Feb. 19 (UPI) — Several brawls broke out Friday aboard a Carnival cruise ship off the coast of Australia, resulting in 23 people getting kicked off the ship, authorities said.
Cellphone video obtained by 3AW radio in Australia caught the violent vacationers punching and screaming at each other at a nightclub as security guards get involved in the altercation and try to contain the passengers.
In another video, the 23 people get removed from the ship as other passengers jeer at them for causing the ship to go back to port so police can make their arrests.
In a statement to CNN, Carnival said police removed “a large family group who had been involved in disruptive acts aboard Carnival Legend. Our security team responded in several instances to extremely unruly behavior by these guests.”
“One particular altercation in the nightclub began when the group physically attacked other guests. The actions seen on the video by our security team are not in line with our Carnival values and policies,” the statement added.
Passenger Kellie Petersen told 3AW that fights had been occurring on the ship for several days.
“We’re scared. We’ve been told to watch our backs by this group so we’re scared to go anywhere alone in the ship,” she said. “We can’t wait to get off.”
Carnival gave passengers a 25 percent credit for the inconvenience.
“We sincerely regret that the unruly conduct and actions of the passengers removed from the ship in Australia may have prevented our guests from fully enjoying their cruise,” the company said.
