An entire family were removed from a ten-day cruise in the South Pacific after a mass brawl and accusations of repeated intimidating behaviour towards other passengers.

Footage captured the Carnival Legend ship’s crew and security personnel attempting to break up a chaotic fight between several passengers at around 12.45am on Friday morning.

It is unclear what prompted the scuffle, with members of staff in the video seen attempting to stop passengers from recording the the incident.

Carnival Cruise Lines confirmed a large family group had been involved “in violent and disruptive acts”, forcing the ship destined for Melbourne to make an unscheduled stop in New South Wales so 23 passengers could be removed.

Passengers described it as a “cruise from hell”, with some left afraid to leave their cabins and reports of up to 30 people being injured on board.