The cruise ship Norwegian Crown, with 1,104 passengers aboard, ran aground just off Bermuda on June 7th, and after remaining stuck on a sandbar through the day, was pulled off by tugs during the evening high tide.

The cruise ship's passengers and crew were at no time in any danger, according to Norwegian Cruise Lines, which said the ship tendered passengers ashore to Hamilton for local excursions.

The 34,000-ton ship ran aground at about 8:30 a.m. at the top of Dundonald Channel as it sailed from St. George's, Bermuda, to Hamilton in heavy rain.

Three tugboats sought unsuccessfully to set the Norwegian Crown free, and finally decided to postpone further efforts until a late afternoon high tide. A spokesperson for Norwegian Cruise Lines' local agent said the ship offloaded ballast during the day to make it more buoyant.

"All guests and crew onboard are safe and no one was hurt," the cruise line said. "Initial inspection indicates that the integrity of the ship has not been affected."

After it was pulled free, the ship headed for Dockyard, skipping Hamilton as a port of call.

Passengers described the day's events in interviews with the Bermuda Sun as a “mild inconvenience.”

“There was no drama," said Sarah Collmer from Portland, Oregon. "We just kind of slid into a sand bank. There was no panic and the staff kept us well informed.”

Shannon Rafine, 33, from Pennsylvania, who was in bed dozing, said she "felt a little bump and then I heard the sound of the gears grinding for a long time. It was a while before they told us about the sandbar."

There was no immediate explanation as to how the incident occurred.

The Norwegian Crown, which departed from Philadelphia on June 4th for a seven-night cruise to Bermuda, was expected to return as scheduled.