Mr Carder said he eventually fell asleep, as did Mr Lyons, but their wives stayed awake and were quite concerned for a while.

Meanwhile back in the hall, the concert stopped immediately they realised there was gunfire and 400 people dropped to the floor, wondering if they would see the next day.

“The people at the concert were told to go to their cabins and stay dressed but to take cover,” Mr Carder said.

“But an all-clear was never issued so a few stayed under their beds til morning and were still unsure of whether it was over.

“And if it hadn’t been for the blokes who threw the deckchairs it could have been really bad.”

Mr Carder said the whole thing – especially repelling boarders with deckchairs - seemed humorous now, but at the time it could have been so much different.

“If they’d got into the concert they could have killed lots and had lots of hostages.”

Later, Mr Carder learned the pirate captain had been interviewed by telephone from his hiding place in Mogadishu.

He was reported as saying “Unfortunately we were not able to capture the ship, a good prey. The ship was too big and we had to give in after 30 minutes”.

After the pirates left, the captain got in touch with the authorities and a helicopter and Spanish frigate were summoned and pursued the pirates, some of whom were captured.

In the morning all the talk on board, naturally, was about the attack and passengers spent time examining bullet holes in windows and walls.

Mr Lyons said “it was very close”.

“There was probably only minutes between them succeeding or not,” he said.

“There wasn’t much in it; if they had got on the ship they could have done anything with the guns.”

The next night the ship organised a talent quest at which Mr Carder, a musician in rock and roll bands since the late 1950s (playing at one time with George Lazenby of James Bond fame) took part.

“I played a bit Jerry Lee Lewis style rock and roll,” he said.

Mr Lyons had a different take on it: “Lance was the star – the crowd loved him and his efforts sort of broke the tension.”

Although not closely involved with the attempted piracy, Mr Carder said the stories of those at the concert indicated they were really stressed. Mr Carder said the cruise then continued as normal without further incident, although the frigate kept a close watch for a few days.

As for their feelings throughout the incident, Mr Carder said: “It was certainly a highlight and we all thought ‘what story to tell when we get home’.”

• Editor’s note: Mr Carder said the pirates did not wear eye patches or fly the skull and crossbones and as far as he knew, no one was made to walk the plank.