(AP) Fire broke out on a cruise ship in the Caribbean on Thursday, killing a passenger, injuring 11 other people and damaging some 150 cabins before the crew extinguished the flames, officials said.

The fire-blackened Star Princess, carrying 2,690 passengers and 1,123 crew members, steamed into the port of this city in northwestern Jamaica shortly before noon. Firefighters rushed aboard.

Horace Peterkin, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, toured the American ship and said crew members told him the fire apparently started on a balcony of one of the cabins. A cigarette was suspected of causing the fire, Peterkin told The Associated Press.

"The fire damaged about 150 cabins," he added.

The starboard side of the ship which faced the port after it docked showed no damage. But some 70 exterior cabins on the other side were clearly scorched. Passengers milled about on the decks, but were out of earshot of reporters.

Peterkin said a crew member saw an elderly passenger collapse. The passenger was later declared dead.

"The person actually came outside, was walking and collapsed. A crew member actually witnessed that," Peterkin said, adding that an autopsy would be performed. He described the victim only as an elderly American man.

Jamaica's disaster office said two people remained hospitalized in Montego Bay while two others were being treated in the ship's clinic.

Peterkin said 550 passengers whose cabins were damaged will be moved to two hotels in the nearby resort towns of Negril and Ocho Rios. The cruise ship company was arranging to fly other passengers home, he said.

The ship wasn't seriously damaged and would sail back to Fort Lauderdale on Friday, Peterkin said. There was no immediate confirmation from officials at the cruise line.

"The ship is seaworthy," Peterkin said. "They'll sail out tomorrow. The cabins that have been damaged, those people obviously can't stay on board so we're moving them to a hotel."

The cruise ship was en route from Grand Cayman to Jamaica when the blaze started in a cabin, according to a statement from Princess Cruises, which is owned by Miami-based Carnival Corp.

Carnival Corp. Vice Chairman Howard Frank confirmed the fatality and injuries during a conference call. He said at least two of the injured were suffering from smoke inhalation.

The U.S. Coast Guard dispatched investigators and fire engineers to Montego Bay to determine the fire's cause and whether the ship's safety has been jeopardized, Coast Guard Petty Officer James Judge said in Miami.

The ship sailed from Fort Lauderdale on March 19.

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Associated Press writer Stevenson Jacobs in Port-au-Prince, Haiti contributed to this report.