Just weeks after horrifying images hit the internet of a storm beating the Carnival Sunshine cruise ship off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, another cruise is going viral after footage shows it being rocked by bad weather.
In a video that has now been viewed more than 4 million times, TikToker’s Lucas Sparrow showed an Independence of the Seas ship leaving Port Canaveral in the middle of a storm. The chaotic clip shows high winds and rain as people scream, furniture flies and passengers begin to fall and struggle to get back up.
@lucassparrow1110 Just a nice evening when leaving Port Canaveral last Friday. No announcement from the captain before or after, no mention of what happened either. Just pretend it didn’t happen I guess. #portcanaveral #independenceoftheseas #no announcement #do it better #royalcaribbean #mikesweatherpage ♬ original sound – lucassparrow1110
“No announcement from the captain before or after, nor any mention of what happened,” Sparrow wrote in the caption. “Just pretend it didn’t happen, I guess.”
Some commentators were shocked, while others admitted feeling guilty as they laughed at others’ misadventures.
“Thanks for confirming why I will never cruise,” one person wrote.
“Why go on a cruise during hurricane season,” commented another.
The Royal Caribbean cruise was scheduled to depart for the Bahamas at around 4 p.m. Friday.
“It just got crazy,” witness Jenn Stancil told the local outlet Fox 35. “It looked like a scene from the movie ‘Twister’, which is exactly what I thought, because you see these chairs flying into the air.”
Other witnesses posted their own images of the storm and the chaos that ensued on board on Twitter.
It seems that the ocean/nature is angry? this is Royal Caribbean on a Caribbean cruise recently? pic.twitter.com/wh6KibMQPR
— ✖️eki (@XekiHlongwane) June 25, 2023
This is my take on Independence of the Seas as she started to get battered by the high winds as she tried to turn around mid turn to leave the harbor. You can see the rain line pushing towards us, and the Indy was completely out of sight in the rain soon after. pic.twitter.com/4SeDSFurJm
— Jerry Pike (@JerryPikePhoto) June 16, 2023
Royal Caribbean did not immediately respond ukbusinessupdates.com‘s request for comment, but confirmed Fox 35 in a statement that the ship “encountered a sudden strong gust of wind”, which lasted for a “short period”, and shared that no serious injuries had been reported on board.
Fortunately, the ship reached its destination safely on CocoCay Island, off the coast of Nassau in the Bahamas, completing its three-day voyage.
