Passengers Stuck On Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship: 'We Don't Want To Be Here Anymore'

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Delays continue for passengers on board a cruise ship that was headed to Florida and turned around after hitting rough seas and high winds.

Royal Caribbean's "Anthem of the Seas" was supposed to return to New Jersey tomorrow morning, but passengers say that's not going to happen.

Thirty-foot waves crashed into the windows of the cruise ship while winds that topped more than 100 miles an hour sent chairs flying around outside. Passengers struggled to maintain their footing as large chunks of ceiling were left dangling and various other damage was snapped by passengers on the nearly 200,000-ton liner.

"Something separating the cabins like those, I don't know if you can see, but it flew away, it's not here anymore," Joao Melke, a frustrated passenger, told CBS2's Alice Gainer. "My wife, she got sea sick and crying. We want to leave as soon as possible, we don't want to be here anymore."

He said initially they were told they'd arrive back in New Jersey by 6 a.m. tomorrow. But he said a recent message from the captain indicates otherwise.

Melke said passengers were told, "the arrival time for Bayonne is still a little bit undecided" and that the cruise line is still "discussing with the local authorities."

The passenger also shared a video with CBS2 where the captain explained to passengers that wind speeds were higher than what was forecasted.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., wants the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate.

"The thing about this storm was, it was forecast for days. So, why in the world would a cruise ship, with thousands of passengers, go sailing right into it?" Nelson told CBS2.

And that's exactly what Melke and other passengers want to know.

"A captain's bad decision and a company's bad decision has put us in this position," he said.

A Royal Caribbean Cruise spokesperson told CBS2 the estimated time of arrival for the cruise ship is 9 p.m. Wednesday evening.