A group of Lehighton vacationers anticipated having a blast aboard a weeklong Royal Caribbean cruise that departed on Saturday.

They never expected to be fearful of their lives within the next 24 hours.The ship carrying a total of 6,100 people has battled a brutal storm that caused over 30-foot waves."Before we left the captain announced the storm, but we were going to try and beat it anyway," reported Steve Walck, 27, of Lehighton via text message."Around 11 in the morning Sunday, you could tell this wasn't just a normal storm, and the captain made everyone stay in their rooms. The storm raged on what felt like forever, at one point I tried to get out of bed to use the bathroom and I completely fell on the floor."It was reported that wind gusts reached up to 165 mph, which resulted in handful of injuries. The ship was forced to turn around and start to venture home."The aftermath resulted in a collapsed roof, water damage on the lower levels, and broken glass all over the ship," said Ryan Christman, 27, of Lehighton."The ship started to begin rocking back and forth to the point where glasses were falling off tables and breaking. We were calm for the majority of the time, but there were several people screaming through the halls, yelling that the ship was sinking. The captain originally said we would wait out the storm for two to three hours, which turned into about 15."The Anthem of the Seas - with more than 4,500 guests and 1,600 crew members - sailed Saturday from Cape Liberty, New Jersey.It was scheduled to arrive for a stop at Port Canaveral, Florida, at noon Monday, then move on to other stops in the Caribbean.Christman also said on Facebook that the ship was on a 45-degree angle into the water at times.Nevertheless, it could have been much worse for the Lehighton guys, who just wanted a relaxing week away.The National Weather Service's Ocean Prediction Center had issued an alert for a strong storm four days in advance, said Susan Buchanan with the weather service. The first warning was issued Saturday for possible hurricane-force winds in the area the ship was scheduled to sail through.Sen. Bill Nelson wants the National Transportation Safety Board to get involved. His reasoning is simple - the storm wasn't a surprise, it was forecast well ahead of time."The thing about this storm was that it was forecast for days. So why in the world would a cruise ship with thousands of passengers go sailing right into it?" Nelson said on the Senate floor on Monday, according to a news release from his office.Christman said the ship is expected to return to the states at 9 tonight.Royal Caribbean said on its corporate Twitter account that the ship would turn around and sail back to Cape Liberty. Guests will get a full refund and a certificate toward a future cruise.- The Associated Press contributed to this report