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A California woman has won a lawsuit against cruise giant Carnival Corp., in which the Doral-based company was found negligent for serving her at least 14 shots of tequila in an 8 1/2-hour period and liable for subsequent injuries she suffered while inebriated onboard. A Miami federal jury ruled in the passenger’s favor on April 10 and awarded her $300,000 in damages, according to a court document that entered the docket on April 13. (snip) A six-person jury agreed with the plaintiff’s argument that Carnival’s crew members had a duty to exercise reasonable care for the safety of its passengers,...

More than 1,700 people are trapped aboard a cruise ship docked in France after a 90-year-old passenger died from suspected norovirus — just days after a separate virus killed three and sickened multiple others on a different cruise. Passengers and crew traveling on the Ambassador Cruise Line are being forced to remain on the vessel after arriving in Bordeaux on Tuesday, French authorities said. The quarantine comes after an elderly passenger died after roughly 50 people started showing symptoms of norovirus — a highly contagious stomach virus that causes diarrhea and vomiting. The ship, which is carrying mostly British and...

Guests onboard Disney Cruise Line’s all-new Disney Adventure learned their four-night sailing embarking from Singapore was canceled — mere hours after they already boarded the ship. On Thursday, May 7, after guests boarded, settled in and started their vacation, the captain of the ship announced that there were technical issues and guests were to wait for further information. A Reddit user who was on the cruise said that they were told they “will set sail soon.” “Midnight now. We’ve been waiting here since 2 p.m., and they have no update for us,” they wrote in an update in the comments....

The US government is moving to evacuate American passengers from a cruise ship linked to a deadly hantavirus outbreak, with plans to transport them to a military base in Nebraska for quarantine and monitoring, federal health officials said Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the risk to the American public remains extremely low as officials move forward with a medical repatriation flight for passengers aboard the M/V Hondius. President Trump said earlier Friday that the situation appears to be under control, pointing to the virus being difficult to transmit. “We have very good people looking at it....

Families hoping to make memories on a cruise were unknowingly surrounded by alleged child predators working aboard the ships, according to law enforcement officials. U.S. Customs and Border Protection boarded five cruise ships, including a Disney cruise docked in San Diego, between April 23 and 25 as part of ongoing Child Sexual Exploitation Material enforcement operations, a CBP spokesperson told The California Post. “After boarding the vessels and interviewing 26 suspected crew members from the Philippines, one suspected crew member from Portugal, and one from Indonesia, officers confirmed all subjects were involved in either the receipt, possession, transportation, distribution, or...

Rare human-to-human transmission of the hantavirus may have happened aboard a cruise ship of nearly 150 passengers, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday, after three passengers died and at least four others were left sickened.

A Florida 16-year-old is being charged as an adult in the sexual abuse and murder of his stepsister on a Carnival cruise ship last year, authorities said Monday. The teen, T.H., of Titusville, is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse in the killing of Anna Kepner, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida said. Kepner, 18, was found dead, asphyxiated, on Nov. 7 under the bed in a cabin the siblings shared on the Carnival Horizon cruise ship while on vacation with Kepner’s family, records showed.

Vacationers can soon merge land and sea with a startling new tree house suite on the Royal Caribbean — as long as they cough up six figures. Online debate is already robust about the offering. The Hero of the Seas vessel is rolling out the "Ultimate Family Treehouse" suite, which has a private whirlpool, game room and rooftop terrace. The triple-deck suite can sleep up to 12 guests with four full bathrooms, according to the Royal Caribbean website. The tree house can cost families over $200,000 for a week’s stay, according to the Royal Caribbean blog. In the "r/royalcaribbean" forum...

Royal Caribbean’s newest cruise ship is the world’s largest. The Hero of the Seas, set to launch late next summer, includes a record-breaking water park, the most pools at sea, 28 dining options, a multi-level family treehouse, and a kinetic sculpture, just for kicks. Billed by Royal Caribbean as “the most unstoppable, incredible, revolutionary family vacation ever,” the high-stimulation vessel, which appears to have been designed by an eleven-year-old child high on cocaine, will officially open for bookings on Thursday, April 2. The Hero of the Seas belongs to Royal Caribbean’s Icon class, the cruise line’s newest generation of ships,...

Thousands of cruise line passengers are trapped in ports in the Persian Gulf due to ongoing military strikes in the Middle East. Cruise ships have become stationary hotels as the conflict in Iran has left many stranded. Escalating hostilities have raised fears over safety in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most vital shipping lanes. The Daily Mail wrote that at least six big ships are said to be stationary and awaiting word regarding when they can leave. These passengers are docked or anchored in port cities such as Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates...

