Where there's smoke, there often is fire -- and a great deal of dark smoke billowing out of the cruise ship Grand Princess after it left Jamaica late on March 31 gave rise to a great deal of concern, even though the problem turned out to be engine trouble..

Newspapers and broadcasters in Jamaica reported on April 1 that a fire appeared to have broken out on the cruise ship as it sailed away from Ocho Rios.

The Jamaica Gleaner reported that residents of Runaway Bay saw thick black smoke billowing from the Grand Princess with the ship dead in the water. The newspaper reported that "eyewitnesses said at one stage almost the entire vessel was covered in smoke."

But nothing ever was actually burning on the vessel, according to Princess spokesperson Julie Benson.

"Upon departure from Ocho Rios yesterday, one of Grand Princess' engines suddenly stopped, emitting a large amount of smoke into the engine spaces. There was no fire, and the safety of the ship and our passengers was never compromised," Benson said.

But the situation appears to have been a bit more complicated than that.

Benson subsequently said the problem began with failure of a turbo charger casing on one of the engines, which automatically shut down.

"The transfer of electrical load to the ship's other engines resulted in further turbo charger problems, and, as a result, one turbo charger on (another engine) seized, causing smoke in the engine spaces," she said.

Benson said the crew was able to vent the smoke out of the ship and stabilize the situation, but the Grand Princess was only able to use three of its six engines to limp on to Grand Cayman, where it arrived today two hours late.

The engine that originally failed will remain out of action for the remainder of this week's cruise and is now scheduled to be repaired when the Grand Princess returns to Fort Lauderdale, Benson said.