MIAMI — A cruise ship that was intended to dock in Miami has in its place sailed to the Bahamas, soon after a U.S. choose granted an get to seize the vessel as component of a lawsuit more than $4 million in unpaid gasoline.

Cruise trackers demonstrate Crystal Symphony at this time docked in the Bahamian island of Bimini.

“We all sense we were being abducted by magnificent pirates!” passenger Stephen Heard Fales posted on Facebook.

Some passengers had been taken by ferry to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday.

A Crystal Cruise spokesperson said in a assertion that the ferry ride experienced been “uncomfortable thanks to inclement weather.”

Elio Rate, a musician on the cruise ship, said he would “never want to reside by means of” the ferry journey again.

“It was the roughest two hours I have ever regarded on the ship,” he told NBC’s “TODAY” display.

Before the ferry trip, Rate explained he had “never ever felt sick on a ship right before,” likening the expertise to “horror videos” on the net of ships “going from aspect to side” and on the lookout as if they may possibly “topple around.”

“That’s what it was like,” he explained.

The Crystal Cruise spokesperson reported attendees have been also taken to neighborhood airports, but would not remark on the lawsuit.

It was not straight away distinct how a lot of travellers had been aboard the ship, with a single news outlet reporting 300 and a further, 700. According to the business web page, the vessel can have up to 848 travellers.

The ship was scheduled to get there in Miami on Saturday. But a federal decide there issued an arrest warrant for the ship Thursday, a maritime follow wherever a U.S. Marshal goes aboard a vessel and requires demand of it after it enters U.S. waters.

Passengers and entertainers claimed on social media they have been stunned to obtain out about the legal circumstance. One visitor posted a letter on Facebook from Crystal Cruises Administration that claimed the improve in itinerary was due to “non-complex operational issues.”

Elio Rate, a musician who has toured off and on with the ship due to the fact 2013, reported about about 30-50 crew disembarked for the reason that their contracts finished. An additional 400 crew associates do not know when they’ll get off, or if they’ll continue being used.

“This is a human story. This is about people and their positions,” Pace explained to The Related Push.

The lawsuit was filed in a Miami federal court docket by Peninsula Petroleum Considerably East against the ship underneath a maritime technique that enables steps towards vessels for unpaid debts. The complaint suggests Crystal Symphony was chartered or managed by Crystal Cruises and Star Cruises, which are both sued for breach of contract for allegedly owing $4.6 million in gas.

Crystal Cruises declared earlier this 7 days that it was suspending operations by way of late April. In addition to Crystal Symphony, it has two other ships now cruising, which stop their voyages on Jan. 30 in Aruba and on Feb. 4 in Argentina.

“Suspending operations will give Crystal’s administration crew with an chance to examine the latest point out of business and study different possibilities moving forward,” the enterprise said in a assertion previously this 7 days.

Chantal Da Silva contributed.