The scene on board a cruise ship in the Caribbean drew comparisons to the Titanic as 50 staterooms on Deck 9 were flooded.

A breach in the Carnival Dream's fire extinguishing system led to water pouring into a corridor.

One passenger said people had been relocated to the spa to sleep on yoga mats.

Marla DeAnn Haase, a passenger, posted images of the flooding on Facebook .

She wrote: "Um....FB folks.....this is a rare moment of internet connection ....we are flooding on a cruise, we heard the violins and the silverware all came crashing down. What in the world....say a prayer for us all."

That was a reference to violinists continuing to play as the Titanic went down.