SYDNEY (WTVD) -- There's finally some relief arriving for 2,500 passengers onboard the Carnival Spirit.
The cruise ship was forced to weather a severe storm outside Sydney Harbour.
Thirty-foot waves and 60-mile per hour winds lashed the ship.
A UNC-Wilmington student from Raleigh was on the ship experiencing it all.
"It was really terrifying," said JoAnna Culpepper, who graduated from Enloe High School in 2012. "The crew did a really good job of pulling everything together last minute and coming up with activities."
Culpepper is studying at the University of Western Sydney this semester.
The ship was returning from a 12-night cruise to several South Pacific Islands.
Carnival is offering 25-percent off of Culpepper's next cruise.