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These Videos Of The Bomb Cyclone From A Cruise Ship Might Actually Make You Seasick

by Lani Seelinger

Pretty much the whole East Coast of the U.S. has been suffering through the effects of the bomb cyclone, but if you happen to fall into that group, well, at least you're on dry land. Not everyone, unfortunately, happened to be so lucky — and there's video footage to prove it. Videos of the bomb cyclone from a cruise ship will most likely convince you never to set foot on a boat, no matter now stable it seems. Don't worry, all the people taking the videos did in fact make it through to the other side — but they were shaken, and it's totally understandable why.

Just think back to the scene in Titanic, when Jack and Rose are sprinting through flooded hallways, trying to outrun the rising water, and we all know how that ends. Even if the videos of this cruise ship aren't quite as dramatic, you can definitely understand why your mind might go there.

The videos in question come from the "Norwegian Breakaway" cruise ship from the Norwegian Cruise Line, which had sailed from New York down to the Bahamas. According to a statement that Norwegian released to the press, the organizers didn't expect to hit such rough weather — but according to several interviews with CBS, the weather that they did hit left numerous passengers absolutely traumatized.

“I thought I’d never be in a situation where I would say that’s the scariest moment of my life. This was the worst moment of my life,” said Karoline Ross, who had gone on the cruise with 20 of her relatives to celebrate an important family birthday. “When you’re on a boat in the middle of the ocean and water is pouring down the stairs, you’re thinking ‘this is not going to end well.”

Another passenger, Emma Franzese, put it a bit more bluntly. “I’m completely traumatized,” she said. “I’ll never go on any type of boat again in my life after this.”

Olivia Ross, who came with the same group as Karoline Ross, described the situation in a bit more detail. “There were people crying, everyone was throwing up. It was a nightmare,” Ross said, speaking with CBS New York. “It was so tilted I was shaking.” If you've ever taken a cruise or watched Titanic or both, there's a good chance that you'll find those words absolutely chilling. It seems like a pretty sensible conclusion to come to — if you're floating in the middle of wild seas and there's water streaming into your ship, it's really not a good sign.

Norwegian did release a statement about the incident — but at first, the statement was only directed to the next group of cruisers, saying that the storm had delayed their arrival into New York and thus the ship would be starting its next trip a day late. Only later did they release another statement apologizing for what the passengers went through because of the storm:

During the early morning hours of January 4, Norwegian Breakaway encountered stronger than forecasted weather conditions due to winter storm Grayson during the trip’s return to New York from the Bahamas. All guests and crew are safe. We sincerely apologize to our guests for these stronger than expected weather conditions and any resulting discomfort they may have experienced.

Many of the passengers that CBS spoke to said that what really might have helped at the time was more information — which they didn't get. “The captain should’ve told us a little more. He kept saying, ‘we’re in rough seas.’ Well no crap we’re in rough seas,” passenger Brenda Wriedt told CBS.

Thankfully, though, all of the passengers and crew didn't see their worst fears lived out — even if they never step onto a boat of any kind, ever again.