Royal Caribbean cruise ship passengers run for cover as storm sends deck furniture flying

Videos show passengers scrambling to protect their children after strong winds from an unexpected storm

Passengers on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship were forced to run for cover after unexpected, dangerously-high winds sent deck furniture flying.

Videos posted on social media showed chairs and tables flying across decks while people in swimsuits gripped onto walls.

One TikTok video showed a lounger narrowly miss a woman carrying a small child.

The Independence of the Seas ship was caught in a brief but intense rain storm as it prepared to leave Port Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida last week.

Passengers were lounging by the pool in the sunshine when strong winds and heavy rain suddenly rolled in.

Videos showed passengers running for cover and sliding across the slick decks, and ducking to avoid airborne chairs and umbrellas.

Royal Caribbean said in a statement that no passengers were seriously injured due to the flash storm.

Two passengers aboard the ship complained on TikTok about the cruise line failing to notify passengers of the storm.

“Just a fun evening leaving Port Canaveral this past Friday,” TikTok user lucassparrow1110captioned his video.

“No announcement from the captain before or after, also no mention of what happened. Just pretend like it didn’t happen I guess,” he wrote.

“The sun was shining just 10 minutes before!” Cora Cornett captioned her video.

“We were on the top deck watching another boat in port get hit with rain when suddenly it DISAPPEARED in the rain so we ran down to the next deck but it was already on us.”

Ms Cornett said the weather passed over extremely quickly at around 4pm on 16 June.

“No ship announcements were made before or after so people on the lower pool deck were hit completely without warning,” Ms Cornett wrote.

The Independent has reached out to Royal Caribbean for comment.

In response to the incident, Royal Caribbean told Distractify: “On Friday, June 16, while departing from Port Canaveral, ‘Independence of the Seas’encountered a sudden gust of high winds. This latest for a brief period and there were no serious injuries to our guests or crew.”

The company said that the ship continued on its scheduled three-night itinerary and arrived in the Bahamas on Saturday.