Brits in 'Titanic' terror - This Post

The Crown Princess ... ship after drama

By CHARLES RAE
and PAUL THOMPSON

TERRIFIED Britons on a luxury cruise feared for their lives as their giant liner lurched violently — while the film Titanic was shown on board.

Dozens of people were washed out of a top deck swimming pool and many more injured, with windows smashed and furniture flung into the sea.

Scores of holidaymakers grabbed life jackets, fearing the month-old Crown Princess, with 58 Brits among its 3,000 passengers, was about to SINK 11 miles off shore.

The nightmare came as travellers sat down to a screening of the Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio blockbuster in the ship’s Movies Under the Stars cinema.

Around 98 people were injured — two critically. One Brit was taken to hospital after suffering breathing trouble when hit by a flying chair.

Emergency ... ambulances at port

The 16-deck super liner, built in Italy, hit trouble after leaving Port Canaveral in Florida on the final leg of a nine-day cruise.

Passengers told last night how it listed to starboard at a 15-degree angle after a problem with steering gear.

Staircases and lift shafts were deluged as sea water and the contents of four on-board pools poured in. Gym equipment was flipped over and slot machines uprooted.

Some passengers, who had paid £3,000 for the trip, clung to deck railings to stop themselves falling overboard.

Brit Gillian Bogush was resting in her cabin with husband Tony, 67, when the ship suddenly tilted.

She said: “There was no warning, then lamps and other items started moving.

“Tony was on the bed and an armchair came flying over and landed on his chest.

Cruise epic ... the Titanic film

“It isn’t serious, but he had to go to hospital for an X-ray to check for damage.”

Gillian, 55, of Highgate, North London, added: “Afterwards it was like a war zone with people walking round bleeding.

“It was absolutely terrifying and many people thought the ship was going to sink.”

The Crown Princess, which has made only four sailings since joining the Princess Cruise line, was heading to New York after cruising around the Caribbean.

After the drama it was escorted back to Port Canaveral by US Coastguard vessels. A fleet of ambulances lined up across the dock waiting for the injured. Two people — including a young girl — were airlifted to hospital.

A further 15 were carried out on stretchers to waiting ambulances and 48 others taken by bus to hospitals.

Rescue ... passenger on stretcher

Dr Peter Wigodsky and wife Marilyn were hurled sideways on the top deck.

Marilyn, of Elstree, Herts, said: “It really was like a scene from the Titanic with everything sliding across the deck. I held on to my chair, but it slid too. The children in the pool were screaming. Lots of families were split up and there was panic everywhere. All the windows were smashed. The top deck looked like a hurricane had hit it.”

Passengers said British captain Andrew Proctor made an announcement to assure them the liner would not sink. But his voice was so edgy that many still feared the worst.

Injured ... passengers are taken to hospital Picture: REUTERS

Chiefs ordered an open bar to soothe passengers’ nerves. One staff member said: “I don’t think there was a passenger who wasn’t shaken.” A spokesman for Princess Cruises, part of the Miami-based cruise giant Carnival, said the trip had been cancelled and the ship would probably be in port three to four days for an investigation.

They were planning to refund all the passengers’ cash. The Sun’s cruise expert Steve Read said: “The ship was never in danger. They have to list much further for that. But it is terrifying.

“In February her sister ship the Grand Princess listed 16 degrees in a tight turn.”