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The P&O Cruise ship Britannia was 12 hours out of the port of Bergen on the tail end of a luxury cruise to the Norweign Fiords. The ship was heading back to the port of South Hampton and all hell broke loose on the 16th deck.
The cruise ship had a planned event for the 16th deck, the Lido deck - a “Patriotic Night.” Guests were given Union Jacks to wave about, and music, food and libations were present.
Then the CLOWN showed up.
A gent dressed as a clown, apparently inferring a personal preference with respect to the new prime minister of the United Kingdom, didn’t sit well with some of the party-goers.
Words were exchange about the cruise not being “fancy dress” (costume). Then words came to blows, then dishes, furniture and mayhem ensued.
End result, six people injured, including crew members who attempted to intercede.
Those responsible for the violence were confined to their cabins until arrival at South Hampton where they were met by law enforcement. The BBC reports that two people were arrested, a man and a woman, both from Chigwell, Essex.
Violence does occur on cruise ships. No doubt the vast majority of cruisers on this specific cruise knew nothing had occurred, as they simply weren’t attending that event.
Jim Walker of Cruise Law News offered up this nugget about cruise ship violence.
Ill trained and and insufficient number of security guards: A common complaint we hear from passengers is that ship security does not intervene at an early stage to stop potentially violent situations from escalating and getting out of hand. The cruise line typically claim that their security guards are “highly trained,” but all too often the security personnel and ship officers are filmed kicking and beating passengers (or they are preoccupied with trying to stop passengers from filming the out of control violence).
Jim Walker - Cruise Law News
Our advice to cruisers, when you hear the call for “all security please report to Lido” or any other location, that’s when you might want to head in the opposite direction.
P&O Cruise lines is owned by Carnival Cruise Lines and their Twitter account @pandocruises has been silent about the entire affair.
