Storm-battered cruise ship returns to New Jersey homeport

But the 1,141-foot vessel sailed on Sunday into a major winter storm. News 4 Investigates finds out how a captain could make the mistake of sailing his ship directly into a risky storm.

“While the first management team retreat was not what we planned, it certainly brought the team together”, Efferent Media wrote on Facebook. He also went on to say, “If we knew that we were going to have those kinds of winds, the winds that we actually experienced with the ship, we would not have sailed into that”.

Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas is scheduled to pull into Bayonne’s Cape Liberty at 9 p.m.

Royal Caribbean is downplaying the danger, pointing out that, while the experience was certainly unpleasant for passengers, the ship made it back to port safely, albeit with substantial, superficial damage, but with just four injuries, none serious. “While the weather was unpleasant, the ship remained seaworthy at all times”.

As we reported Monday, Royal Caribbean said that after a “tough day” for its guests, it would refund their ticket costs and give passengers a 50 percent discount on a future cruise.

Royal Caribbean captains receive and review multiple forecasts, some sophisticated enough to project where the ship will be as the storm develops, Baumgartner explained.

“The winds were so strong that I thought the phone would blow from my hands”, Sam Lairson, of Ocean City, New Jersey, said in an email.

The 1,100-foot Anthem of the Seas was rocked by the low pressure system off coast of the Carolinas, one that the company called unexpected but that meteorologists said had been well forecast.

The nightmare is over for thousands of cruise ship passengers, including some Long Islanders, after their boat sailed into a massive storm.

Lipman now questions the decision to continue on the original itinerary despite the storm.

Nelson, the ranking Democrat on a Senate subcommittee that oversees the cruise industry, called for the National Transportation Safety Board to “come up with a quick report” on the incident.

Citigroup Inc. dropped their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $110.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday.

One passenger, Maureen Peters out of Southampton, Massachusetts, told CNN that the trip was “horrendous” at that at one point in the treacherous journey, she found herself wondering whether or not she’d ever see her family again.

The ship “leaned way over as the captain fought the winds”, passenger Greg Cribbs said. “We were playing games, and then the storm began”.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE:RCL) traded up 2.01% during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $69.39.

Four passengers were injured during the incident, though none seriously, according to Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez.