Complaint Review: Royal Caribbean - Miami Florida

Thanks MikeW for this information about the new Passenger Protection Law.

You are right about Royal Caribbean security being aboard to protect ship property and limit liabilities. As a Crown and Anchor Diamond member, I have personally witnessed an occassion when a passenger got injured from afall ona wet marble floor. This wasin the onboard shop passageway andI saw RCCL security rush to mop up the water. Only later did I discover security"interrogated" the injured passenger and called her a liarclaiming they had investigated and found no water on the floor where she fell and they had witnesses to back them up.

I decided to file a report to back up the injured passenger's version of events. To my horror, I got "interrogated" and security called me a liar! Afterwards I decided to email a friend in law enforcement for advice. His reply was under these circumstances no US law enforcement agency had jurisdiction aboard an RCCL ship even though it left and returned to Miami! The injured passenger would have to go through the aggravation, expense and effort to sue Royal Caribbean in a Miami court for compensation. Only because her injury was not serious did she decide it wasn't worth the hassles to recover her onboard medical clinic expenses.

I have personally had a watchstolen from my stateroom safe. Thankfully, because I had been warned this could happen on websites such as this, I left my valuable watch home and took my older and less valuable watch on the cruise. Still, I filed the theft report, endured the room and luggage inspections, and lived through the "interview" thatwas morean effort to convince me I had lost my watch somewhere else. Yes, they had a log of when my stateroom door was opened and whose key was used to open the door. I received assurances that the thief would be found, but to my knowledge nothing came of it. I received a letter regretting the theft but there was no admission of responsibility or offer of compensation or credit.

So we really need this new Federal Passenger Protection Law and, though itprobably won't help in cases of "petty theft" or minor personal injury cases,it is overdue. US cruise passengers have no idea how little legal protection they have without it. And what little they do have they waive whenever they sign their ticket. Yes indeed! Buyer beware! I do not want to scare anyone, but it's the truththere is no way a passenger can be too cautious aboard ship.

GMCruiser

I wish there was a way to help you, but yours is another growing example of how vulnerable Royal Caribbean passengers really are to becoming a victim of a crime. The sad truth is ship security is there to protect company property and limit company liability first and passenger safety and property second. But there may be a source of help for all passengers on the horizon. In 2012 a long overdue new Federal law will finally give the FBI jurisdiction and authority over crimes that occur on Royal Caribbean and other cruise ships that have docked at U.S. ports.

Up until now, cruise shipscould be considered citieswith casinos serving unlimited drinks with no police. About every two weeks there is a news report about someone missing from a cruise ship somewhere in the world and those arepassengers we know about.

In 2009, the FBI received reports of 349 incidents on cruise ships. Many of these were thefts from cabin safes and staterooms.The FBIopened investigations into 32 cases involving "serious crimes" -- including one death, three missing people, 20 rapes and sexual assaults and six aggravated assaults with great bodily injury. Several reports of Royal Caribbean crew members raping and sexually assaulting minors made the news last year. The vast majority were committed on popular Carnival and Royal Caribbean cruises. In the past investigations were hampered by a pattern of denials, jurisdictional issues, cover-ups, destruction of evidence and limited cooperation.

President Barack Obama signed the Cruise Vessel and Safety Act of 2010 on July 27. "This law will finally do away with the murky lines of jurisdiction that have put American cruise ship passengers at risk in the past," Sen. Kerry said in a statement.

It will be 18 months from the date of signing before the law is fully implemented. However, parts of it will be enforced in stages in 2011.

The law requires:

Peep holes and security latches on all passenger and crew doors

Electronic video surveillance that documents crimes to be made available to law enforcement

Passenger security guides with information on reporting crimes to U.S. law enforcement

Limits on crew access to passenger cabins

Staff with knowledge and equipment to perform rape exams

Free and immediate access to law enforcement

Prompt reporting of crimes, which must be contained in a log

Mike Ehline, a Los Angeles attorney who handles lawsuits against cruise lines, said,"I'm still getting the same types of issues with the cruise lines refusing to hand things over. They always have some excuse like the video was out that day, it got lost, or it was erased on accident." Sound familiar?

According to language in the new law, "It is not known precisely how often crimes occur on cruise vessels or exactly how many people have disappeared during ocean voyages because cruise line companies do not make comprehensive, crime-related data readily available to the public." It states sexual assault and physical assault as the leading crimes investigated by the FBI on cruise ships and it's difficult for law enforcement to gather evidence and conduct an investigation. Before, Royal Caribbean would just reply, "We are registered in the Bahamas, and we don't have to do this." Now, they will be banned from coming into U.S. ports if they don't.

My advice to readers is never take any property aboard a cruise ship that you cannot afford to lose or have stolen. Avoid walking vacant decks alone. Too many pasengers are looking for an opportunity. Too many crew members have access to your staterooms and know the master room safe code. Take the same precautions aboard a cruise ship that you would in a large, unfamiliar city.

MikeW