A cruise ship carrying about 2, 000 people have been stranded at Cape Town harbor by strong winds, authorities confirmed on Friday.

The luxury ship has been stuck at the harbor since Wednesday when strong winds prevented it from leaving for its destination -- the Walvis Bay in Namibia, according to the South African Weather Office.

There was no sign of the winds dying down at the weekend, the office said.

The passengers, who are not allowed to disembark the ship, have to deal with all shops and casinos on board being closed due to alleged port authority restrictions, according to EyeWitness, a local news outlet.

"If they allowed the shops and casino to be open, we could function normally until Monday, but now we're stuck. In addition, immigration doesn't want to let us off the ship and the captain doesn't want to let the ship out of the harbor because of the wind, " Fred Hofman, a passenger on board, was quoted as saying.

Gusts exceeded 100 km/h ripped through the city on Thursday, blowing some people in the Cape Town CBD above the ground, local TV footage showed.