By Gene Sloan From USA Today

One of the world’s newest and biggest cruise ships headed back to its home port Monday (8) after a powerful storm damaged the vessel and left some passengers shaken.

The fierce weather that struck Royal Caribbean’s 168,666-ton Anthem of the Seas on Sunday forced the captain to confine passengers to their cabins until the storm passed early Monday.

The cruise line, in a statement sent to USA TODAY, suggested the “extreme wind and sea conditions” that hit as the ship sailed south from the New York area to Port Canaveral, Fla., were unexpected, noting that the wind speeds were higher than what was forecast.

“The captain told everyone this morning that the day was among his most challenging — if not his most challenging — at sea,” said Robert Huschka, executive editor of the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. Huschka is on board the ship with his family.

Four passengers were injured during the event, though none seriously, according to spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez. There are 4,529 passengers and 1,616 crew members on board, she said.

Anthem had just left its home port of Bayonne, N.J. on Saturday on what had been scheduled to be a seven-night sailing to Florida and the Bahamas. The vessel now is returning to Bayonne, and the remainder of the voyage is being canceled.

Passengers tweeting from Anthem describe hurricane-force winds and giant waves that rocked the vessel wildly, overturning furniture, smashing glassware and collapsing part of a ceiling in a public corridor. Photos posted by passengers show damage in several areas.

“I’m not going to lie: It was truly terrifying,” Huschka said.

A buoy in the Atlantic about 260 miles south of Cape Hatteras reported wave heights of 30 feet and wind gusts of 74 mph late Sunday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A screen shot of the wind gauge on Anthem cabin TVs posted by a passenger on Twitter shows wind speeds as high as 106 knots, the equivalent of 122 mph.

A passenger posting on a message board at CruiseCritic.com reported waves crashing as high as the Deck 5 promenade, with water seeping into the ship through the doorways before watertight doors were closed. Another passenger posting at CruiseCritic.com said a large white structure broke off the top of the vessel and landed in a pool.

Intended path of the cruise ship

Comment: As you can see in the image above, the “winter storm” looks incredibly similar to a hurricane. However, the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season doesn’t start until June!

Huschka said the captain of the vessel made an announcement at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday as the storm raged that passengers should remain in their cabins, saying the strength of the storm had surprised everyone and that the ship would hold position and try to turn into it. The captain then was unavailable for announcements as the storm continued into the evening.

“A very nervous cruise director kept coming on. He didn’t sound very reassuring. He said, ‘We are OK,'” Huschka said.

The situation began to improve late in the evening, and by 1 a.m. Monday the ship had resumed sailing.

Huschka said most of the damage to the ship appeared superficial, with “lots of broken glass, especially on the pool deck.” Water came in through some balcony doors and now is being mopped up or dried with blowers, he added.

One thing that was unaffected by the storm: The TV signal bringing in the Super Bowl on Sunday evening. It was a “perfect picture during the height of the storm,” Huschka said. “That certainly improved my mood.”

The possibility of a large storm in the Atlantic has been known for several days. NOAA’s Ocean Prediction Center first issued an alert Friday at 1 p.m. that predicted “developing hurricane-force winds” Sunday in the Atlantic, according to NOAA spokeswoman Susan Buchanan. The first official warning from the Ocean Prediction Center was included in the offshore waters forecast at 3:34 p.m. Saturday, Buchanan said. It included a warning for hurricane-force winds increasing to 63 to 75 mph, in effect through Sunday night.

In a second statement Monday, Royal Caribbean said the decision to return to the New York area was made due to forecasts of poor weather over the next few days that is likely to impact the ship’s original itinerary.

Passengers walk around debris on the top deck of Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas on Feb. 8, 2016

“We are also sensitive to the fact that our guests have already been through an uncomfortable ride,” the statement said. “Returning to Cape Liberty minimizes the risks of further bad weather affecting our guests’ voyage; we are optimistic that they will have a smooth sail home.”

Royal Caribbean said passengers will receive full refunds of the fare they paid for the cruise and a credit for a future cruise equal to 50% of the fare.

“We know it was tough day on Sunday and apologize for (passenger) discomfort,” the line said. “Safety is our highest priority and ships are designed to withstand even more extreme circumstances than Anthem of the Seas encountered. While the weather was unpleasant, the ship remained seaworthy at all times.”

Christened in April 2015, Anthem is tied with sister vessel Quantum of the Seas as the third-largest cruise ship ever built.

USA TODAY Cruise was among a handful of U.S. media outlets to get early access to Anthem before its christening in Southampton, England. For our deck-by-deck tour of the vessel’s interior areas and cabins, scroll through the carousels below.

IMAGES:

© Roy Riley /sbw-photo

© Twitter / @NYC230

© Robert Huschka, Detroit Free Press

For more on this story go to: http://www.sott.net/article/311842-Giant-Royal-Caribbean-ship-damaged-in-extreme-storm-will-return-to-port

Related story:

Royal Caribbean cruise from hell

By Mike Davis From app.com

SOMEWHERE IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN – Less than a day into their family cruise, three generations of the Hollender family hunkered down inside their cabin as a storm raged just outside their porthole window.

