Water and debris can be seen in a hallway aboard the Carnival Sunshine. Credit: @Crewcenter/Twitter via WCIV

(CNN) -- The Carnival Sunshine cruise ship was rocked by a storm over the weekend, scaring passengers and delaying the ship's return to port in Charleston, South Carolina, and the departure of its next voyage.


William B. Blackburn, traveling for the first time on a cruise ship, was on deck 6 of the Carnival Sunshine when the weather began to fall late Friday.

"It was terrifying," Blackburn told CNN.

Blackburn was on the cruise ship with his wife and other family members.

"We stayed in our cabin and prayed that we were okay," Blackburn said. They also took note of where the life jackets were stored.

"We discussed the fact that it would be very unlikely to survive in the water even with life jackets and doubted that lifeboats could be launched in those conditions," he said.

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Carnival Cruise Line addressed the weather disturbance in a statement, writing, "Carnival Sunshine's return to Charleston was impacted by weather and rough seas on Saturday."

He continued: "The prolonged impact of weather in the Charleston area delayed the ship's arrival on Sunday and, as a result, embarkation for the next voyage was also delayed."

The cruise line said the ship is already sailing on its next voyage.

Blackburn recorded video of the storm about 11 p.m. on Friday and said conditions worsened afterward. He considered recording more, but was afraid to open the door again.

"It was like the ship hit a wall, all our stuff flew off the counters, the luggage fell off and slid down," he said.

"The wind howled, all I could see outside was a solid wall of water and mixed rain. The balcony door of the next cabin had broken and was slamming the door frightfully. The roof and walls creaked, and the ship made horrible noises, and sometimes vibrated violently as if the engines were fighting the raging waves."

A video posted online by Twitter user @crewcenter shows water and objects running through interior hallways.

The Carnival Sunshine has capacity for 3,002 passengers and 1,040 crew. The ship has 14 levels.

-- CNN's Jennifer Henderson and Marnie Hunter contributed to this report.

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