we have a severe storm warning, maybe you should be more concerned about your guests and employees and tell them to come inside,” He wrote.
Jenn Stancil, who captured footage of the storm, told Fox 35 Orlando, “It was just crazy. It looked like a scene from the movie ‘Twister’ is exactly what I thought, because you see these chairs flying through the air.”
Kyleigh Cole, an agent at Boardwalk Travel, expressed his concerns about Royal Caribbean’s handling of the incident.
“There’s always something you can do besides just letting guests and travelers get wet and in the middle of a storm.” Cole said.
In a statement sent to the news agency, the company said that “Independence of the Seas encountered a sudden gust of strong winds. This lasted for a short time and there were no serious injuries to guests or our crew…”.
Eventually, the ship reportedly arrived safely at Coco Cay, an island operated by Royal Caribbean about 55 miles north of Nassau.
Source :Skai
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