Dance-floor brawl breaks out on cruise ship ahead of NYC docking

MANHATTAN (WPIX) — A dance-floor brawl broke out on a Carnival cruise ship early Tuesday, prompting police to meet the vessel ahead of its scheduled Manhattan docking, authorities and officials said.

Shortly before the Carnival Magic was due to arrive in the New York-New Jersey area, a large fight broke out in a nightclub on the ship around 5:20 a.m., according to the NYPD. The fight began as a scuffle between two people on the dance floor, then grew in size as others joined in, the department said.

By the time the brawl was over, an estimated 40 to 60 people had been involved, NewsNation reported.

When the ship docked at Pier 88 in Manhattan, police and EMS were waiting, authorities said. The NYPD initially described the incident as an emergency docking, but Carnival said in a statement that the stop was scheduled all along.

“Last night while Carnival Magic was returning to New York, a number of guests were involved in an altercation in a nightclub. Thankfully no serious injuries were reported and our onboard security team intervened,” the statement read. “The ship arrived as scheduled this morning and shoreside law enforcement authorities were notified and met the ship to interview suspects and witnesses and conduct an investigation.”

The Magic departed the New York-New Jersey area on June 20 for a round-trip tour of the Caribbean, and was due back Tuesday, according to tracking site CruiseMapper.com. Passengers were disembarking gradually in the wake of the stop, police said.