An unidentified Carnival passenger is suing the cruise line after claiming another passenger sexually assaulted her.
"Jane Doe," of Massachusetts, filed a maritime personal injury lawsuit against Carnival Corporation in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida after being sexually assaulted by another passenger aboard the Carnival Sunrise.
Although the perpetrator was arrested upon the ship's arrival in Miami, Florida, "Doe" is suing Carnival Cruise Line on five counts for failure to provide adequate security measures, negligent procedures and operations, and more.
Here's what allegedly happened: On May 19, 2025, Doe noticed an unknown male cruiser staring at her while aboard the Carnival Sunrise ship. He then followed her when she moved to a different location. However, this made Doe feel uneasy, so she returned to the pool deck and rejoined her friend, as reported by Holzberg Legal.
Shortly after, the unknown male approached Doe, initiating a seven-minute conversation near the Seafood Shack. Doe then ordered lunch, with the perpetrator ordering the exact same meal. As such, the ship's crew members assumed they were traveling together when the restaurant-style pager went off.
Doe took one bite of her food and immediately felt sick, rushing to the nearest restroom to throw up. It was at this point that the assailant allegedly followed her into the bathroom and inappropriately touched her buttocks and pelvic area.
When Doe left the restroom, the unknown male followed her into the elevator as she tried to return to her stateroom. However, upon exiting the elevator, Doe was grabbed by the assailant, who restrained her from leaving. He then tried to kiss her and groped her genitals. Doe screamed for him to stop, and he eventually let go.
The lawsuit brings five separate legal claims against Carnival Corporation, ranging from premises liability to direct negligence for failure to provide adequate security and protection, negligent procedures and operations, and negligent failure to warn.
Doe alleges that, as a direct result of the negligence, she experienced profound emotional distress, panic attacks, severe anxiety, and difficulty sleeping, triggering the resurfacing of prior personal trauma. Her injuries are also described as permanent and continuing in nature.
As such, the lawsuit seeks compensation for past and future economic damages, as well as substantial non-economic damages for pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life, and punitive damages under General Maritime Law.
Carnival is accused of failing to implement safety measures and violating post-assault care policies
According to Doe's lawsuit, Carnival Corporation failed to provide adequate security measures and proper supervision to prevent foreseeable criminal behavior from happening in passenger-accessible spaces.
Additionally, although Carnival has strict, mandatory reporting requirements under the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act (CVSSA), the cruise line's crew members failed to enforce the necessary safety standards to protect passengers from attacks.
Additionally, Doe claims that Carnival Cruise Line failed to follow its internal policies and procedures by not promptly connecting her with an onboard care team member to provide post-assault support and minimize her trauma.
Instead, the security team required her to describe the details of the assault before offering any support or taking her to the ship's medical center, rather than immediately prioritizing her well-being with medical or psychological help.
Finally, Carnival allegedly refused to identify the perpetrator and failed to isolate him from other guests and crew members following the reported incident.
The complaint cites fleetwide evidence of the prevalence of sexual crimes at sea
The lawsuit argues that Carnival was aware of the increase in passenger-on-passenger sexual abuse across its fleet and cited federal data published quarterly by the Department of Transportation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) under the CVSSA.
Recorded cruise ship sexual assault allegations rose from ten incidents in 2021 to 87 in 2022, 131 in 2023, and 102 in 2024. Carnival Cruise Line recorded 39 sexual assaults and rapes aboard its fleet in 2024 alone.
As such, the lawsuit notes that when compared to competitors like Royal Caribbean, Carnival has a higher per capita rate of sexual offenses, and despite investigating hundreds of sexual assault and rape allegations, Carnival deliberately chooses not to warn its passengers of these statistics.
In addition to failing to warn passengers about the prevalence of crime, the complaint brings claims asserting Carnival's direct liability due to negligent operations and procedures.
Carnival, for example, fails to employ an adequate number of security guards to patrol public corridors, elevators, and pool decks.
Carnival Sunrise also lacks adequate equipment compared to other newer cruise ships because it does not have proper video surveillance and security monitoring in public areas.
There were also failed opportunities to install video cameras in known blind spots where sexual crimes could happen without video evidence.
As such, by failing to utilize available data to conduct a social epidemiological analysis of shipboard crimes, the lawsuit alleges that Carnival missed opportunities to implement specific security strategies to prevent sexual abuse at sea.
This isn't the first allegation of sexual assault reported aboard the Carnival Sunrise ship
In January 2026, two Carnival cruise passengers were charged with the rape of a 25-year-old woman on the Carnival Sunrise in December 2025.
Sayjuan Readous, 27, and Antoine Flowers Jr., 29, of Michigan, reportedly swapped places during a sexual encounter, unbeknownst to the victim.
The unknown victim consented to sexual activity with Readous after meeting him at one of the ship's bars and returned to his cabin. During their encounter, he got up, which is when Flowers Jr. took his place. She wasn't aware that she had been tricked until she turned on the lights.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force officers boarded the Carnival Sunrise in Nassau, charging Readous with rape and aiding and abetting, and Flowers Jr. with two counts of rape.
A few weeks later, a teenager was arrested for reportedly raping a 16-year-old aboard the Carnival Sunrise just after Christmas.
According to reports, the victim was assaulted after going to the 17-year-old's cabin shortly after they met, with the young girl's parents being alerted about the incident around 8:00 p.m. while they were in the casino.
Elizabeth Wright
Elizabeth graduated from New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute with her M.A. in Journalism in May 2023. Having sailed on over 30 cruises across different lines, including Royal Caribbean, Carnival, MSC, Margaritaville at Sea, and Princess, she loves sharing her insight and expertise on all things cruising!
In addition to writing for Cruise.Blog, Elizabeth has bylines in Business Insider, Royal Caribbean Blog, and Cruiseshipfood.com.
