Firsthand accounts from passengers aboard the Freedom of the Seas cruise ship on Dec. 17 document new details of the fate of eight Cuban migrants rescued at sea. 

"I heard somebody yell from one of the other rooms, 'There's a boat out there,'" said Robert Brady from his home near Tampa. 

Photos: Cubans taken aboard rescue boat

Brady and his wife were among the stunned passengers watching from the balconies as a crew from the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines rescued eight young men, two at a time, from a tiny drifting vessel that was taking on water. 

"This thing is bobbing in water, and the water is going up the backside of it, and I said, 'It isn't going to make it anyways,'" said Brady. 

The boat was still floating five days later, when some fishermen found it drifting off Marathon. They marveled at its workmanship and the items still aboard -- clothing, provisions, clippings from a Cuban newspaper and letters to loved ones. 

The Coast Guard dispatched the Cutter Key Biscayne to take custody of the migrants. 

Cruise passengers videotaped the transfer of the men from their cruise ship to the cutter. 

A spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard confirmed all eight men were repatriated to Bahia de Cabanas, Cuba. 

"I can’t imagine being stuck in a country where you can't leave," said Brady.  "Everyone was wondering, what does Cuba do with them when they get back?"