Thousands of cruise ship passengers are being forced to make alternative travel plans after the Norwegian Star broke down off the Victorian Coast.

The cruise liner was adrift yesterday and was expected to be towed back to Melbourne for repairs.

The Norwegian Star, which departed from Sydney on February 6 carrying more than 2000 passengers, lost power about 30 kilometres off Cape Liptrap, near Wilsons Promontory, early Friday morning.

The ship was bound for New Zealand.

It's the second round of engine trouble to strike the ship after it departed from Hong Kong on January 16 for Sydney.

A SunLive reader emailed our newsroom saying that one of his friends from Georgia is a passenger on the liner.

'She is supposed to be here next Friday but she emailed yesterday afternoon to tell us that the ship has broken down in the Tasman Sea and has to be towed back to Melbourne tonight, and will be 4-5 days stuck there.

'The cruise had already bypassed Brisbane and now she won't even get to NZ except to fly in to get her flight back to the US.”

The ship was on a voyage from Melbourne to New Zealand.

A spokesperson says those passengers wishing to disembark at Melbourne would be given a credit of up to A$350 each for a flight to Auckland, or up to A$300 each to change their flight if they wanted to leave immediately.

She says the Auckland itinerary, starting February 18, was expected to continue according to schedule.

- Additional reporting from Stuff.co.nz