Norwegian Cruise Lines could have sailed into stormy waters after Government vowed to investigate concerns that passenger limits were being flouted.

Tourism Minister David Allen said he had "read the riot act'' to the company after ordering a full investigation into the number of passengers the Norwegian Majesty was bringing to Bermuda.

And Government is seeking legal advice after concerns that the vessel was filling berths designated for cruise and stay guests with regular passengers.

The Minister warned the company it could be in breach of its lucrative contract if it has established that about 250 extra berths were filled with regular cruisers.

"If I find they have been breaking the rules, it will be a breach of contract,'' he said.

"Norwegian Cruise Lines has a very serious problem if they have been filling those cabins with people other than cruise and stay. We are not going to tolerate it.'' He said a letter was received from the company that was "very apologetic'' about what had happened. And he said it had promised not to sell any extra cabins before a July 28 meeting in Bermuda.

NCL lawyer Wendell Hollis said he was aware the Minister had expressed his concerns to the principles of the company.

He said new chief executive Colin Vitch had indicated to Mr. Allen that he wanted to canvass and resolve the issues when they met at the end of the month.

"We know about the problem. The company is concerned to resolve the issues with the Minister.'' But he said a takeover of the company had resulted in a new upper management structure, who were on a learning curve with respect to operations.

Investigations by The Royal Gazette revealed that the cruise and stay holidays on the St. George's based ship were a failure and, in some instances, were not even being promoted.

Cruise line Mr. Allen said his staff were currently carrying out an audit of passenger manifests to see what cabins had been occupied by which passengers.

In addition, he said the company's contract had been passed to the Attorney General's Chambers.

One industry source said it was clear that cruise and stay was not working, and argued it was better to have extra cruise passengers rather than empty cabins.