(AP) -- A cruise ship that was previously battered by a major storm in the Atlantic Ocean has returned to port early, cutting short another cruise.

Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas docked in Bayonne, New Jersey, on Wednesday morning. The ship was scheduled to return from a southern Caribbean cruise on Friday. However, cruise line spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez says planned stops in Barbados and St. Kitts were skipped so the 1,141-foot ship could avoid predicted strong winds and rough seas.

The company says the captain was following a new storm avoidance policy that was instituted after the ship was damaged last month when 4,500 passengers hunkered down for hours because of 30-foot waves and hurricane force winds. Four sustained minor injuries.

Martinez also says a small number of the ship's 6,000 passengers and crew have been treated for what's believed to be norovirus.

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This story has been corrected to show cruise ship was to return Friday, not March 7.