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Cruise from hell as dozens of passengers fight

As many as 30 people have been injured in a fight on a cruise ship after days of skirmishes turned into a full-on brawl.

The Carnival Legend was bound for the Australian city of Melbourne when the fight began in the early hours of Friday.

The ship was forced to make an emergency stop at the New South Wales town of Eden so that six men and three teenage boys could be removed.

Another 14 passengers, including women and children, also left the ship, police said.

The 23 are believed to be members of the same family.

The ship and its remaining passengers eventually docked in Melbourne on Saturday.

Passengers said the ship's security staff had been heavy-handed while trying to contain the brawl and had made the situation worse.

Passenger Michael Haddara told The Age: "They put handcuffs around their hands as knuckle dusters.

"They were punching women, 16-year-old kids, everything.

"They called up the mechanical people from down the bottom, the big boys, to intimidate and basically do what they want."

He also said security staff had taken phones from passengers who were filming the fight.

Jarrah Bolitho said the family had been "roaming the decks looking for people to fight" and that security staff did their best under difficult circumstances.

"There's not much else they could have done. They had to do something."

Kellie Petersen, who was on the cruise with her husband and their three children, said trouble on board had been "brewing for days".

"They were looking for trouble from the minute they got on the ship," she told Melbourne's 3AW.

"My husband said to take it away, because there's kids here, and five of them surrounded my husband.

"They told us to watch our backs."

Many other passengers locked themselves in their rooms to avoid the chaos.

The incident is being investigated by the cruise company and New South Wales marine Area Command.

Carnival general manager Jennifer Vandekreek said: "We sincerely apologise to our guests who were impacted by the disruptive behaviour of the group removed from the ship."

"With regards to the guests who were involved in the incident, we are fully cooperating with the NSW police.

"We are also conducting a full investigation and will take appropriate corrective action as necessary."