Photo: © 2010 AFP/AAP/LLUIS GENE
The powerful, uncharacteristic ten-meter waves broke through glass panels at the front of the ship.
It sent shards of glass flying around the cabin, claiming the lives of two men, an Italian and a German.
A 62-year-old lady was left with both legs broken.
Thirteen others were also injured.
"It was spectacular," French passenger Claude Cremex told AFP.
"A lot of water came in. Many cabins were flooded."
The ship was on a 12-day cruise, but was forced to return to Barcelona, where authorities are looking into what happened.
