NEW VIDEO: Royal Caribbean cruise from hell

SOMEWHERE IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN - Less than a day into their family cruise, three generations of the Hollender family hunkered down inside their cabin as a storm raged just outside their porthole window.

As the 169,000-ton ship rocked to and fro, the Hollenders took turns holding 10-month-old Gavin, the third generation of the family on board the Anthem of the Seas as it battled through the storm, cresting and falling over every single wave.

"We could feel the ship going on top of the waves and crashing back down. Every time, we'd get knocked a little off to the side. You could feel everything just jolt and slide," said Keith Hollender, somewhere off the coast of North Carolina 12 hours after the ship began its emergency trip home.

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"We had packed our bags in case there was an emergency. We just thought, 'We have to be ready in case something crazy happens, because this is really bad,'" Hollender said.

The Anthem of the Seas, the third-largest cruise ship ever built, was damaged during a Sunday storm with "extreme wind and sea conditions" and is on its way back to Bayonne just two days after shipping out.

We just thought, 'We have to be ready in case something crazy happens.'

On Sunday afternoon, the 4,500 passengers on the Anthem of the Seas were ordered to their cabins by the ship's captain as conditions worsened. As the ship rocked back and forth, overflowing waters from the Atlantic Ocean spilled into a hot tub on the deck, where the water jets sprayed vacationers in the face.

“The ocean was sloshing over the side. The pool water was going out of the pools and flying all over. It was a bit surreal,” said Manasquan resident Courtney Leonard, on another three-generation family vacation with her husband, daughter and parents.

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Official maritime reports reported wave heights of 30 feet with 74 mph wind gusts on Sunday. But inside the cabin, Hollender's father, Virgil, saw wind speeds as high as 137 knots, equal to 157 mph, projected on the ship's television.

A Navy veteran, Virgil Hollender can pick out a dangerous storm from a bad one. And looking outside at 50-foot waves, he knew the Anthem of the Seas had wandered into dangerous territory.

“We’ve sailed through some storms, but we never would have intentionally sailed through something like that,” Virgil Hollender said. “I have no idea how we wound up in the middle of something so severe. We were where we shouldn’t have been.”

“Things were sliding and spilling everywhere. You couldn’t leave anything on a counter,” Hollender said. “If it wasn’t bolted down, it was flying everywhere.”

Just getting back to the Leonards' cabin was a journey, with passengers holding onto railing -- and each other -- to stay upright.

"Everyone's belongings had flown around the room unless you secured them. Sometimes you were literally climbing up your room to your bed or bathroom," Leonard said.

Later that night, her 7-year-old-daughter, Emma, got sick. Leonard had to hold onto a bar in the bathroom just to hold the child at the toilet.

"It went on for hours and hours," Leonard said.

Through it all, Middletown resident Bernie Erickson remained confident he was out of danger, putting his faith in Claus Anderson, the captain of the ship. While the situation could have easily led to mass panic, Anderson's constant updates kept him at ease.

"The captain kept cool under pressure and made the difficult decisions," Erickson said. "There were not people running around panicking. He got everyone to their rooms in advance, posted crew throughout the ship and made sure we were all updated hourly at a minimum.

"We were lucky to have such a skilled captain. If not, things could have gone very differently," Erickson said.

By Monday afternoon, life aboard the ship had mostly returned to normal, albeit with nervous passengers, visible damage and a ship headed back the way it came.

Anderson made sure there was a hot breakfast and "a sense of normalcy" for everyone, Erickson said.

"They’re trying very hard to get it back to normal," Hollender said.

In the main pool, a large piece of equipment – it had previously hung “higher up” on the deck – had fallen and sunk right to the bottom, Hollender said. On higher parts of the ship, glass panels were clearly cracked and the balcony doors to some rooms had completely blown out. In various reports, the damage was described as mostly superficial.

Chairs and various furnishings had been tossed around the ship's deck like litter on a windy day.

“When you get in an elevator, you can see water streaks running down from where it got into the elevator shaft,” Hollender said.

In a statement, a Royal Caribbean spokeswoman said four passengers were injured during the storm, none seriously. Passengers will receive full refunds plus an additional 50 percent fare credit. Not yet explained: Whether the ship's captain could have done anything to avoid the storm — and the harm visited upon passengers.

"We know it was tough day on Sunday and apologize for (passenger) discomfort," the statement said. "Safety is our highest priority and ships are designed to withstand even more extreme circumstances than Anthem of the Seas encountered. While the weather was unpleasant, the ship remained seaworthy at all times."

Staff writer Ilana Keller and USA Today contributed to this story.

Mike Davis: (732) 643-4223; mdavis@gannettnj.com.