A video of passengers fleeing for their lives on a cruise ship engulfed in a storm while docked at a port in Florida has gone viral on social media. In it, passengers can be seen desperately clinging onto railings as they battle fierce winds.
The clip, which has been shared on Instagram and TikTok, shows metal chairs being flung over balconies and across the deck, seemingly sparking panic among the passengers.
The incident took place on the Independence of the Sea Royal Caribbean Cruises ship on Friday, June 16 at around 4 P.M. local time, according to one of the posters on TikTok, who claimed to be a passenger.
The footage has been viewed more than 4 million times on TikTok and has amassed over 142,000 likes on Instagram.
"Just a fun evening leaving Port Canaveral this past Friday. No announcement from the captain before or after, also no mention of what happened. Just pretend like it didn't happen I guess," wrote TikTok user Lucassparrow1110.
In the video, guests can be seen running in all directions as chairs on the deck begin blowing into the air . Some guests on the upper deck are seen clutching railings as they crawl across the deck in an attempt to get out of the area.
At one point, a chair is seen hitting a passenger on the floor, it is not clear if she was seriously injured, however.
The Instagram video includes the clip from the TikTok user, but also features footage from the lower deck. In this a chair is seen falling over a balcony and landing on an empty stroller, narrowly missing the woman who was pushing it while holding a child.
@lucassparrow1110 Just a fun evening leaving Port Canaveral this past Friday. No announcement from the captain before or after, also no mention of what happened. Just pretend like it didnt happen I guess. #portcanaveral #independenceoftheseas #noannouncement #dobetter #royalcaribbean #mikesweatherpage
♬ original sound - lucassparrow1110
Another TikTok post from a user claiming to be a passenger complained about the response from the crew.
"Another angle from the 6/16/23 squall that hit #independenceofthesea while docked in #PortCanaveral around 4pm," TikTok user Cora Cornett wrote as a caption.
"It hit so fast and was gone in a matter of minutes! No ship announcements were made before or after, so people on the lower pool deck were hit completely without warning."
The second video shows guests trying to escape into cover or to get inside as heavy rain and strong winds batter the cruiser.
@cornettahh Another angle from the 6/16/23 squall that hit #independenceofthesea while docked in #PortCanaveral around 4pm. It hit so fast and was gone in a matter of minutes! No ship announcements were made before or after so people on the lower pool deck were hit completely without warning. 😳 #hurricaneseason #floridaweather #cruiseship #royalcaribbean #chaos #ocean #sea #squall
♬ original sound - Cora Cornett
Speaking to online publication Distractify, Royal Caribbean provided a statement that said the storm only lasted a "brief period."
"On Friday, June 16, while departing from Port Canaveral, Independence of the Seas encountered a sudden gust of high winds. This lasted for a brief period and there were no serious injuries to our guests or crew.
"Independence of the Seas continued its regularly scheduled three-night itinerary, arriving to Perfect Day at CocoCay in The Bahamas, on Saturday morning, as scheduled."
Newsweek has contacted Royal Caribbean Cruises company via email for comment.
