Cruise Ship Lawyers Blog
Approximately two dozen people were banned from sailing with Carnival Cruise Line after an all-out brawl broke out as passengers disembarked from a ship over the weekend.
The incident, which was filmed and posted online, happened on April 26, 2025, inside a terminal as passengers disembarked in Galveston, Texas. The footage shows a horde of people pushing at one another, tackling and launching fists as multiple security guards attempted to break up the scuffle.
A spokesperson for Carnival told USA Today reporters Tuesday that police are investigating the incident and that the 24 people involved will no longer be able to sail with the cruise line.
Several people were detained by Customs and Border Protection agents and have allegedly been charged. As of Wednesday, it is unclear what those charges were and how many people were charged.
Leesfield & Partners
As a personal injury law firm with over 48 years of experience throughout Florida, Leesfield & Partners has a long history of representing victims of violence. With a flagship office just 30 minutes from PortMiami—a passenger port often dubbed the “cruising capital of the world”—our skilled attorneys have handled thousands of cruise ship injury cases over the years.
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 a recent article addressing the rise in cruise ship crime, Ira Leesfield, our 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,” Leesfield said.
What do Cruise Lines Owe Passengers?
As common carriers, cruise lines owe a heightened duty of care to their passengers. This nondelegable duty includes maintaining reasonably safe conditions on board, such as preventing trip and fall hazards, and taking reasonable steps to protect passengers from foreseeable criminal acts. Federal legislation, such as the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010 (CVSSA), outlines specific safety and reporting requirements for cruise ships.
Cruise lines may be held vicariously liable for the acts of their employees, including in cases of sexual assault, if the conduct occurred within the scope of employment or if the cruise line was negligent in hiring, training, or supervision
Under the CVSSA, cruise ships are required to report certain onboard crimes to the DBI and the U.S. Coast Guard. In the latest available data, available online through the Department of Transportation, there have been approximately seven assaults with serious bodily injury, one missing person case, 10 sexual assaults and 23 rapes aboard ships from Jan. 1, 2025, through March 30, 2025. In 2023, 131 sex crimes were reported to the FBI. This included 52 sexual assaults and 79 rapes on ships coming in and out of the United States. In 2022, a year that did not recognize the difference between the two crimes, approximately 87 alleged sex crimes were reported.
Previous Cases
Previously, Leesfield & Partners represented a Canadian woman who was raped and sexually assaulted by a member of the crew on the ship she was traveling on. This man was able to enter our client’s room by abusing his employee status and using a cruise ship keycard to open the door. Once inside, he launched a violent attack.
A seven-figure settlement was reached on behalf of the client in that case.
The firm is currently representing a woman who was filmed with hidden cameras without her consent in her private cabin bathroom while traveling on a cruise ship. That case is being handled by Trial Attorney Bernardo Pimentel II. The woman in that case was the victim of a cruise ship employee who planted these hidden cameras in the bathroom of our client’s cabin and the cabin of numerous other passengers, including children.
This employee has since been convicted in Federal Court of producing child sex abuse material and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Despite getting rid of the deviant employee, the cruising industry has done nothing to add protections for passengers to prevent this from happening to other passengers.
“Terminating the employee is not enough,” Mr. Pimentel said to media reporting on the incident. “That does not stop this from occurring in the future.”
Since the cruise, our client has been left in anguish over what happened, turning a fun-filled family vacation into a nightmare. She previously told reporters she was left with a “crushing, devastating, terrifying feeling.”
This case is ongoing.
