Two women banned from Carnival cruises after getting into slapping fight over line dispute

Two women have allegedly been banned from Carnival cruises after getting into a fight onboard a Spirit cruise ship.

Lisa Horace, 51 and Tonya Nelson, 58, appeared in federal court earlier this week following federal citations for assault.

The dispute allegedly began after Nelson confronted Horace, accusing her of standing in the wrong queue when she wanted to settle her cruise account.

It's reported that Horace had initially ignored Nelson, which led to Nelson touching her husband's shoulder a number of times.

An argument ensued and the pair began slapping each other, with Carnival staff forced to weigh in and separate the pair.

The pair became involved in a slapping fight (Fox 10 News)

Records indicate that Nelson had said she had previously felt embarrassed after standing in the wrong line and was trying to be helpful.

Court documents indicate that the women did not know each other prior to the encounter.

At court this week, Nelson said: “I’m just sorry that we’re here."

As a result of the incident, both have been banned from Carnival cruises and have lost their Diamond status.

Diamond is the highest level of membership and includes benefits such as priority check-in; complementary beverages; unlimited laundry services and cabin upgrades.

The women have been banned from the cruise (Getty Stock Photo)

Buzz Jordan, Nelson's attorney, said of the incident: “Things happen sometimes on a crowded ship. You know, we’ve got big crowds involved, so that’s how I think this happened.

“I’m hoping that Carnival will reinstate both of them so they can continue traveling with Carnival.

“My client and the other lady are both great citizens and you know, I don’t expect they’ll ever have any more issues."

UNILAD has reached out to Carnival for comment.

Last year, a Royal Caribbean cruise was forced to return to port after a fight broke out on board and left guests 'injured'.

The cruise liner said it was forced to abandon the journey after a fight broke out on board that was so bad, it apparently injured passengers and left two requiring hospital treatment.

"Our team provided medical care to adult guests who were involved in an altercation onboard, and the guests are being treated for their injuries," Royal Caribbean said in a statement.

A witness who spoke to local10 at the time said they saw fellow passengers running over to the pool area before the captain announced the sudden return to port following the fight.