Cruise passengers got more than they bargained for when a massive brawl of more than two dozen people broke out in a pool at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private island.
Videos that have since gone viral show the violent incident that took place Sunday. One man was allegedly bleeding from the head and was evacuated from the scene while officials attempted to get a control of the chaotic scene, according to media reporting.
Guests were seen in the “Oasis Lagoon” pushing and shoving one another in the shallow end of the pool. Security can also be seen attempting to intervene.
The pool was closed off for the rest of the day and guests reported that bar services and music were shut down as well.
In June, several passengers were banned from Carnival voyages after they fought on board the ship and threw chairs. In that incident, which was also caught on video and later posted online, passengers fought in what appeared to be a sunroom on the ship. Security soon broke up the fight.
This came after another incident in May in which passengers with Carnival engaged in another brawl while disembarking from the ship. This incident caught the attention of national media outlets after a video went viral online of a horde of people pushing and shoving one another before throwing punches. The passengers in this incident were also banned from sailing with the company while others were detained by Customs and Border Protection agents and allegedly charged.
Leesfield & Partners: 49 Years of Representing Cruise Ship Victims
Modern cruise ships can accommodate thousands of passengers simultaneously. As the industry continues to grow and recover from its complete shutdown in 2020 due to the pandemic, cruise lines have begun to compete with one another to attract the highest number of passengers. With teetering waterslides, expanding fleets and the debut of an 8,000-passenger mega-ship, the cruise industry has entered a period of rapid, lucrative expansion. But with more passengers on board comes a corresponding increase in potential injuries.
In an article that was published last year addressing the rise in cruise ship crime, Ira Leesfield, the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, attributed the trend to the surge in passenger numbers. However, despite this, he emphasized that cruise lines remain responsible for ensuring passenger safety.
“That’s just kind of a one in a long series of why there’s more sexual abuse and sexual activity on the ships, and I think your question is why? And I think the answer that I see is very lax policing, and very lax training, because a lot of the people … are crew members. This guy was a crew member,” he said.
Under the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010, cruise lines that embark or disembark passengers in U.S. ports are required to report serious incidents to both the FBI and the U.S. Coast Guard.
Cruise ships are common carriers, meaning they have a heightened duty of care to ensure the safety and well-being of their passengers. As such, cruise lines must report criminal activity aboard their cruise ships. This criminal activity can include anything from theft to more violent crimes such as physical or sexual assaults.
In data reported to the FBI and made public by the Department of Transportation, there were a total of 43 alleged crimes that occurred on cruise ships from April to June of 2025. Of those crimes, 13 were sexual assaults, 20 were rapes, four were assaults with serious bodily injury and three were missing persons cases.
Ongoing Cruise Ship Cases
Partner Justin B. Shapiro is representing a woman who was injured during a guided jet ski tour while the ship she was on was docked at CocoCay. The woman in this case was a participant in the jet ski tour when she was hit suddenly from behind by the excursion’s tour guide as he attempted to pass her.
“If there’s any kind of incident you’d never expect on one of these jet ski tours, it’d be that the tour guide, the protector, is the one who crashes into you and shatters your spine,” Mr. Shapiro previously told reporters regarding the case.
The tour was marketed toward novice jet skiers
Trial Attorney Carlos A. Fabano is handling a cruise ship medical malpractice case on behalf of several minor children whose mother died as the result of cruise ship doctor’s negligence.
Bernardo Pimentel II, a Leesfield & Partners Trial Attorney, is representing a woman who suffers extreme trauma and emotional turmoil after it was revealed she was one among numerous passengers, including children, whose privacy was violated when a crew member planted hidden cameras in their cabins. That crew member was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for producing child sex abuse material.
Previous Crime-Related Cruise Cases
Leesfield & Partners previously represented a Canadian woman who was traveling on a cruise ship when she was horrifically raped. The woman was in her cabin alone when a member of the ship’s crew abused his employee status and used a keycard to access the woman’s room where he attacked her.
The firm secured a multi-million-dollar amount for the woman in that case.
Our experienced trial attorneys have spent decades litigating cruise ship medical malpractice cases. Over nearly five decades, Leesfield & Partners has secured numerous record verdicts and settlements for injured clients and their grieving families across Florida. We approach every case with compassion, tenacity, and deep legal expertise to achieve the best possible outcome for each client.
