Cruise Lawsuit News: Verdicts, Settlements, and a Data Breach

Cruise lawsuit news in 2025 and 2026 has been dominated by a handful of cases that redefine what passengers can sue over and what cruise lines can be held responsible for: a young woman’s catastrophic injuries on a Carnival shore excursion, a $300,000 jury verdict over alcohol overservice, a Supreme Court decision exposing the industry’s biggest operators to potential nine-figure liability tied to confiscated Cuban docks, a multistate settlement with Norwegian over pandemic sales practices, and a Carnival data breach affecting nearly six million people.

Hannah Smith’s Catastrophic Injuries on a Carnival Excursion

The most closely watched passenger injury case of 2026 is Smith v. Carnival Corporation (Case No. 1:25-cv-25952-WPD), filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Hannah Smith, a 22-year-old recent college graduate, lost both legs after a shore excursion she booked through Carnival’s app in May 2025.¹

According to the complaint, the “Pearl Island Beach Escape with Lunch” excursion in Nassau, Bahamas, was operated by Sun Cay, Ltd. and Pearl Investment Management Group, Ltd., both named as co-defendants. Staff allegedly served Smith large quantities of alcohol, including drinks spiked with rum punch, and encouraged her to smoke marijuana. The suit estimates her blood alcohol level reached as high as 0.447.² Near the end of the trip, staff allegedly directed the heavily impaired Smith to “use the water” as a restroom. After she entered the water near the ferry’s aft platform, the captain allegedly engaged the engine in reverse, pulling her into the propellers.³

Her left leg was amputated below the knee at the scene. After more than 30 surgical procedures, she ultimately underwent a full hip disarticulation of her right leg.⁴

The lawsuit alleges Carnival negligently failed to vet and monitor the third-party operator and is vicariously liable because it marketed the trip as a safe, vetted outing. The complaint further claims Carnival continued to sell the excursion despite years of negative reviews on TripAdvisor and Google dating to 2023, warning about unsafe ferry operations and overserving of alcohol.³ Pearl Investment Management Group and Sun Cay have filed motions to dismiss on personal jurisdiction grounds. Carnival has not publicly commented.¹

$300,000 Verdict Against Carnival for Alcohol Overservice

In April 2026, a federal jury in Miami ordered Carnival to pay $300,000 to Diana Sanders, a 45-year-old nurse from Vacaville, California, finding the cruise line negligent for overserving her aboard the Carnival Radiance.⁵

Evidence at trial showed Sanders was served at least 14 shots of tequila over roughly eight and a half hours on January 5, 2024. Between 11:45 p.m. and 12:20 a.m., she suffered a severe fall and was found unconscious in a crew-only area. Her injuries included a concussion, back and tailbone injuries, bruising, and a possible traumatic brain injury.⁶

A central issue was 30 to 35 minutes of missing surveillance footage covering the period between when Sanders left the casino bar and when she was discovered. Her attorney, Spencer Aronfeld, argued that Carnival admitted viewing the footage but claimed it was not important enough to preserve. The suit also alleged that a ship security officer falsely told Sanders he had footage of the fall, prompting her to decline a rape kit during the investigation of what happened while she was unconscious.⁷

The jury found Carnival 60% at fault and Sanders 40% at fault. Sanders had originally requested $250,000, so the jury exceeded her own ask.⁵ The verdict rests on Hall v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., a 2004 Florida appellate case holding that cruise lines have a duty under maritime law both to avoid overserving passengers and to protect intoxicated passengers from foreseeable harm.⁸ Carnival said it disagrees with the verdict and intends to seek a new trial and appeal.⁹

Supreme Court Opens the Door on Confiscated Cuban Docks

On May 21, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an 8–1 ruling in Havana Docks Corporation v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. (No. 24-983) allowing lawsuits against cruise lines for using port facilities in Havana that the Cuban government confiscated in 1960.¹⁰ Writing for the majority, Justice Clarence Thomas held that Title III of the Helms-Burton Act permits U.S. nationals to sue any entity that “traffics” in confiscated Cuban property, and that the physical docks remain “tainted” by the confiscation regardless of whether the claimant’s original property interest would have expired.¹¹

Between 2016 and 2019, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian, and MSC collectively moved nearly one million passengers through those docks. A district court had previously awarded Havana Docks more than $100 million from each of the four cruise lines, a figure that includes treble damages allowed under the statute.¹²

