Carnival Cruise Line (Carnival) is again the cruise line leader in onboard crime, per the Q3 cruise crime data maintained by the Department of Transportation (DOT). The DOT reported 47 crimes for all cruise lines from July 1 through September 30, 2025. In total, the DOT has reported 138 crimes so far this year.
The breakdown of crimes this quarter (Q3) by cruise line is as follows:
- Carnival Cruise Line: 17
- Royal Caribbean: 12
- MSC Cruises: 7
- Norwegian Cruise Line: 3
- Margaritaville at Sea: 3
- Disney Cruise Line: 3
- Celebrity Cruises: 2
Carnival – Ranks First in Total
Carnival is unsurprisingly back as the leader in cruise line crimes after losing the spot to Royal Caribbean last quarter. Previously, Carnival led all cruise lines in crimes for 33 consecutive months from Q3 2022 to Q1 2025.
Disney Cruise Line had just 3 crimes reported after having 6 reported in both Q1 and Q2 of this year and being the per capita leader in sexual crimes (sexual assaults/rapes) the last year.
The DOT reported 12 sexual crimes on Carnival ships in this quarter, which included 11 passengers and one victim listed as unknown. Royal Caribbean had the second most sexual crimes with 11 incidents reported, all of which were passengers.
Royal Caribbean – More Passengers Than Carnival But Fewer Crimes
Royal Caribbean has a fleet capacity of approximately 157,000 passengers. Carnival has a fleet capacity of approximately 128,800 passengers. In other words, even though Royal Caribbean has almost 30,000 passengers more than Carnival at any given time, it still has fewer sexual crimes than its rival cruise line.
To date this year, Carnival has reported 29 sexual crimes (Q1: 8, Q2: 9, and Q3: 12); whereas Royal Caribbean has reported 26 sexual crimes (Q1: 6, Q2: 11, and Q3: 9).
Record Year in 2025 for Shipboard Sexual Crimes
The cruise industry is heading toward a record number of sexual crimes this year. So far, 2025 has seen 102 reported sexual crimes (Q1: 33, Q2: 33, and Q3: 36) for an average of 34 per quarter. If the trend continues, there will be a total of 136 sexual crimes this year. There were 120 sexual crimes on cruise ships in 2024, 131 in 2023, and 93 in 2022.
Physical Assaults with Serious Physical Injury
Carnival is also hands down the leader with the most physical assaults with serious physical injury. Last quarter Carnival had 5 out of the 6 industry-wide such crimes. The other cruise line was Margaritaville at Sea which had 1 assault with serious physical injury.
Carnival is following a trend it set in previous years. In 2024, Carnival had a total of 18 serious physical assaults. In 2023, there were a total of 22 violent physical assaults with serious injury across the industry, and Carnival alone accounted for 14 of those incidents. Since 2022, 59% (44 out of 74) of reported physical assaults occurred on Carnival ships.
Data Excludes Non-U.S. Victims
The crime data does not include incidents where the victim is not a U.S. citizen, which excludes nearly all crew members and some passengers. The Cruise Vessel Safety and Security Act (CVSSA) of 2010 has been rightfully criticized for not requiring cruise lines to report crimes, which occur against its non-U.S. crew members and passengers. Although the per capita crime rate for Carnival cruise ships is typically higher than half of the states in the U.S., the rate would be considerably higher if it included non-U.S. victims.
Correlation Between Excessive Cruise Booze and Violence (Both Physical and Sexual)
The DOT cruise crime data suggests a strong correlation between excessive alcohol sales and consumption (sometimes referred to as a “party-boat” atmosphere) on Carnival “Fun ships” and a higher incidence of physical and sexual violence (and violence against women) on Carnival ships.
Have a comment or question? Please leave one below or join the discussion on our Facebook Page.
Image credit: Carnival ship – Carnival Cruise Line via Cruise Fever.