Five men were arrested in Miami last week after allegedly attempting to bring drugs aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise marketed towards gay people. The men are facing a variety of possession and trafficking charges after trained dogs alerted to their bags as they tried to board the Symphony of the Seas for what Royal Caribbean touts as 'The World’s Biggest Gay Festival at Sea.' After the dogs alerted, US Customs and Border Patrol officers searched the men's bags and persons. They found containers of pills and clear liquids that tested positive for methamphetamine, ketamine, MDMA and GBL. The names of...

The death of a Royal Caribbean passenger has been ruled a homicide after crew members allegedly served him nearly three-dozen drinks at the ship’s bar before he died, according to a new lawsuit. Michael Virgil, 35, was served 33 drinks at one of the ship’s bars on the day he died in custody in December 2024, according to a wrongful death lawsuit recently filed by his fiancé and obtained by TMZ. Virgil was detained during a drunken rage, in which he allegedly attacked and threatened to kill crew members and passengers. But he died within hours after being restrained and...

A norovirus outbreak has affected the German cruise ship AIDAdiva, with 95 passengers and 6 crew members reporting symptoms of the highly contagious gastrointestinal illness. The cases were first reported to health authorities on November 30, making this the eighth day of active infection on board as of December 7, and ruining a holiday of a lifetime for many. The ship, operated by AIDA Cruises (a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation), is carrying 2,007 passengers and approximately 640 crew members. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the infected individuals represent fewer than 6 per cent of...

Norwegian Cruise Line is alerting guests on Hawaii cruises in 2026 and beyond of the new Transient Accommodations Tax that levies an additional 14% on their cruise fare. While the cruise line is part of the legal challenges to the new tax, it may be some time before any court cases are resolved and in the meantime the tax goes into effect from January 1, 2026. Booked guests are reporting additional taxes on their cruise fares from $50-500 and higher, depending on the overall cost of their cruise and how much time their itinerary spends in Hawaii. Norwegian Cruise Line...

They’re sea-sick of it. Frustrated cruise passengers are sounding the distress signal over a rising trend toward nickel-and-diming, as lines find new and creative ways to upsell their customers on everything from drinks to arcade games. A queasy traveler started an interesting conversation on the subject online, recently about which lines fleece their guests and which actually deliver on the all-inclusive promise. The high seas set-to kicked off over a woman detailing her poor experience on an MSC cruise, where she said she was upsold significantly on spa treatments. Her account, posted elsewhere on Reddit, inspired a slew of salty...

Anna Kepner, a teen who died aboard a Carnival Horizon cruise ship earlier this month, was found dead under a bed, wrapped in a blanket and covered by life vests, according to a security source briefed on the investigation. The 18-year-old cheerleader from Titusville, Florida, was reported dead while aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship on Nov. 8. The Miami-Dade medical examiner has not specified a cause or manner of her death. Among the avenues investigators are looking at is whether there might have been some sort of altercation with her stepbrother prior to her death, the source told ABC...

Missing a boarding time for a cruise ship could end up fatal. An 80-year-old Australian woman was discovered dead on a remote island after she was left behind by the cruise ship she was traveling on. The woman was hiking on Lizard Island with a group of other passengers, but was separated from the group after she decided to take some time to rest. The Coral Adventurer cruise ship ended up leaving the woman on the island, but returned several hours later to find her after she was discovered not to be on board. On Sunday, she was discovered dead....

MIAMI, Fla. (CBS12) — Two people were hospitalized after being injured during a fight on a cruise ship. WSVN reported that the fight happened on Monday aboard the Royal Caribbean's "Wonder of the Seas." According to WSVN, the altercation began with a verbal argument that escalated into a physical confrontation. Because of the situation, the cruise ship made an unscheduled return to port in Miami. The cruise line stated that they provided medical assistance to the injured passengers with minor injuries until they could be taken to a hospital. At this time, the cause of the fight is still unknown,...

The actor cited "scheduling conflicts" in his refusal, according to sources. Tom Cruise has never had any issues jumping out of planes or riding motorcycles off cliffs, but boring old “scheduling conflicts” are apparently something even he can’t conquer. According to The Washington Post, Cruise was offered one of the Kennedy Center Honors that Donald Trump announced yesterday, but declined due to said scheduling conflicts. Former and current Kennedy Center employees speaking to the outlet did not disclose any specifics on those scheduling conflicts or any other reasons why Cruise might have declined. Considering the man could likely skydive in...

A Turkish court on Thursday charged a Syrian national suspected of plotting to slam speedboats packed with explosives into cruise ships loaded with Israeli tourists, lawyers and police said. According to The AP, defense lawyer Ilhami Sayan said the suspect, identified in the Turkish media as Lu'ai Sakra, was charged with membership in an "illegal organization." He was arrested earlier this month. Police said Sakra was linked to al-Qaeda. "I have no regrets," Sakra shouted to journalists as he was led into the courthouse. "I was going to attack Israeli ships. If they come, my friends will attack them." "I...