GALVESTON, Texas – Dozens of passengers are back on land, recovering from injuries they got during a cruise ship scare. At least 60 of them were injured Wednesday on a Galveston-based Carnival cruise ship when the vessel had to make a sharp turn in the Gulf of Mexico, off the Yucatan Peninsula.
Carnival cruise lines said its ship, the Ecstasy, almost ran into a large buoy that was adrift and mostly submerged. The maneuver made the ship tilt to one side.
The Carnival Ecstasy returned to Galveston as scheduled Thursday morning and some passengers described their shocking ordeal after they arrived back on dry land.
“People started rolling around and people were falling on top of each other,” says Cookie Trevino, a passenger who had her injured arm in a sling.
“A lot of people got hurt, there was people with heart attacks, there was people that was cut all in their face and arms, so it was a very scary situation,” says passenger Minerva Barrera, who said she hurt her leg in the incident.
In a phone interview Wednesday immediately after the incident, cruise passenger Patrice Edwards described the moments following the maneuver, saying the boat rocked to one side and tilted for several minutes.
“We go to sleep, the next thing we know, [my husband] rolled and hit the floor, I rolled and hit the floor—the whole boat is going to the side,” Edwards said. “Everything you can hear, everybody’s cabin is just falling and crashing to the floor.”
Edwards said at first, she didn’t know what to think.
“We get up, and I look out the door and everyone is running back to their rooms to get their life rafts. I mean the whole boat just shifted,” Edwards said. “Everyone had their life rafts and that’s when they were running with people on stretchers.”
The cruise line spokesperson said none of the injured passengers required hospitalization upon arrival.
“We go to sleep, the next thing we know, [my husband] rolled and hit the floor, I rolled and hit the floor—the whole boat is going to the side,” Edwards said. “Everything you can hear, everybody’s cabin is just falling and crashing to the floor.”
Edwards said at first, she didn’t know what to think.
“We get up, and I look out the door and everyone is running back to their rooms to get their life rafts. I mean the whole boat just shifted,” Edwards said. “Everyone had their life rafts and that’s when they were running with people on stretchers.”
The cruise line spokesperson said none of the injured passengers required hospitalization upon arrival.
They also reported only minor damage to some merchandise and unsecured objects.
A video, purportedly shot just after the ship tilted, showed startled passengers around a pool, walking and sloshing water amid scattered deck chairs.
In a statement released Thursday, the cruise line apologized to passengers:
“Carnival sincerely apologizes for the distress and discomfort this occurrence has caused our guests. The safety, comfort and care of our guests and crew is our top priority.”
Carnival said the U.S. Coast Guard was notified about the incident.
Carnival said the U.S. Coast Guard was notified about the incident.
