At least 16 people were injured while on board the Crown Princess cruise ship. The vessel hit rough waters and ended up tilting the ship 14 degrees on its side. As you can imagine, the sudden jolt sent passengers and crew flying and also tossed things around the ship.
The sudden jolt caused food, equipment, and people to go tumbling about the cruise ship. In total, 13 passengers and 3 crew members suffered minor injuries on the Crown Princess.
"Walking along doing my lap and all of a sudden the boat was on an angle," the man told 9 News. Meanwhile, another said, "The tables and chairs went sliding across the room, and a girl went sliding on her chair over towards the pool."
Crown Princess Tilts
One passenger on the Crown Princess said that he was in the dining room when he felt the ship suddenly tip. Suddenly, he said that he could see the ocean out the window of the ship's restaurant.
"I felt the boat starting to slant and tip. Then it lent over quite a bit and really started moving along at a high speed and we could see the sea looking very high out of the restaurant windows," Martin Wise told Stuff. "On a frightening scale, I'd put it at 8.5 to 10. This is our seventh Princess cruise and nothing's ever happened like this before."
So what caused the tilt? According to the captain, strong winds had caused a temporary increase in the Crown Princess and its speeds. The sudden boost caused the ship to tilt. Fortunately, there was no worries about the cruise ship doing a full Titanic. But I imagine that it was a pretty scary experience nonetheless.
It also caused damage to several of the stores and shops on the ship. Footage showed broken glass as well as store items thrown around. Fortunately, the Crown Princess did not sustain any structural damage. As such, the overall safety of the cruise ship wasn't in any danger despite the theatrics.
With tickets costing thousands of dollars, the last thing you want is for something like this to happen. But the high seas can be treacherous.
