Cruise from hell passenger reveals violence 'was all on from day one'

The mass brawl aboard the Carnival Legend cruise ship. Photo / Supplied

Violence and intimidation on the Carnival Legend cruise ship were "on from day one" hours after the liner had set sail from Melbourne, passenger has claimed.

The man, who has spoken exclusively with news.com.au, said members of the one family on the "cruise from hell" were deliberately shoving and taunting other cruise guests.

They also smuggled alcohol and a hookah pipe on board and were charging around the boat in the middle of the night.

Passengers from the Carnival Legend leave the cruise ship. Photo / Supplied

The man, who asked not to be identified, said he was holidaying with his young son on the ship which stopped at four Pacific island ports, Mare, Lefou, Noumea and the Isle of Pines.

"And I saw [some members of the family at the centre of violent clashes on the ship] off their heads in the elevator.

"You could tell and one night they were off their heads running up and down the deck with a blue tooth speaker after all the bars and casinos had closed."
The passenger said that he encountered one particular member of the family the first day at sea after the Carnival Legend had left Melbourne the evening before.

The ship was cruising on its way to the islands and two of the men were walking around "deliberately trying to intimidate people".

"They walked up to me and intentionally shoved me and I turned around to say 'you're right mate?' and they looked at me waiting for me to say something so they could have a go at me.

"They did that to a number of people, I saw spot fires all the time, and eventually someone did bite."
The passenger was referring to the clash between members of the family and a group of "Aussie males" after the second group allegedly stepped on the rubber thong of one of the family's female members.

"The cruise staff could have done something early on but they didn't, they were too happy for this large family to spend their money," the passenger said.

"And drinks were not cheap, a can of Heineken was $8.50 and a Carlton Draught was $8.25. The ship was making too much money.

"But I did see this particular guy carrying round a bottle [of alcohol] which it was [contraband] to take on board.

"And as couple of them had this hookah pipe which they brought on board."

The passenger said one of the family members who features in video of the on-board clashes was "just completely arrogant".

"There were two of them in the pool on the Lido deck when this father got in with a young child and the child wet one of the men with a splash.

"The man just went off and the kid's father said, 'calm down' and the man said 'f*** you, and the father had to get out with his son and just walk off."

Carnival Legend staff were allegedly involved in the brawl. Photo / Supplied

The passenger said unpleasant confrontations with members of the family continued from the first day at sea, onward while the ship docked at each island port.

"There were plenty of chances for [ship staff] to refuse them alcohol at the bar, but they didn't.

"They were carrying that hookah right in front of me upstairs on the pool deck and then took it inside.

"[Staff] must have seen."

The man said members of the family "egged on the others to push and shove and they all backed each other up".

"It was [intimidating] for other passengers and they were just trying to get a reaction out of people, why I don't know.

"A lot of people with young children became extremely uncomfortable on the cruise.

"And these [members of the family] weren't just 'picking on Aussies', they were picking on anyone.

""My kid asked me what was going on."

The man said when the extended family was thrown off the boat at Eden on the NSW South Coast, there were people among them "crying, they were tearful".

It has been previously reported that members of the family had slept through and were unaware of the final, violent confrontation.

The stoush, caught on video, was between some family members and staff.

"I can tell you by the time that happened there would have been 2000 people on board who would have happily kicked some of those guys," he said.

"We were sick of it.

"When they were taken off, we all started talking about it, but we had to keep out mouths shut because there were other relatives still on board."

The man said he did enjoy aspect of the cruise and "the islands were brilliant" but said he was not sure if he'd ever cruise with the Carnival line again.