the cruise ship Carnival Sunshine was rocked by a storm last weekend, spooking passengers and delaying the ship’s return to port in Charleston, South Carolina, USA, and the departure of the next voyage.
First-time cruise passenger William B. Blackburn was on deck 6 of the Carnival Sunshine during severe weather that began Friday (26). “It was scary,” Blackburn told CNN .
Blackburn was on the cruise with his wife and other family members.
“We stayed in our cabin and prayed we were going to be okay,” Blackburn said, and they found out where the life jackets were kept.
“[Nós] we discussed the fact that it would be very unlikely to survive in the water even with life jackets and we doubt that lifeboats could be launched under these conditions,” he said.
Another cruise passenger, Bill Hassler told CNN who was “surprised to still be alive” after weathering the storm and said other passengers were “white as ghosts” when they finally disembarked late on Saturday (27).
He shared video footage showing water trickling down hallways, huge waves outside, and bottles and other items strewn across common areas.
Hassler criticized the cruise line for allowing the ship to sail in such extreme weather. “Why would you sail in this storm with 80 mile an hour winds, I mean who does that? What were they thinking?”
The aftermath aboard Carnival Sunshine after a severe storm.
The crew from Deck 0-4 evacuated to the theater, and anywhere they could rest… the crew bar destroyed. pic.twitter.com/MqsDJYvrSG— CrewCenter (@CrewCenter) May 28, 2023
“They should have stayed in port in the Bahamas, waited a day for the storm to subside a bit, and then left. Or when they got into the storm, why didn’t they go further out into the ocean to get to the other side?
Hassler said that at one point, a wave broke his cabin window, allowing water in.
“When I got home on Sunday night, I had to crack open a beer and think about it, and I started shaking because it hit me. I couldn’t believe I’m still here.”
Carnival Cruise Line addressed the weather situation in a note:
“Carnival Sunshine’s return to Charleston was impacted by weather and rough seas on Saturday,” Carnival said. “The prolonged impact of weather in the Charleston area delayed the ship’s arrival on Sunday and, as a result, embarkation on the next voyage was also delayed.”
The cruise line said the ship is now sailing on its next voyage.
Blackburn recorded his video of the storm around 11 pm on Friday and said conditions deteriorated thereafter. He thought about taking more videos, but he was afraid to open the door again.
“It felt like the ship had hit a wall, all our stuff went flying off the counters, luggage fell off and slid off,” he said.
“The wind was howling, all I could see outside was a solid wall of water spray and mixed rain. The partition door to the balcony of the cabin next to us broke its latches and slammed back and forth, something horrible. The roof and walls were creaking, and the ship was making horrible noises, and sometimes vibrating violently as if the engines were fighting the waves.”
The video posted online on Twitter @crewcenter it shows water and objects flowing through the interior corridors.
Carnival Sunshine has a capacity for 3,002 passengers and 1,040 crew on board. O ship it has 14 levels.
*With information from Jennifer Henderson, Barry Neild and Marnie Hunter of CNN.
Source: CNN Brasil
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