The cruise crime data, released earlier this week as part of the quarterly reporting by the Department of Transportation (DOT), again shows that Carnival Cruise Line clearly has the most sexual assaults and rapes as well as the most physical assault with serious personal injuries, both in total numbers and on a per capita basis.
Carnival Has Almost Forty Percent More Rapes and Sexual Assaults Than Royal Caribbean On Its Ships
The data required by the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010 show that Carnival Cruise Line had a record number of thirteen (13) sexual assaults and rapes between October 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024. It had eight (8) such crimes alleged in the third quarter, nine (9) in the second quarter, and nine (9) in the first quarter for a total of thirty-nine (39) such crimes alleged on its cruise ship for 2024.
Carnival has around 35,000 fewer passengers onboard its fleet on an average day compared to Royal Caribbean which has the same number of ships (27).
Carnival’s number of sexual crimes far exceed all other cruise lines. Royal Caribbean, for example, had twenty-eight (28) such sexual crimes for 2024. The fact that Carnival has 35,000 fewer guests than Royal Caribbean at any given time but forty percent more sexual assaults and rapes on its ships leads to a much higher per capita rate of such crimes on Carnival ships.
Physical Assaults With Serious Personal Injuries
Carnival Cruise Line also had four (4) physical assaults leading to serious personal injuries last quarter. Carnival had a total of eighteen (18) such serious physical assaults in 2024. This also far exceeds to number of such violent crimes on other cruise ships in both total numbers and on a per capita basis.
Why Does Carnival Cruise Line Have The Highest Number of Sexual Assaults and Physical Assaults Leading to Serious Bodily Injury?
There is a direct correlation between excessive alcohol served on Carnival’s “fun ships” and violence, in general, and sexual violence against women, in particular. Bartenders and waiters on Carnival cruise ships are not paid a salary by Carnival but depend on tips and gratuities. The bartenders are motivated to sell excessive amounts of alcohol in order to earn a living. There is no independent police force on these increasingly huge cruise ships. Girls and young women are particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse in what is often a lawless environment.
This is a cruise line which has made a conscious decision not to warn its guests of the danger of violence and sexual violence during cruises on its “fun ships.” Consider: Carnival Cruise Passenger Viciously Beaten and Cut in the Face With Bar Glass.
The reality of a “typical cruise,” on a Carnival ship from Miami to the Bahamas, for example, involves cruising on a ship in the most dangerous fleet at sea to one of the most dangerous cruise destination in the world. Consider: Two Guests From the Carnival Elation Report Being Drugged and Raped During Excursion in the Bahamas, cruise lines have an absolute duty to warn its passengers of crime dangers not only on its ships but in the ports of call where they visit. This is true whether the cruise guests are on an excursion promoted and sold by the cruise line or an independant excursion unrelated to the cruise line. Carlisle v. Ulysses Line Ltd., S.A.,475 So. 2d 248, 251 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1985), Chaparro v. Carnival, 693 F.3d 1333 (11th Cir. 2012).
“Fight Ships” Not “Fun Ships?”
You only have to watch the numerous YouTube videos of bar brawls on Carnival ships to realize that there’s a good reason why many people call Carnival ships the “fight ships” rather than the “fun ships.” The DOT cruise crime data bears this out.
Carnival Refuses to Acknowledge Its High Crimes Rates
Carnival Cruise Line has steadfastly refused to acknowledge the high crime rates on its cruise ships. Its corporate communication department consistently tries to minimize the danger to the traveling public. Earlier this year, Chris Chiames, chief communications officer for Carnival Cruise Line, tried to minimize Carnival’s numerous crimes alleged on its ships, telling the Washington Post that Carnival (which carried 5.5 million guests last year) allegedly operated “a much bigger fleet, more guests and more U.S. operations than any of our competitors.”
Carnival’s claims that its fleet is allegedly larger and it carries more guests is false and misleading. In fact, Carnival Cruise Line also has the same number of cruise ships as Royal Caribbean (each own 27 ships). But Royal Caribbean has significantly larger cruise ships with greater capacity and carries more passengers than Carnival at any given time. Royal Caribbean carries a maximum of over 166,000 passengers whereas Carnival Cruise Line has a maximum of around 130,000 passengers at any given time.
Carnival Cruise Line also has a tradition of refusing to accept accountability and misrepresenting information which it finds to be detrimental to its reputation and business interests. For example, when Carnival Corporation pled guilty to the second revocation of its criminal probation for widespread pollution in January of 2022, the Department of Justice stated that the cruise line has “a culture that seeks to minimize or avoid information that is negative, uncomfortable, or threatening to the company, including to top leadership.” This is an integral part of the problem with the sexual and violent crimes alleged to be committed on cruise ships it operates. A recidivist corporate cruise felon like Carnival, with its culture of cover ups, lies and misinformation, will inevitably try to cover-up the crimes, blame the victims and lie to the public.
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Image credit: Carnival Liberty leaving Miami – Jim Walker; Carnival Magic in Norfolk, VA- Jim Walker.