A passenger who survived ten hours in the sea is a “stupid woman” who must have jumped off the ship, the mother of the cruise line’s president has told the Telegraph.

Kay Longstaff, 46, an air hostess, was accused of causing massive disruption to fellow passengers while costing Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation.

Allegations surfaced on Monday suggesting Miss Longstaff had been arguing with her boyfriend in the hours before she plunged into the Adriatic Sea from the seventh deck of the liner about 75 ft above the water.

Fellow passengers expressed anger towards Miss Longstaff and Norwegian Cruise Line for the chaos and disruption her actions had caused.

Many also suggested there was no way she could have accidentally fallen from the ship, insisting that the security barriers were simply too high to topple over.

The 83-year-old mother of Andy Stuart, the cruise company’s president and chief executive, said her son had been dismayed by continuing reports that Miss Longstaff’s “fell” off the back of the Norwegian Star.