I read a story in USA TODAY about people who were vacationing on a Carnival cruise ship last week in the South Pacific who had their trip turned upside down, thanks to a series of violent brawls that transformed the ship from a paradise into a fight club.
The Carnival Legend was forced to escort several guests off of the ship and place them on a small boat, prior to the ship’s docking in Australia.
Several fights had broken out over the 10-day cruise, including two that were captured on video, showing guests throwing punches on a pool deck and a ship nightclub.
The second video showed people yelling and crying and a crew member repeatedly kicking a guest on the floor.
Passengers who were interviewed said that members of an extended family started trouble with other guests constantly. Some passengers decided to just stay in their rooms to avoid the group.
One passenger, who was traveling with her husband and three children, told a Melbourne radio station that she was afraid. “Fights had been going on for days,” she said. “We were scared. We were told to watch our backs so we were afraid to go anywhere alone in the ship.”
“We couldn’t wait to get off,” she added.
In a statement to USA TODAY, the cruise line said they are investigating. Duh…ya think?
“Our security team responded in several instances to extremely unruly behavior by guests while the ship was at sea.” They stated.
It is unclear exactly how and why the fights started, but one family member told a reporter that it may have originated because of a misunderstanding after someone stepped on someone else’s flip-flop.
Passengers described the trip as the “cruise from hell.”
The cruise line, however did offer all guests aboard a 25% credit to make up for the issues.
I’m guessing that some of those people will be scarred for life and never again step onto a cruise ship, at least not in flip-flops.