Christina Schneider woke early last Wednesday to the sound of a foghorn. She spent the rest of the morning in her room, wearing a life jacket and waiting.

Schneider (junior-advertising and women's studies) is a Penn State student aboard the MV Explorer, a semester-at-sea ship out of the University of Pittsburgh that suffered damage when a 50-foot wave crashed into the ship, causing a brief power failure. The boat is carrying seven Penn State students.

"We had just crossed the international date line on Jan. 27," Schneider said. "It was at about 1:30 a.m. in the northern Pacific when the water got really rough."

She said the rocking of the boat caused destruction on board.

"Our beds started sliding all over the place and our drawers were tipping over," Schneider said. "The boat was getting thrown around, and glass was breaking and televisions were breaking, but all the administration on the boat told us to get back in our rooms."

Schneider said she and her roommate tried watching a movie and going back to sleep.

"At 6 a.m. we hit really bad weather and the foghorn went off, and we heard one of the emergency signals so we ran out into the hallway," she said. "We heard an announcement telling us to put on our lifejackets, and they separated the men and the women because they were getting ready to lower lifeboats."

Paul Watson, director of enrollment management for the Institute of Shipboard Education of Semester at Sea, said the storm was unexpected.

"We encountered a very large and severe storm that caused this damage," Watson said.

Schneider said the students were forced to sit on the deck for a few hours until the captain of the boat made a report over the loudspeaker.

"He said that a wave of a minimum of 55 feet hit our bridge," she said. "Our boat was sitting in the water at a 45-degree angle because we took on water."

Schneider added that the students would miss part of their world tour.

"We're missing our first two tours, which were Korea and Japan," Schneider said. "As a last resort they will cancel the trip, but they might fly us to the next port, which is China, and then have the boat meet us there."

If the trip is, in fact, canceled, students on board will lose their credits for the semester.

Schneider said the bad weather has not deterred any of the students from enjoying their trip.

"Everyone is fine and everyone is really excited," Schneider said. "I haven't met a single person who said they wanted to go home."

Almost 700 students from across the nation were on board the 591-foot cruise liner and none of them were injured, but two crewmembers received minor injuries.

"The ship came in at 3 p.m. [Monday]," said Micah Kiaha, a shipping agent for Inchcape Shipping Services. "They're still assessing the total extent of the damages."

Kiaha said they have had only one meeting about the ship so far, but it seemed to be in good condition.

"We're letting the ship dock, and whatever damage needs to be fixed will be taken care of," said Scott Ishikawa, Hawaii Department of Transportation spokesman. The boat is currently docked in Honolulu Harbor. The students will stay there until a decision about their trip has been made.

U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman Chief Petty Officer Marshalena Delaney said the incident is an uncommon occurrence.

"This is the first time this has happened in a long time," she said.

She added that the ship could be in dock for a few days, and the damage estimate has not yet been released.

"The ship has insurance, but we don't have a dollar estimate of the damage yet," she said. "The ship's people were saying it could be docked anywhere from two to four days."

--Collegian staff writers Kate Faxon-St. Georges and Lisa Weismann contributed to this article.