I believe cruise holidays are supposed to be relaxing affairs, with food and drinks taken care of and lounging by the pool the order of the day.

Apparently some guests on a Carnival cruise ship in the South Pacific never got that memo, because a number of violent brawls on board turned the holiday into a “cruise from hell”.

The Carnival Legend cruise led to some guests being escorted off board after the drama, with this from USA Today:

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 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.

Let’s go to the tape for brawl number one:

The second brawl is less dramatic, but the whole scene doesn’t really scream ‘relaxing holiday”:

Just when you think you’ve heard it all:

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.

No one likes a broken flop, but violent brawling might be something of an overreaction.

CNN spoke to some of those on board to get their reaction:

Take it easy on the Ozzies, mate.

The cruise line offered all guest aboard a 25% credit to make up for the issues, although I’m not sure that’s going to cut it.

[sources:usatoday&cnn]