Cruise Ship Brawl Gets 10 People Thrown Off

A large fight broke out late last week on a cruise ship based out of Port Canaveral and the captain of the Carnival Dream ended up throwing ten passengers off the ship. They were left in Costa Maya, Mexico (see map).

Carnival says they made arrangements for the ten people thrown off the ship to get home, along with an 11th person that was part of their party; they do not face any charges.

What prompted the brawl is still not clear. While the Carnival Dream was sailing between Belize and Costa Maya, the brawl broke out. Ron Peczinka of St. Cloud said he woke up in his cabin to the sound of people running down the hallways.

“My friend's cabin, they knocked on his door and told him to lock his door, not to come out in the hallway until, you know, until morning,” Peczinka said.

The next morning, Peczinka said he noticed picture frames in a ship gallery shattered and security officers positioned in more visible locations throughout the ship.

“I'd sailed on other ships before, and there was never anything like this that happened on another ship. I think it's disgraceful that they allowed something like this to happen,” he said.

Carnival would not say whether anything on the ship was damaged.

The ten passengers and an 11th companion were led off at the next port of call. The cruise line would not identify the people involved.

Carnival did issue a statement saying, "The safety and security of our guests and crew is of utmost importance and we will not tolerate behavior that could put any of them at risk."

Experts say, under maritime law, it is the ship captain’s call on how to handle unruly passengers. If the captain believes a crime has been committed at sea, suspects can be detained until they're turned over to authorities at the next port of call.

In fact, from time to time, passengers are turned over to the Brevard County Sheriff's Office when the ships return to Port Canaveral.

The President just passed new ship security regulations in July requiring ships to keep better records of crimes occurring at sea. The new rules also require peep holes in cabin doors and surveillance cameras on ship decks.