A federal jury in Miami found Carnival Cruise Line liable for a woman’s injuries after she fell while heavily intoxicated. The lawsuit also alleges that Carnival wrongfully claimed the entire incident was captured on CCTV footage, preventing the woman from investigating if she was sexually assaulted.

What Happened

The incident occurred aboard the Carnival Radiance on January 5, 2024. The woman, Diana Sanders, began drinking at 2:58 p.m. and was served at least 14 tequila shots by 11:45 p.m.(the New York Times reports she Carnival served her 15 shots). Shortly after, around midnight, Sanders fell down a set of stairs and suffered a concussion, back injuries, tailbone injuries, and a possible traumatic brain injury, according to the lawsuit filed by her attorney Spencer Aronfeld.

In a TikTok video, Sanders said crew members gave her conflicting information on what happened after she woke up at the bottom of stairs connecting decks where crew members reside. A ship security officer told Sanders they had CCTV footage of the fall and that nothing had happened to her. However, the lawsuit alleges there was a 35-minute period during which she was not recorded by CCTV footage. Because of this false sense of security, Sanders declined having a rape kit administered.

Sanders said that Carnival crew members treated her like a criminal after the incident and that she “felt bullied” during the two-year litigation process with Carnival.

On April 13, 2026, jurors found both Carnival and Sanders negligent for the incident, with Carnival being 60% responsible and Sanders 40% responsible. In a statement, Carnival said it “respectfully disagrees with the verdict” and plans to appeal the decision.

Overserving Alcohol on Cruise Ships

Alcohol sales are a significant portion of a cruise line’s income. Alcohol sales account for roughly 33% of total onboard spending, according to multiple sources, while onboard spending accounts for around 35 to 40% of cruise lines’ total revenue. This means alcohol sales account for more than 10% of a cruise line’s total revenue. Cruise lines have a clear financial incentive to overserve passengers alcohol.

There is also an incentive for bartenders, who receive 18% commission on each drink sold, to overserve alcohol.

Cruise lines serve drinks in every corner of their ships — in the casino, at the pool, and in the restaurants and nightclubs. A passenger can spend an entire day drinking without having more than a couple drinks at a single venue. The combination extended drinking hours and scattered bars throughout the ship create an environment where overserving can occur without any single point of failure. This failure is by design.

Sanders’ story has made national news and sparked a wide range of opinions, many which are critical of Sanders and question where is the personal responsibility. These opinions miss two key points. First, Sanders was found personally responsible for what happened. The jury found that she was 40% liable for the incident, significantly decreasing the damages she was awarded. Second, cruise lines have a legal obligation to protect its passengers from excessive alcohol consumption and, despite online opinions, they can be held liable if they continue serving alcohol to a visibly intoxicated passenger.

Legal Liability

In Hall v. Royal Caribbean, the third district court of appeal addressed the issue of overserving alcohol in a case involving a cruise passenger who was intoxicated and fell down two flights of open stairways. The court held that the complaint clearly stated a cause of action for breach of the defendant’s duty to exercise reasonable care for the safety of its passengers “in both (a) overserving the plaintiff and (b) failing to protect him from his (albeit self-imposed) disability.“

Unfortunately, this is not the first or last overserving of alcohol story we will cover. We last wrote about a passenger being overserved alcohol when a man died after being served 33 drinks on a Royal Caribbean ship. Expect the next story to follow the same trend — a passenger is served 10+ drinks before falling down a flight of stairs (or falling overboard), the ship’s security then mishandles the incident, and the cruise line blames the passenger.

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