Cruise passengers thought ship 'tilting 45 degrees' was special effects until chaos followed on board in horror footage

Cruise passengers suffered a serious scare as Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas 'tilted 45 degrees' mid-journey.

Many of the thousands on board the ship initially thought the incident was a case of special effects, until the horrifying reality emerged.

Watch below:

The scare on 7 November took place over rough sees in Spain as one guest was injured during the minutes-long incident. Photos and videos of the moment the ship tilted have since been shared on social media.

A Royal Caribbean spokesperson said the 12-night cruise, travelling from Barcelona, Spain, to Miami, US, was diverted to Las Palmas so the individual could receive medical treatment.

"During an unexpected wind gust near Tenerife, Spain, one of our sailings experienced sudden movement," they said.

Passengers onboard Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas were struggling to stay on their feet as the ship 'tilted 45 degrees' (Kennedy News and Media/Bookeeping.ai)

"One of our guests was injured and requires additional medical care, so the ship will make a call in Las Palmas, Spain for a medical disembarkation.

"We are communicating these changes directly with our guests."

Meanwhile, witnesses said they thought it was all special effects as Céline Dion’s theme song for The Titanic, 'My Heart Will Go On,' allegedly started playing when the ship was tilting.

Passenger Dan - from Toronto, Canada - told The Sun: "When I left the pub I could hear screaming sounds, glasses were falling around and the cruise had started tilting.

"You can see a whole advertisement sign hit a guy and he saves himself and grabs his girlfriend.

"He was in a state of shock. I wondered if this was a normal thing but the more I heard people screaming that's when I got scared and had to turn the video off."

Shops and social areas were trashed as a result (Kennedy News and Media / bookeeping.ai)

He said 'it was like the Titanic', before adding: "I was writing my last message thinking that I would die."

Randy Moore, another passenger on the cruise, said: "First there was a lot of screaming going on in the theatre. Then 30 seconds later the ship tilted even more to one side.

"That's when a lot of screaming started and stuff started to slide across the stage and it was kind of scary for a minute."

Traveller Jonathon Parrish also spoke to CBS News: "Right then and there you could hear all the glass dropping from the bar and breaking.

"They had a grand piano that flew across the stage."

After the ship full stabilised, Royal Caribbean said it arrived in Miami three days later without any issues.