MIAMI – The Explorer of the Seas — a voyager-class Royal Caribbean cruise ship with a capacity for nearly 4,300 people — arrived Sunday at PortMiami from a transatlantic voyage.
One of the thousands who experienced the Nov. 7 scare because of rough seas in Spain said Céline Dion’s theme song for The Titanic, “My Heart Will Go On,” was playing. Suddenly, he said, everything started tilting, so he thought there were special effects.
Royal Caribbean reported that “an unexpected wind gust” off the coast of Tenerife was to blame for the minutes of chaos. Witnesses’ videos show furniture sliding across the deck, a man holding onto a counter, a sign hitting a man, glass breaking, and people screaming and running.
Witnesses reported a grand piano flew across a stage. The cruise ship diverted to Las Palmas so one injured could get medical treatment. Earlier this month, passengers on the Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the Seas, also on a transatlantic voyage, reported facing rough seas.
Local 10 News Photojournalist Sam Darbouze contributed to this report.