A Carnival Cruise ship’s dining hall plunged into chaos when a large group of women got into an all-out brawl, brazenly hurling chairs and fists at each other as shocked passengers and staff watched.
A six-and-a-half minute video captured by Nick Richardson, a guest on the early June voyage to Honduras and Cozumel, Mexico, shows the moment furniture began sailing through the air in the dining hall of the ship.
The fight included at least six women, with a few men who appeared to be trying to break it up.
Only about three apparent Carnival security guards were at the scene, but their efforts to stop the violence were virtually futile against the angry pack of women pounding on each other.
About two minutes into the video, a group of non-security cruise workers were seen watching in disbelief.
“It’s my first time seeing [something] like that,” one woman said to Richardson.
“Is it really? Welcome to America… This is how it is in America, man. Look at this shit,” the cameraman can be heard replying.
Another man, who did not appear to be initially involved in the brawl but jumped in when things spiraled out of control, then stepped into the camera’s frame.
“They’re hitting my damn mama, bro… that’s why I got in there… I ain’t going to hit no woman, but I’ll push their ass because she was on my mama,” he told Richardson.
Richardson, meanwhile, can be heard in the background of the video reiterating that he only came to the dining hall for pizza.
“Can I just get a slice of pizza before I go to bed?” he asked as staff members frantically ran around the cafeteria.
As the fight begins to wind down by the 5-minute-30-second mark of the footage, the cameraman suggests, “Let’s have a blessed night, everybody. Let’s get some pizza!”
Despite the presence of multiple security guards, nobody appeared to have been hauled away — the brawlers seemed to disperse on their own while still shouting at each other.
Richardson recorded the aftermath of the fight, showing broken plates and upside-down chairs as he helped the staff pick up the mess.
“This is just what happens at 3 in the morning when you got a bunch of drunk girls from Tampa,” Richardson, who was on the cruise with his fiancee and three children, told the New York Post.
“I’m like, ‘It’s definitely gonna go down.’ It’s why I got it on video,” he explained. “Those girls were already set on what they were gonna do. It just got out of hand very, very quickly. And that’s how it happens. You’re just drinking too much.”
He added that the women “didn’t care” who was watching, and “just kept going.”
A Carnival Cruise Line spokesperson confirmed the incident happened on June 6.
“As is our policy, we will not tolerate such behavior and the guests involved were fined and will not sail on Carnival Cruise Line again,” a statement obtained by the Post said.
It is unclear if the participants were arrested.
Richardson said the unsafe situation that transpired aboard the ship will not stop him from going on another cruise with Carnival.
“The entirety of the cruise everybody was friendly with each other, everybody was enjoying themselves,” he told the outlet. “The Carnival made sure everyone was having a fantastic time.”
“I don’t knock this fight as a reason why I wouldn’t go back on Carnival. I already booked another one for this spring with my family.”