As the 169,000-ton ship rocked to and fro, the Hollenders took turns holding 10-month-old Gavin, the third generation of the family on board the Anthem of the Seas as it battled through the storm, cresting and falling over every single wave.

“We could feel the ship going on top of the waves and crashing back down. Every time, we’d get knocked a little off to the side. You could feel everything just jolt and slide,” said Keith Hollender, somewhere off the coast of North Carolina 12 hours after the ship began its emergency trip home.

The Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Sea ship suffered damage after experiencing hurricane-like winds in a storm during a cruise from New York to Florida. USA TODAY

The Anthem of the Seas, the third-largest cruise ship ever built, was damaged during a Sunday storm with “extreme wind and sea conditions” and is on its way back to Bayonne just two days after shipping out.

We just thought, ‘We have to be ready in case something crazy happens.’

On Sunday afternoon, the 4,500 passengers on the Anthem of the Seas were ordered to their cabins by the ship’s captain as conditions worsened. As the ship rocked back and forth, overflowing waters from the Atlantic Ocean spilled into a hot tub on the deck, where the water jets sprayed vacationers in the face.

“The ocean was sloshing over the side. The pool water was going out of the pools and flying all over. It was a bit surreal,” said Manasquan resident Courtney Leonard, on another three-generation family vacation with her husband, daughter and parents.

Official maritime reports reported wave heights of 30 feet with 74 mph wind gusts on Sunday. But inside the cabin, Hollender’s father, Virgil, saw wind speeds as high as 137 knots, equal to 157 mph, projected on the ship’s television.

A Navy veteran, Virgil Hollender can pick out a dangerous storm from a bad one. And looking outside at 50-foot waves, he knew the Anthem of the Seas had wandered into dangerous territory.

“We’ve sailed through some storms, but we never would have intentionally sailed through something like that,” Virgil Hollender said. “I have no idea how we wound up in the middle of something so severe. We were where we shouldn’t have been.”

“Things were sliding and spilling everywhere. You couldn’t leave anything on a counter,” Hollender said. “If it wasn’t bolted down, it was flying everywhere.”

Just getting back to the Leonards’ cabin was a journey, with passengers holding onto railing — and each other — to stay upright.

“Everyone’s belongings had flown around the room unless you secured them. Sometimes you were literally climbing up your room to your bed or bathroom,” Leonard said.

Later that night, her 7-year-old-daughter, Emma, got sick. Leonard had to hold onto a bar in the bathroom just to hold the child at the toilet.

“It went on for hours and hours,” Leonard said.

Through it all, Middletown resident Bernie Erickson remained confident he was out of danger, putting his faith in Claus Anderson, the captain of the ship. While the situation could have easily led to mass panic, Anderson’s constant updates kept him at ease.

“The captain kept cool under pressure and made the difficult decisions,” Erickson said. “There were not people running around panicking. He got everyone to their rooms in advance, posted crew throughout the ship and made sure we were all updated hourly at a minimum.

“We were lucky to have such a skilled captain. If not, things could have gone very differently,” Erickson said.

By Monday afternoon, life aboard the ship had mostly returned to normal, albeit with nervous passengers, visible damage and a ship headed back the way it came.

Anderson made sure there was a hot breakfast and “a sense of normalcy” for everyone, Erickson said.

“They’re trying very hard to get it back to normal,” Hollender said.

In the main pool, a large piece of equipment – it had previously hung “higher up” on the deck – had fallen and sunk right to the bottom, Hollender said. On higher parts of the ship, glass panels were clearly cracked and the balcony doors to some rooms had completely blown out. In various reports, the damage was described as mostly superficial.

Chairs and various furnishings had been tossed around the ship’s deck like litter on a windy day.

“When you get in an elevator, you can see water streaks running down from where it got into the elevator shaft,” Hollender said.

In a statement, a Royal Caribbean spokeswoman said four passengers were injured during the storm, none seriously. Passengers will receive full refunds plus an additional 50 percent fare credit. Not yet explained: Whether the ship’s captain could have done anything to avoid the storm — and the harm visited upon passengers.

“We know it was tough day on Sunday and apologize for (passenger) discomfort,” the statement said. “Safety is our highest priority and ships are designed to withstand even more extreme circumstances than Anthem of the Seas encountered. While the weather was unpleasant, the ship remained seaworthy at all times.”

Staff writer Ilana Keller and USA Today contributed to this story

IMAGE: This image made available by Flavio Cadegiani shows damage to the deck of Royal Caribbean’s ship Anthem of the Seas, Monday, Feb. 8, 2016. (Photo: Flavio Cadegiani, AP)

For more on this story and video go to: http://www.app.com/story/news/local/western-monmouth-county/farmingdale/2016/02/08/royal-caribbean-cruise-storm/80019374/