Previous Cruise Ship Medical Malpractice Cases
A Leesfield & Partners client and crew member experienced the consequences of negligent medical care aboard ships when he went to his ship’s infirmary for symptoms of nausea. What should have been a simple enough ailment to treat resulted in this man losing an arm due to the negligence of the medical staff aboard the ship. To combat his symptoms, he was given via IV a medication with a black box warning label clearly stating that the medication should be injected deep into the muscle slowly over a few minutes. Instead, a member of the medical staff injected it rapidly into our client’s IV. He was in immediate agony.
This was the beginning of an excruciating, hours-long ordeal in which his arm became necrotic and his skin blackened. While the tissue on his arm continued to slowly die, cruise ship doctors searched online for ways to help. Eventually, he was able to seek medical attention on shore where doctors attempted to save his arm. Tragically, they could not.
In the end, our client lost his right arm due to the errors of the doctors aboard the cruise ship. Our client was awarded over $3.3 million in arbitration thanks to the work of attorneys at Leesfield & Partners.
In another tragic amputation case, a 9-month-old baby’s meningococcal meningitis was misdiagnosed by a stomach bug. As a result of this error, the infant underwent multiple amputations. Leesfield & Partners secured an over $5.5 million award for the family in that case.
A retired nurse who suffered a horrific accident aboard a ship required a life-saving blood transfusion. As the result of cruise medical staff negligently failing to test the blood they administered to the woman, she was diagnosed with HIV. The firm settled the case for $4.25 million.
In addition to errors made while treating patients, Leesfield & Partners has seen doctors delay or deny evacuations for patients who were in the middle of medical emergencies. These delays can occur for a myriad of reasons, however, for our clients, these decisions were made to protect the ship’s schedule and bottom line. As a result, medical situations were exacerbated, leading to further injury and death.
One family who was represented by Leesfield & Partners went on a cruise to mark a milestone anniversary. Instead of a fun-filled family vacation, our clients suffered a tremendous loss that began with their patriarch suffering a heart attack while the ship was still in port. He was denied evacuation and the ship left for its destination, and he later died.
The firm secured a multi-million-dollar recovery in that case.
A teenager who suffered a stroke on a ship was written off for her age, despite the obvious symptoms. The case was later settled for $3 million.
In another case, the firm secured $1.5 million for a person having a stroke while on a cruise ship.
Previous Onboard Injury Cases
The firm recovered $2.5 million for a 9-year-old who collided with an unpadded steel grommet while diving for an out-of-bounds ball as he played on a ship’s basketball court. The child in that case suffered a catastrophic brain injury as a result on the traumatic incident.
Similarly, the firm represented a man, 62, who was injured while playing pickleball aboard his cruise ship. The firm settled the case for $500,000.
The firm obtained a confidential settlement for a family devastated by the traffic loss of their young daughter. In that case, the child was separated from her family aboard a ship when she leaned over a poorly designed cruise ship railing and fell five stories to her death.
Previous Cruise Ship Excursion Cases
Previously, Leesfield & Partners represented a family after a mother and daughter bought a parasailing excursion while aboard a cruise ship. What should have been a thrilling adventure shared between the two turned into a nightmare while the two were up in the air. A malfunction with the excursion equipment caused them to fall rapidly toward the water. Tragically, the mother did not survive, and her daughter was left with a traumatic brain injury. The case was resolved with a combined settlement of $7.25 million for the families.
In another cruise ship excursion case, Leesfield & Partners recovered nearly $3 million for the tragic death of our client’s adult son. In that case, the young man was traveling with his family and ventured out on a cruise-sanctioned bus excursion. When the bus was involved in a crash, our client’s son was ejected and suffered fatal injuries, a devastating loss for the family.
A rollover ATV crash on a shore excursion caused serious injuries to multiple passengers. Leesfield & Partners settled the case for over $1.2 million.
Our 68-year-old client sustained severe injuries, including a fractured femur, when thrown off a “banana boat” during a cruise’s water sport excursion. The firm secured a $600,000 settlement in that case.