Royal Caribbean cruise ship rocked by rough weather, images show damage
Bad weather rocked a Royal Caribbean Crusies ship near Spain on Thursday night, causing damage aboard the vessel and requiring the ship to make an unexpected stop to allow a guest to medically disembark.
The Explorer of the Seas was traveling from Barcelona, Spain to Miami, Florida, according to CruiseMapper, a website that shows the position and routes of cruise ships.
The vessel was near Tenerife, the largest of Spain's Canary Islands, when it was hit by an "unexpected wind gust," Royal Caribbean Cruises said in a statement.
The wind caused the ship to experience "sudden movement," the cruise line said.
Passenger Jonathan Parrish told CBS News that he was sitting down to a show in the cruise ship's theater when he felt the boat make a "hard right turn" followed by a second, "more intense" turn. The show was stopped, and he and his fellow passengers left the theater to see a mess in one of the ship's main common areas.
"Everybody kind of walked around a little bit, just gawking at all the bottles from the bar that had fallen," Parrish said. "All the merchandise that you could purchase in the Royal Promenade was just all spread out throughout the floor."
Parrish said the ship's captain said that winds had gone from 46 miles per hour to 86 miles per hour.
"I think there was about five minutes in there where everybody was wondering what was going on, but as soon as the captain came on and made the announcement of what had happened, (it) kind of gave you a sense of calmness," said Parrish. He said the announcement made him feel like he was in "the best hands you could have been in."
Passengers were asked to return to their cabins for accountability checks, which Parrish said took about an hour.
The cruise line said one passenger was injured and "requires additional medical care." The ship is making a stop in Las Palmas, Spain, for a medical disembarkation. The cruise line did not offer any additional information about the unidentified passenger's condition.
The Explorer of the Seas is a 1,020-foot vessel that can hold up to 4,290 guests and 1,185 crew members, according to an Royal Caribbiean Cruises fact sheet. It includes an ice skating rink, a mini-golf course and a rock climbing wall on its fifteen passenger decks. It is registered in the Bahamas and has been sailing since 2000.