A fire on a cruise ship forced an emergency stop in Freeport, Bahamas, Monday and more than 2,000 guests were to be flown home, cruise line Royal Caribbean said, dpa reported.
A fire broke out at the back of the ship Grandeur of the Seas at 2:50 am (0650 GMT) and was extinguished some two hours later, Royal Caribbean said in a statement.
The blaze left several decks at the aft of the ship blackened by smoke with peeling paint and partially gutted, according to photos posted by the cruise line on its Twitter account.
The 2,224 guests and 796 crew members were all safe, and guests had been summoned to their muster stations during the fire.
After assessing the damage, Royal Caribbean said it had decided to cancel the remainder of the seven-day cruise from Baltimore, Maryland, and fly the guests back to the United States. Passengers would be offered full refunds and a certificate for another cruise.
The accident follows a slew of bad publicity for the cruise industry after a fire on a Carnival ship left it stranded in the Gulf of Mexico for nearly a week earlier this year.