VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A Virginia Beach family returned back to Hampton Roads on Thursday after they went on a trip to the Bahamas that later turned into a nightmare after a ferry they were on capsized.
"The water really looked like the scenes from Titanic with everything floating on the water," Emma Hess, who was on the Blue Lagoon ferry, said.
Emma described what happened in Nassau on Tuesday as chaotic after the ferry boat she and her family were on began to take on water.
Emma, her husband Spencer, and their two boys set sail out of Miami with Royal Caribbean on the Independence of the Seas.
She said that day her family was supposed to go on a Blackbeard pirate ship excursion for their kids.
"It was going to be amazing for the kiddos but they canceled it," Emma said. "The reason why on the letter we received was for operational reasons or something like that."
She said as a backup they went on a tour of a private island but soon realized they made a mistake when their ferry began to take on water.
Emma said her husband acted quickly to grab life vests for their kids but said because of their conditions, it was difficult to use.
"They [life vests] were so improperly stowed that we couldn't unwrap the straps so a lot of us just had the life jackets on our neck and that was it," Emma said.
Spencer said he could see other people frantically running up to the top deck and he tried to help others who were not moving as water was filling the boat.
"I started with all the elderly people and said hey we gotta move," Spencer said. "This boat is taking on the water you cannot stay here."
Spencer said there was one woman in particular he remembers trying to help.
"She had an oxygen tank on her like a backpack and I looked at her and said hey are you able to move, do you have your tank, is it secured," Spencer said. "She said yes and so I started pulling her to the back. She and I got thrown around a little bit."
Spencer later found out that the woman was the person who died.
He said at the time of the incident he saw how much water was getting on the boat so he went back to get his family.
They jumped off the boat and began to swim with others to safety.
A boat nearby was able to help pull the family out of the water and many others.
Two other passengers were also taken to the hospital.
In a statement Royal Caribbean says:
We are saddened to hear that one of our guests passed away following an accident on a shore excursion in Nassau, The Bahamas. Our hearts are with the families involved and our Care Team has been activated to support them during this difficult time.
Hess and her husband say they want to see more precautions put in place to make sure this doesn't happen again.
"It was a total mess and that captain had no idea what he was doing so more training was provided for the captain and the crew members, especially for safety," Emma said.
