Athanasia Georgoudakis' journey on the Carnival Spirit cruise ship will be her last.

The hours she spent on the swollen seas brought on by Sydney's storm on Monday and Tuesday left her terrified that she might never get off.

"When the ship was shaking yesterday, I was thinking I was going to die and not see the rest of my family," she said.

"I was so scared, I was really really scared. I was with my mum, she was a lot braver than me."

Ms Georgoudakis, from Yagoona, in Sydney's south-west, said the crew handled the situation very well, but it was not enough to ease her fears.

"Things were moving around; you could hear things banging [on] the side of the ship. At one stage, I looked out the window and one of the waves crashed up against the glass. I freaked out and closed the curtains. I couldn't deal with it," she said.

"This is the last [cruise]. If I want to go on holiday I will catch a plane. I will not take another cruise, never."

While Ms Georgoudakis found the experience overwhelming, the ship's captain and hotel director said most guests coped well, although with some seasickness.

"We made sure that our passengers were safe. Our number one priority is the safety of our guests and crew,"captain Adriano Binacchi said.

In order to handle the rough conditions, Captain Binacchi said the first step was to reduce the speed of the ships, so as to "ride up the waves at very slow speed".

Another procedure he used was to turn the ship against big waves.

"To make the people more comfortable, what we did all day yesterday we went up and down ... tried to find the best solution for the waves and to let the people enjoy the night," he said.

Passenger Peter Hordern said the staff on board had been excellent, but it was fantastic to be back on dry land.

"Your stomach, the food not staying down, I was a bit scared ... All the things you see in the news when that cruise ship went down."

He said it was no surprise when passengers were told there would be docking on Wednesday morning, because the waves were "half the size".

"Now I've just got to hope my house is in one piece in Gosford."

Mr Hordern said he and his wife had been in touch with friends in Terrigal on Tuesday, when they were told about the damage in the area.

"All we know is it's been hit rather hard, the whole area, trees gone, power gone. Bit nervous going home, but it will be all right."

The Carnival Spirit, which held 2500 passengers, was the first ship Harbour Master Philip Holliday had ever said no to upon entering the port.

He said a ship the size of the Carnival Spirit required a pilot "to get on board to guide the ship in" and the severity of the weather conditions meant they could not safely allow a pilot to board.

"But the weather coming in from the Heads of Sydney was so bad that even if there was a pilot on board it would have been unsafe to bring the ship in. For that reason I closed the port and we waited for the weather to abate," Mr Holliday said.

"This is the first time for me that I've closed the port and this is the first time I've ever said no to a cruise ship - and hopefully it will be the last time."

Not all passengers found the experience frightening, with many describing it like a ride at the Royal Easter Show.

"If you've ever been on roller-coasters and it's rocking back to front, it was like that the whole time. And you were just watching people sway the whole entire time," said Jess Smitham, 12, from Balmain.