Ms Hobby was travelling on the Costa Allegra in 2009 along the east coast of Asia with some friends when trouble struck.

"The captain took us through a category four typhoon," she said.

"There was water in the cabins and the ceiling came down on the main deck, TVs and refrigerators were flying everywhere.

"All we could do was lie in our beds for 18 hours and hope we got through."

Stopping in Hong Kong for repairs, Ms Hobby saw the ship's anchor had come free during the storm and torn a hole in the ship's side.

"I'd never go with Costa again - it was not a good experience," she said.

"They've got to pull up their socks really."

But the ordeal and the ship's cousin foundering off the island of Giglio have not deterred her from setting sail completely, with another cruise booked this year with a different operator.

Investigations are continuing into why the Costa Concordia hit rocks on January 13 and listed to one side.

Costa Cruises said in a statement human error had been a factor and it appeared the ship had steered too close to shore - it has announced a safety audit for its fleet and captain Francesco Schettino is under house arrest on manslaughter charges.