A number of holidaymakers were forced to watch on in horror as their luggage ended up in the sea.
Passengers on board P&O's Ventura cruise could only watch on as their bags were seen floating in the ocean after a hoist snapped.
Lifeboats were sent out to try and recover the 20 bobbing suitcases that had fallen in the murky water after the cruise had docked.
It's understood only 10 suitcases were recovered with P&O since apologsing to its customers, The Sun reports.
A video of the event on Saturday has only recently been released with the footage since going viral
Warehouse worker Ally Day, 30, shared the clip and said: "They take the cases off 20 at a time via a hoist.
“Staff said the hoist had snapped sending 20 cases into the sea with only ten recovered.
“We got our cases off but felt really bad for others.”
Ventura had returned to Southampton from Amsterdam.
The cruise ship boasts three theatres, four swimming pools and 22 restaurants and bars.
A spokesperson from P&O Cruises said: "We apologise to the guests who were affected by this incident.
"We swiftly put our protocols in place to recover the luggage and we are contacting these guests to say sorry and resolve the situation."