Sailing from the Bahamas to New York to celebrate the New Year was supposed to be a relaxing getaway with gentle seas.
But passengers aboard the Norwegian Breakaway cruise ship were left seasick and fearing for their lives after the ship sailed straight through a powerful winter storm.
The beginning of the 14-day New Year celebration on the Breakaway went smoothly, but it ran into major problems during the final days of the trip as it made its way back from the Bahamas to Manhattan.
Three days before it was supposed to re-dock in Manhattan, the ship ran into the ‘bomb cyclone,’ a massive storm that buried the Northeast in snow and ice.
Now passengers have shared their horror, revealing how people were vomiting all over the boat and children were crying because of the rough seas.
The Norwegian Cruise ship Breakaway sailed through winter storm ‘bomb cyclone’ causing passengers to panic because of the dangerous weather conditions
The strong winds easily tossed outside furniture around the ship’s deck
Passengers aboard the Norwegian’s ship Breakaway said the terrifying weather conditions lasted for three days
Crews placed towels on the floors after one video showed water pouring from a ceiling
Several members of the ship’s crew were seen mopping water from the sopping wet floors
Passengers aboard the ship flocked to social media to share videos and photos of huge waves crashing against the boat causing it to rock back and forth in the middle of the Atlantic ocean.
‘It sounded as if the boat was just going to break in two,’ passenger Brenda Walsh-Matias told WNEP.
‘It was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced. The waves were over 40 feet and it was continuous – children crying, people seasick, vomiting all over the boat.’
Other videos showed art work taped to the wall so they wouldn’t crash to the ground and towels spread across the sopping floors. Passengers who were too afraid to sleep in their rooms, camped out in the main lobby.
Another video showed water pouring from the ceilings, flooding and the balcony and outside deck covered in ice.
‘It was so ferocious. I can’t even explain it,’ Walsh-Matias said.
Another passenger, Julia Wedidow, said she woke up on the first night of their three-night disaster to items from her closet falling on top of her.
‘I literally started saying prayers because I was so scared,’ Wedidow, who was on the cruise with her three-year-old son, told WNEP.
Passengers shared videos on social media showing the waves crashing over the lower decks of the ship
The water was so rough that it caused the cruise ship to rock back and forth as it sailed through the ‘bomb cyclone’
One passenger said the waves reached her 11th-floor balcony
The storm left snow and ice covering the ship’s decks and balconies
Even some of rooms along the deck were covered in ice from the storm
Passengers have demanded Norwegian give them a refund after the disastrous trip
Norwegian apologized to passengers and said weather conditions that day were ‘stronger than expected’
Although the 4,000 passengers made it safely back to New York, many of them are still haunted by the experience.
Christina Mendez, who was on the cruise with her two children, told CBS News that it was ‘hell’ for her and her family.
She had documented the horror on her Facebook page, sharing a video of the waves nearly reaching her 11th-floor balcony.
‘(My kids are) remember puking everywhere. They’re gonna remember everything they heard and saw,’ she said.
Many of the passengers said they requested refunds from Norwegian, but only received a $500 credit towards another one of their cruises.
The cruise line said in a statement that weather conditions were ‘stronger than expected’ and they apologize for any ‘discomfort’ passengers may have experienced.