Expand / Collapse search
☰

'Like a scene from the movie Twister': Video shows wicked Florida weather causes chaos on cruise ship at port

By FOX 35 News Staff
Updated  June 21, 2023 10:41am EDT
Brevard County
FOX 35 Orlando

Video shows wicked Florida weather cause chaos on Royal Caribbean cruise ship

Passengers were caught off guard by a Florida summer storm while boarding Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas cruise ship at Port Canaveral, causing chairs to fly across the ship's deck.

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. - Passengers were caught off guard by a Florida summer storm as they were boarding their ship at Port Canaveral last week.  

Cruisers weren’t even out of the port on Friday when the storm moved in quickly.  People were running to seek shelter as the chaotic scene unfolded aboard Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas. 

Jenn Stancil captured video of the storm moving in – completely covering another cruise ship in the water as people ran to safety. The passengers can be seen scrambling to get out of the pouring rain as deck chairs were flying, even hitting some people.

MORE TRAVEL NEWS: British Airways passengers stuck on Orlando tarmac for over 7 hours

Those who witnessed the mayhem told FOX 35 News that they had never seen anything like that on the water or even on land.

Video: People scramble as Florida storm batters cruise ship at Port Canaveral

Video shows cruise passengers scrambling for safety as heavy rain and gusty winds battered Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas ship as it prepared to leave Port Canaveral, Florida. (Video courtesy of Jenn Stancil)

"It just turned crazy. It looked like a scene from the movie Twister is exactly what I thought, because you see these chairs flying up in the air," she said.

Lucas Sparrow was there with his family when the chaos unfolded.

"People were getting blown, losing their hats, towels," said Sparrow.

Storm sends chairs flying on cruise ship

Video taken aboard Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas ship shows gusty winds tossing chairs into the air and passengers running for cover as strong storms moved through Port Canaveral, Florida, Friday where the ship was docked.

The entire video one passenger shared with us was only four minutes long, showing how fast weather can move in and the need for warnings to make sure passengers are safe. 

FOX 35 News reached out to Royal Caribbean about the rough weather and we asked about their protocol in such as situation. We received the following response Wednesday morning: 

"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 3-night itinerary, arriving to Perfect Day at CocoCay in The Bahamas, on Saturday morning, as scheduled."