A ship with 708 passengers on board caught fire in the English Channel early on Saturday but the engine-room blaze was quickly under control, a coastguard spokesman said.
A Dover Coastguard spokesman said the crew had readied lifeboats for evacuation but there would be no need to abandon ship.
"It's very unlikely that they'll abandon now," he said.
A six-strong maritime fire response team had been helicoptered onto the ship and the fire was out, he said.
The blaze started at 3:47 am (0247 GMT) in the engine room and the ship sent an S.O.S. distress signal around 4:00 am. The cause of the fire was not known.
The liner, called the Calypso, was 30 kilometres off the southeast England town of Eastbourne, Sky News reported.
A spokesman for Louis Cruise Line, which operates the ship, said most of the passengers were Dutch.