Passengers Thrown Into Walls, Sliding Across Floor in Seasick Nightmare as Cruise Ship Is Hit by Massive Waves

While traversing the infamous Drake Passage, a cruise ship turned into what one passenger described as a 48-hour rollercoaster — and the footage needs to be seen to be believed.

Towering waves crashed against Quark Expeditions’ Ocean Explorer ship as it crossed the infamous waters between Argentina and Antarctica during a March cruise. In footage captured by passenger Lesley Anne Murphy. guests are seen being thrown against the walls and even to the floor of the vessel.

The “The Road Les Traveled” blogger estimated that some of the waves were 30 to 40 feet tall, a claim evidenced by her footage of passengers being dwarfed by the huge swells that clapped against the ship — occasionally blocking out some windows entirely — for two days.

The tumultuous portion of the 12-day cruise was not shocking to Quark Expeditions, as the company notes on its website that the Drake Passage is “among the bodies of water most prone to powerful forces of weather,” as it flows into the Southern, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Thankfully, the Ocean Explorer is properly prepped to withstand the powerful waves, with the company writing that its Drake Passage cruise provides “opportunities to experience fierce weather and dramatic ocean conditions (think extremely powerful waves) all within the comfort of an impressive vessel built to navigate such waters.”

Sharing her experience aboard the ship on Instagram, Murphy revealed that the rockiness, or “Drake shake,” came in two different spurts within two days — and she not only made it out unscathed, but also had the “trip of a lifetime.”

“Imagine if you signed up for a 48 hour rollercoaster😆,” the blogger wrote of the cruise, in part. “I am proud to say we survived not one but two Drake Shakes!”

Murphy went on to explain the often rough nature of the Drake Passage in her own words. “If you’re lucky,” she said, you get the much calmer “Drake Lake,” and “if you’re like us, you get the Drake Shake with 35 ft waves🫠.”

She says the experience “was insane…and at times, even fun,” adding that ultimately, everything was “worth it for this trip of a lifetime!”

“We were told to stay in our cabins for an entire afternoon yesterday,” she recalled, “and there were definitely some silver linings amongst this whole ordeal…we got some down time, we laughed *a lot*, I processed some of this amazing voyage, I FaceTimed my girls and I learned that wildly enough…I don’t get seasick!”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

In an Instagram Stories post, Murphy also shared a message for anyone who is interested in experiencing the passage but intimidated by the dramatic footage she captured.

“I fully realize these videos are probably preventing some of y’all from ever visiting Antarctica, but DO IT ANYWAY!” she wrote. “Crossing the Drake is part of it and…kinda like childbirth?? You forget about it once it’s over and do it again and while these look scary, it wasn’t that bad.”

“Do it scared,” she added, “because Antarctica is 100000000% worth it!”

The Drake Passage also gained attention online thanks to the Royal Caribbean 9-Month World Cruise, which circumnavigated the globe from December 2023 to September 2024. It made its way through the passage during the first leg of its voyage which was plagued by bad weather.

In 2023, a Tiktoker went viral for their footage of terrifying swells in the 620-mile stretch, which was less successful than Murphy’s.

Natasha Alden says she spent most of the time “horizontal,” due to the extreme seas which rendered the boat unsteady for the better part of two days.

From eating breakfast at the buffet, where passengers “held on for dear life,” to trying to attend lectures about Antarctica’s wildlife, the seas were angry that day. “I only made it so long before I had to get back to the room,” she shared.

On one recent occasion, the passage proved deadly.