Frightened cruise passengers wrote farewell messages to their families as their ship was hit by a massive storm in the Bay of Biscay

• Over the weekend, a cruise ship was caught in a violent storm in the Bay of Biscay.

• Frightened passengers reported huge waves and howling winds causing the ship to shake.

• One hundred people were injured, the BBC reported, citing the cruise line, which described the injuries as “minor.”

A dream vacation turned into a maritime nightmare for the passengers of a cruise ship that was caught in a violent storm in the Bay of Biscay over the weekend, injuring 100 people, according to media reports.

“People were texting their loved ones in case we capsized,” said an unnamed passenger BBC News the chaotic journey.

The Spirit of Discovery, a ship operated by Saga Cruises, was carrying about 1,000 people on what was supposed to be a two-week cruise around the Canary Islands, the outlet reported.

But when the weather changed, the ship decided to return to the UK earlier than expected due to an approaching storm. On the return voyage, the ship ran into a storm in the Bay of Biscay, an area off the coast of Spain and France known for its rough seas.

Amid crashing waves and howling winds, the ship’s automatic safety system tripped, causing the boat to swerve and stop, the BBC reported. A spokesperson for Saga told the broadcaster that most of the injuries among passengers occurred at that time, describing most of them as “minor.”

A representative for Saga did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

“To say ‘minor injuries’ is an insult to the many horrific broken bones, pelvises, lacerations, punctures, etc. that were caused.” [to] a very old passenger clientele,” the same unnamed passenger told the BBC.

The ship remained stranded until the weather improved, the outlet reported. The video from the trip shows huge waves outside the ship’s windows.

Jan Bendall, 75, a passenger on board the cruise, told the BBC that the ship had not moved for 15 hours as the storm raged around them.

“It was pretty scary,” she told the outlet. “I’m not someone who gets scared easily, it was pretty dramatic.”

Bendall said part of the dining room has been converted into a makeshift medical center.

Richard Reynolds, 60, said The Daily Mail He and his wife were passengers on board, along with his elderly parents. Reynolds said his mother was injured after she was thrown to the ground as the boat rocked.

Reynolds said passengers were locked in their cabins and wore life jackets for two days as they escaped the storm, fearing the ship would capsize.

“People were screaming for their lives, things were banging and crashing around us and they thought they were going to die,” he told the outlet.

According to the BBC, five people were taken to hospital when the ship was finally able to dock in Portsmouth on Monday.

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