A British cruise ship carrying 828 passengers turned into a "ghost" vessel after it became stranded off the coast of Australia for hours, say holidaymakers.
The Vasco da Gama was dubbed the "Fiasco da Gama" amid one passenger's claims that it was "drifting" after losing power and had "no water, no toilets, no cooking, nothing".
Another said holidaymakers' cabins were "completely blacked out" and some passengers missed international flights due to the four-hour delay.
The 26-year-old ship, acquired by Essex-based Cruise and Maritime Voyages in April this year, was stranded off Adelaide in the St Vincent's Gulf during a round-the-world trip that began in Tilbury in October.
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A passenger who called in to an Australian radio programme said the 719-ft long ship was "going around in circles", adding: "We're just completely buggered."
At one point, passengers feared the ship wouldn't have enough food or water for everyone.
The electricity was lost due to a "precautionary blackout" ordered by the captain after an alarm light lit up on the engine control room's panel at 5.45am local time on Friday.
It was restored after engineers determined there was no serious problem.
The ship, which has a capacity for about 1,250 passengers, arrived in Adelaide about four hours behind schedule.
One passenger, named Ian, told 2GB radio in Australia the ordeal onthe Vasco da Gama - named after the 15th-century Portuguese explorer - had been "absolutely horrific".
He said: “We’re drifting. We’ve got no power, no water, no toilets, no cooking, nothing.
“They’ve got auxiliary power to light the corridors but that is it. It’s like a ghost ship, mate.”
He said that he had been on the ship since it left Essex, saying it was supposed to be the “cruise of a lifetime”.
He added: “The ship’s just going around in circles, it’s being blown around by light breezes.
“We’re just completely buggered.”
A passenger told ABC: "There were no lights in the rooms and we knew there was no power, the ship was just sitting there."
Another passenger, named John, added: "The cabins were completely blacked out, there was no emergency lighting, the toilets didn't work, there was no water available."
John said holidaymakers dubbed the ship the "Fiasco da Gama", adding: "There were a number of people who've missed flights and are quite disappointed."
The Cruise and Maritime Voyages vessel departed from Tilbury in Essex in October and has also travelled to Portugal, Barbados, the Panama Canal, Mexico, Bora Bora and New Zealand before arriving in Adelaide on the 58th day of the journey.
It departed Adelaide later on Friday.
Earlier in the voyage, the Tasmanian leg had to be cancelled due to rough weather.
A Cruise and Maritime Voyages spokesperson said: "Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) cruise ship MV Vasco da Gama went into a controlled precautionary blackout early this morning at approx 0545hrs whilst sailing in the vicinity of the Port of Adelaide.
"Local authorities were notified of the incident as a precaution by the ship’s Captain.
"An alarm light on the engine control room’s panel led the vessel’s officers to initiate a controlled blackout as a precaution against damage to systems onboard and in order to investigate the alarm.
"All precautionary post-incidents checks were completed with no causes for concern identified.
"Power was fully restored later in the morning and the vessel resumed sailing towards the port of Adelaide per its scheduled itinerary.
"The 55,877 GRT Vasco de Gama is currently on a East Coast Discovery cruise with 828 passengers on board.
"The ship has an excellent record of reliability and all passengers on board were kept informed of the technical problem experienced.”
After docking in Adelaide, new passengers boarded the Vasco de Gama as others disembarked or stayed on to continue the journey.
The ship, which is registered in the Bahamas, is due to travel back to the UK via the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean in March.
Cruise and Maritime Voyages acquired the vessel earlier this year from Carnival Corp, which had used it under its Holland America and P&O Australia brands since it first went into service in 1993.