Battered but mostly unbowed cruise ship passengers arrived in Bermuda yesterday after skirting around Hurricane Edouard in 80-knot gales.

The cruise ship Zenith berthed on the Island sporting the scars of her voyage -- a slightly crumpled bow and three people who were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

She had endured 80-knot winds and 35-foot swells which caused a piano and chairs to overturn and spilled drinks and bottles from bars.

Some passengers were also unseated falling from chairs as the ship rolled and others endured sea sickness in the heavy seas.

The ship sailed at its normal time on Saturday afternoon from New York, taking a longer route and an extra day to get to Bermuda to try to avoid the hurricane.

However, it appears the hurricane's path shifted slightly and the ship caught its edge as the storm swept up the US East Coast on Sunday evening. The Zenith berthed in Bermuda yesterday.

There were mixed reactions from passengers on board the ship with some highly critical of the Captain for sailing and others supporting the skipper.

Mary Jane Latronica said the ship should not have left port and the trip should have been cancelled.

"My cabin has been soaking wet for three days. I was on the fourth floor and the water kept hitting my window. All the passengers were very unhappy,'' she said.

Zenith passengers split over voyage neither had other passengers on the ship.

Passenger Oleg Vinokur said the trip was "pretty scary'' as the boat rocked.

He added: "I think it was a bad decision to leave port. They should have predicted the weather better.

"The passengers should have told it was going to be rocky and given the choice of leaving the ship.'' Another passenger was reported to be considering legal action.

However other passengers supported the Captain, Ioannis Papanikolaou, with one, who asked not to be named, saying they were happy about the decision to sail.

"We were in the bar at the time and it was a little rough. There must have been some big waves because people's chairs rolled over and a piano rolled over,'' said the passenger. "All the crew got up and helped the passengers back to their cabins if they needed help, because some people were very frighted. I did not feel threatened, it was just very rough.

"I felt OK about the decision to leave. I don't blame the captain. He would not have left unless he thought he would have got past the hurricane in time.'' Jim Marshall, a first time cruiser, said he thought the hurricane shifted suddenly. "It was like the hurricane was chasing us, but the Captain did a superb job.'' Last night Captain Papanikolaou said he understood that some passengers might have been upset but said it was a handful out of 1,400 on the ship. He said that generally the reaction from passengers was positive.

The ship received weather reports giving the hurricane's exact position, but its path was unusual and it shifted, taking the ship to its edge, he said.

"We took the decision to sail according to the weather reports and we were heading away from the hurricane, but it changed course which brought us to the edge,'' he added.

"We did our best to bring the passengers in safely,'' said Captain Papanikolaou, who spent 48 hours on the bridge during and after the storm.

Although he said the bow damage was cosmetic, surveyors will be brought in to examine the area which was the only damage to the ship.

On criticisms by some of the passengers, the Captain said they were told about the hurricane and given the chance to leave the ship before she sailed.

He said the crew looked after the passengers during the voyage and when he met some of them, they were "fine''.

"I understand and accept the concerns about the weather but we tried to get away from the hurricane and we did our best to get them to Bermuda safely.'' HURRICANE HUR