Crime rates on cruise ships leaving the United States have reached two years, one expert said, creating "black clouds" for travelers.
According to the Ministry of Transport, 48 charges of crimes occurred on board cruise ships from January 1, 2025 to March 30, 2025. There were 23 cases of rape, 10 were sexual assaults, and seven were attacks, all reportedly on cruise ships.
Robert McDonald, a former Secret Service special agent and criminal justice lecturer at the University of New Haven, told Fox News that digital crime has had a negative impact on the cruise industry. McDonald's has coordinated security for all kinds of VIPs around the world.
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“Sometimes, cruise companies don’t want to report this information on the front end, and again it depends on what type of crime it is, which can get their unfortunate attention, just like when we have the airplane situation now or when we are experiencing delays now.”
“All of this negative atmosphere and negative information has put a cloud over the entire industry, which wants people to come to it and hopes they are willing to spend money.”
Kikesey Florida American Cruise Ship Carnival Conquest parked at Mallory Plaza. (Educational Images/Universal Image Group By Getty Images)
McDonald's said that cruises are more likely to commit crimes due to the number of people crowded in a tight area.
“I think whenever we bring a lot of people together, whether it’s in the Super Bowl, in the World Series, in the NBA finals, in graduations, or nothing, whenever we bring people together, whenever there’s alcohol involved, whenever there’s alcohol involved, whenever someone can relax from the normal personality, I think that makes the number of people able to get up to that ability,” he said.
“Whenever we get together, whether it’s a resort or on a cruise ship, these numbers go up.”
The Carnival celebrations pass through the water on January 1, 2024 at Miami Beach, Florida. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Image)
On March 21, two illegal immigrants allegedly boarded the Royal Caribbean Cruise, which took off from Miami and were arrested.
Jose Prudencio Diaz, 36, and Ricardo Daniel Mondragon Leal, 37, were charged with harassing children and exhibitions in the midst of the Royal Caribbean Royal Ship Independence.
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Jose Prudencio Diaz, 36, and Ricardo Daniel Mondragon Leal, 37, were charged with harassment for children and held a sea-independent children's exhibition on one child. (Miami Dade Sheriff’s Office/Royal Caribbean)
The victim was identified as a 14-year-old boy and told police he was in the sauna on board when Diaz and Lyle allegedly began masturbating in front of him.
Diaz and Lyle forced the victims to touch them, according to records from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office. Leal also allegedly forced minors to have sexual acts.
"We will take these patients out of our country," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in an article on X.
A recent incident involved dozens of Carnival Line passengers who quarreled while disembarking from the ship on April 26. In the video posted to social media, several cruise passengers pushed the crowd among the crowd at the Galveston Postal Terminal.
Passengers of a Carnival cruise ship departing from Galveston participated in the fight. (Trelle Ray/Facebook)
Passengers on a Carnival cruise ship leaving Galveston are suspected of fighting. (Trelle Ray/Facebook)
During the battles taking place in the cruise port, people can be seen punching holes and kicking others.
The Carnival Cruise Company placed 24 passengers on the "No Sail List" and prohibited them from boarding any of the company's ships. A spokesperson for the Carnival Cruise Series previously told Fox News that it does not tolerate violence.
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"This matter has been handed over to law enforcement," the spokesperson said. "We will not tolerate such behavior and have placed 24 people on our "unsail list."
Fox News Digital approached comments with Carnival and Royal Caribbean.
Greg Wehner of Fox News Digital contributed to the report.