GALVESTON, Texas — Two dozen cruisers have been banned after they got into a fight while disembarking from a Carnival Cruise Line trip.
The fight happened on April 26 inside a cruise terminal in Galveston, Texas, USA Today reported.
A group of passengers was seen shoving past the barriers inside the building where they were picking up luggage. One person was pushed to the ground and was being punched as security guards tried to break up the fight.
The passengers had been on board the Carnival Jubilee, according to the person who posted the fight on social media.
The cause of the fight was not clear, the Houston Chronicle reported.
But KRPC spoke with one of the people allegedly involved, identified as Ethan Meritt-Clark, who said, according to court documents obtained by the news station, he saw a group of people that “he had an issue with while on the cruise.” He told police that they met while playing basketball and that they had fought. He said the group of 20 people came up to him while in the luggage area after they got off the ship.
Meritt-Clark first told police that they had started “hitting and stomping” him on the ground, but he later took back that statement and said that he had pushed an elderly man.
The elderly man, who was not identified, told police that he saw Meritt-Clark speak with someone but didn’t know what the conversation was about, other than to say Meritt-Clark looked angry, so he told him, “Don’t do what you’re about to do,” KPRC reported.
The elderly man’s relatives said he was trying to de-escalate the situation, but that Meritt-Clark hit him, so they fought back until law enforcement arrived, The Galveston News reported.
Meritt-Clark is facing first-degree felony charges for injury to a child, Elderly individual or Disabled Individual, KPRC reported.
Carnival Cruise Line released a statement to USA Today, which read, "The incident occurred in the debarkation area under the authority of U.S. Customs and Border (Protection). This matter has been turned over to law enforcement. Meanwhile we will not tolerate such behavior, and 24 people have been placed on our Do Not Sail list.”
The company released a similar statement to KPRC, confirming that 24 people were on the cruise line’s Do Not Sail List.
Port of Galveston Police Department said that Customs and Border Protection “detained several individuals” and that one person was arrested by port police, USA Today reported.
© 2025 Cox Media Group
Sign Up
