Royal Caribbean ship gets whipped by hurricane winds near Cuba
A passenger aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise recorded video of the ship being whipped by Hurricane Michael’s outer bands in the Gulf of Mexico.
The passenger who goes by Snapper Tams on Twitter shared the video Tuesday aboard the cruise line’s Empress of the Seas when it was near la Isla de Juventud, Cuba.
The video shows a deck of the ship being lashed by high winds and rains.
You can also see flashes of lightning in the background.
“Arrival to Havana #severelydelayed,’ ’the passenger wrote on the Twitter where the video has had more than 4,000 views.
“Seas are still somewhat rough,” he told CNN, adding that some passengers were seasick from the choppy waters. “Last night they were about 13-15’ swells.”
The self-described entrepreneur and social worker from Richmond, Virginia told the news network that the ship waited for a few hours for the hurricane to pass through the Yucatan Channel.
The ship has continued its voyage to Havana.
The Empress of the Seas, which can carry up to 2,270 passengers, departs from Miami for three-to-eight-night cruises with stops in Havana, Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba, the Bahamas, Haiti, and Key West, according to the cruise line.
The ship had its maiden voyage in 1990.
A monster storm, Hurricane Michael, began pounding Florida’s Panhandle early Wednesday and is expected to track toward other states as well.