Corrine and Bobby Swindle, their son Josef (11) and nephew Lachlan (11) had the trip planned for over a year.

It was their first cruise and their first time out of Australia.

They will never consider another!

“I counted down 387 sleeps from the time of booking the cruise,” Corrine said. 

Originally the 12 day trip around the Pacific Islands on the Carnival Spirit was to take in New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji.

Before they left they were notified by email they wouldn’t be visiting Vanuatu due to Cyclone Pam which devastated the area in March.

Mare Island in New Caledonia was to replace Vanuatu, but on the second day of the cruise, it was announced a cyclone had hit New Caledonia!

Even though it was a category 1 cyclone, the rough weather and 3 - 5 metre swells meant they would bypass New Caledonia and head straight to Fiji.

“So we spent the first four days of the trip at sea,” Corrine said.

“We had half a day of sunny weather before it turned overcast, then it rained. It was windy and miserable.”

Josef said there was not a lot to do on the ship during the bad weather.

“The upper decks were closed because of the high winds,” he said.

“The water slides, putt putt, basketball courts and soccer nets are all up the top. We spent one whole day playing Uno.” 

Bobby said when they arrived in Fiji the weather was beautiful. 

“But by the time we got on the lifeboats to ferry us ashore, it was bucketing down,” he said.

The family all agree the visit to Fiji was the best experience of their lives.

“We did a bus tour to a traditional village called Nawaka,” Corrine said.

“They welcomed us with handmade leis and a traditional Fijian ceremony.

“The locals took us for a walk around their village and showed us their houses and how they live.”

The boys had a great time playing with the local children and some native toads in the pouring rain. 

“The local kids loved it. The village was the highlight of the trip for all of us,” Corrine said.

“All in all we had the best experience of our lives visiting Nawaka village - and at the same time, the worst experience of our lives with the storms out of Sydney.”

They also stopped at Suva in Fiji and watched a firewalking and cultural ceremony.

‘Untouched serenity’ is Corrine’s way of describing the Isle of Pines.

“We spent our time snorkeling amongst the coral reefs and beautiful sea life,” she said.

The last stop was Noumea where they toured the french cafes and tasted the french pastries.

From Noumea they started the two-day trip home.

Little did they know what they were about to experience.

They were due to arrive in Sydney at 6.30 Tuesday morning, but at around 5pm on Monday, the ship started to rock.

“It felt like we were hitting big seas,” Bobby said.

“At 11pm we heard an almighty crash like we had hit another ship! There was a huge jolt.”

They turned the TV on to a channel that tracks the ship’s movements and the weather outside. 

“It said the winds were 103 knots, which is 190km per hour!

“The ship felt like it was going to tip over, it was rocking from side to side. You could feel it lift up and smash back down into the ocean,” Corrine said.

They didn’t get much sleep that night and were woken five or six times to the massive smashes and crashes of the ship.

Glasses, which had been still on the shelves in their cabin for the whole trip, smashed on the floor and other items were flung all over the room.

The swells were 12 metres high.

Corrine said the lack of communication from ship officials was worrying.

“They didn’t tell us anything,” she said.

“We got all our information from other passengers who had internet access.”

They were due to get off in Sydney at 7am. The Swindles were waiting with their luggage by 6.30am; they couldn’t wait to get on dry land.

“After 8am the Captain made an announcement to say high seas and strong winds were preventing the pilot boat from coming out to the ship,” Corrine said.

“He said we would have to stay stationary until they could get more information. 

“After two more hours they said we should go back to our rooms, we would be staying another night due to the weather forecast.”

They didn’t know it at the time, but both Bobby and Corrine had laid awake, going through the safety brief in their minds, visualising how to put on theirs and the boys life jackets.

“We were thinking it was going to tip over to one side, and that would mean the lifeboats on that side would be gone,” Bobby said.

“We honestly felt it might be our time to die.

“People were walking around the ship crying and very scared. 

“All we wanted to see was dry land, but when we got to Sydney, it was pouring rain.”

Josef wasn’t all that keen on the idea of a cruise from the start. 

It took him a few months after they booked to start looking forward to it.

“I was worried we would get stuck at sea - and that is exactly what happened!” he said.

When the family finally got to shore they had no idea how much commotion their situation had caused.

Going through customs, they were met by a large media crowd and interviewed by Channel 9.

Corrine said she is just so grateful they are all OK.

“I don’t know if we could have survived another night out there in those conditions. Beside the crashing and smashing the ship moaned and groaned the whole time,” she said close to tears. 

“I’m finding it really hard to switch it off.”