Violent brawls transform Carnival trip into 'cruise from hell,' passengers say

Christal Hayes | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Carnival investigates "cruise from hell" Carnival has launched an investigation into a wild brawl off the Australian coast, that saw 23 passengers kicked off a cruise. Some on board accuse security of being heavy handed. Joel Labi reports. Video provided by Reuters

People vacationing on a Carnival cruise ship this week in the South Pacific had their trip turned upside down thanks to a series of violent brawls that seemed to transform the ship from a paradise into a fight club.

The Carnival Legend was forced to escort several guests off the ship and place them on a smaller boat ahead of the boat's docking in Australia on Saturday.

Several fights broke out over the 10-day cruise, including two captured on camera showing guests throwing punches on a pool deck and a ship nightclub.

Passengers have described the trip as the "cruise from hell."

The second video showed people yelling, crying, throwing punches and a crew member repeatedly kicking a guest on the floor.

Passengers have said members of an extended family started trouble with other guests constantly, some passengers just stayed inside their rooms to avoid the group.

Kellie Petersen, who was with her husband and three children, told Melbourne radio station 3AW she was afraid.

"Fights have been going on for a few days now," she said. "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.

"We can't wait to get off," she added.

In a statement to USA TODAY, the cruise line said it is investigating.

"Our security team responded in several instances to extremely unruly behavior by these guests while the ship was at sea," the statement reads. "The actions seen on the video by our security team are not in line with our values and policies."

It's unclear exactly how and why the fights started, but one family member told 3AW it may have originated because of a misunderstanding after someone stepped on someone else's flip-flop.

Several of the family members were kicked off the ship and taken by local authorities. Guests filmed them boarding a smaller vessel and booed.

The cruise line offered all guest aboard a 25% credit to make up for the issues.

"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 in a statement.

Follow Christal Hayes on Twitter: @Journo_Christal