What was supposed to be a relaxing day on the deck took a turn for the worse over the weekend. A fight broke out aboard Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Sunrise, stunning guests and prompting swift action from security.

The altercation happened around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 7, while the 2,984-passenger ship was sailing a 4-day roundtrip cruise from Miami to The Bahamas.

The vessel had just completed a call at the cruise line’s private destination, Half Moon Cay, in the Bahamas when the event occurred.

Video footage of the incident quickly surfaced on social media, showing multiple passengers throwing chairs and fists as others screamed and scrambled to get out of the way. The incident took place on the lido deck near the Pizzaria.

Carnival Cruise Line’s security staff rushed to the scene and broke up the misbehaving guests as other stunned passengers looked on.

The cruise line has a strict zero-tolerance policy for violence, and those involved in fights onboard are permanently banned from Carnival ships. In this case, Carnival has confirmed with Cruise Hive that those involved would not be welcome to sail with the cruise line again.

“What’s sad is now they not gonna get to enjoy the cruise they paid for,” wrote one passenger on social media. “They will be locked in a room and get banned from Carnival.”

A guest who claims to be staying near one of the people involved in the incident shared a photo of security outside of his room.

“I’m staying a couple of doors away from him. The man is locked up in his room with security outside 24/7,” she posted.

Getting a Bad Rap

While fights on cruise ships are not new news, Carnival Cruise Line continues to draw attention when they happen on its vessels.

No official cause of the brawl has been confirmed, but no bout throwing chairs is unacceptable behavior, not just for Carnival but any cruise line. Carnival recently reiterated its code of conduct to guests across the fleet and what might happen if those rules are broken.

This altercation comes nearly one year to the day after a video of a fight was captured at the buffet aboard Carnival Paradise, sailing from Tampa. A passenger brawl also took place within the Galveston cruise terminal during disembarkation in April 2025.

The cruise line’s Code of Conduct explicitly states that “disruptive behavior is not tolerated and any guest whose conduct affects the comfort, enjoyment, safety, or well-being of other guests or crew will be disembarked at their own expense and banned from sailing on Carnival in the future.”

It is unknown if the passengers involved were disembarked in Nassau on June 8, its last port of call or allowed to stay onboard until Carnival Sunrise completed its cruise in Miami on June 9, 2025.

It is also unclear whether anyone sustained serious injuries or if local law enforcement was called once the ship returned to Miami.

However, Carnival Cruise Line’s Code of Conduct also states that a violation could result in a $500 fine, as well as reimbursement of expenses incurred by Carnival as a result of any detainment or disembarkation.

To help diminish any alcohol-induced fighting, the cruise line also recently changed its Cheers! Drink Package to limit guests to 15 drinks per day.