The Supreme Court vacated the Eleventh Circuit’s earlier ruling favoring the cruise lines and returned the case to the appeals court to consider remaining defenses. The most significant is the “lawful travel” exception under Helms-Burton. The cruise lines argue their operations were specifically encouraged by the Obama administration and approved by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a concurrence joined by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, called this a “significant question” and also raised due process concerns about imposing liability for conduct the federal government had endorsed. She also questioned whether allowing recovery from multiple defendants could permit “infinite recoveries” for a finite loss.¹² Justice Elena Kagan was the lone dissenter.¹¹

Norwegian Cruise Line’s $2 Million Multistate Settlement

In April 2026, a coalition of 12 state attorneys general announced a settlement with Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL Bahamas, Ltd.) over sales practices and cancellation procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic. The states accused Norwegian of making misleading statements, providing conflicting information about bookings and cancellations, and implementing unfair refund and credit policies.¹³

Norwegian must pay $2 million to the participating states, stop disseminating deceptive sales statements, and refrain from prioritizing sales over consumer health and safety during declared disasters. The company must also implement mandatory training for customer-facing staff, and senior management must approve sales communications used during future disaster declarations.¹⁴

The participating states are Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin. Between March 2020 and November 2025, Norwegian had already reimbursed passengers more than $3 billion nationwide, consisting of roughly $2.6 billion in credit card refunds and about $505 million in future cruise credits.¹³

Carnival Data Breach Affects Nearly Six Million

Carnival Corporation disclosed in late May 2026 that a data breach had compromised the personal information of 5,995,277 people. The breach began on April 14, 2026, when an unauthorized actor used social engineering to deceive a Carnival employee and gain access to a portion of the company’s IT systems. Carnival determined on April 22 that personal data had been copied, and it began notifying affected individuals on May 27.¹⁵

Compromised data varies by individual but includes names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, and government-issued identification numbers such as driver’s license and passport numbers. Carnival said it blocked the unauthorized activity the same day it was discovered and hired third-party security experts to investigate. Affected U.S. individuals are being offered two years of complimentary credit monitoring through TransUnion.¹⁶ As of the disclosure date, no class action lawsuits or formal regulatory investigations related to the breach had been publicly reported.

Other Passenger Injury Lawsuits Making Headlines

Beyond those headline cases, a steady stream of passenger injury suits has been filed in 2025 and 2026.

Jason Keller, a Pennsylvania resident, alleges he fractured his neck and suffered multiple strokes after falling headfirst on the FlowRider surfing simulator aboard Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas in February 2025. His February 2026 lawsuit claims the simulator was shortened to fit the ship, making it more dangerous, and that the ship’s doctor misdiagnosed his injuries, initially denying any fractures existed.¹⁷
In August 2025, an acrylic glass panel on the “Frightening Bolt” water slide aboard Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas cracked and sliced a passenger. A witness reported that a previous rider had already been slightly cut before the panel shattered. Royal Caribbean closed the slide for the rest of the trip and shut down the same slide on the Star of the Seas as a precaution. The passenger hired attorney Alex Perez and announced plans to sue.¹⁸
In September 2025, U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman ordered Carnival to pay $344,051 to a passenger who broke her arm and dislocated her shoulder after tripping over a dangerous threshold gap on the Carnival Celebration in May 2023. The court found Carnival had constructive notice of the hazard because ship staff moved carts over the area multiple times daily.¹⁹
Donka Kennedy of Illinois alleges she suffered a serious left femur fracture after slipping on a dangerous substance while walking toward the buffet on the Norwegian Escape in January 2025. Her lawsuit seeks compensation for surgical costs, disability, and lost wages.²⁰
In March 2026, three passengers filed separate suits in the Southern District of Florida against Royal Caribbean, each alleging failure to warn of wet or hazardous conditions. One involved a head injury and loss of consciousness on the Oasis of the Seas, another a fall near the buffet on the Navigator of the Seas, and a third a trip over a misplaced lounge chair on the Odyssey of the Seas.²¹

The Rules That Shape Every Cruise Passenger Lawsuit

Cruise injury litigation operates under a framework that differs sharply from an ordinary personal injury claim on land. All claims are governed by admiralty and maritime law, which preempts state laws, including state statutes of limitations and common carrier statutes.²² Three procedural hurdles trip up most potential plaintiffs.

Most major cruise lines require lawsuits to be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami, regardless of where the passenger lives or where the incident occurred. The Supreme Court upheld the enforceability of these non-negotiated forum selection clauses in the 1991 case Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. Shute, finding that they are valid as long as they are “reasonably communicated” and not adopted to discourage legitimate claims.²³

Standard ticket contracts also require passengers to give written notice of a claim within six months and file a lawsuit within one year. These deadlines are far shorter than most land-based statutes of limitations, and federal courts enforce them strictly.²²

For injuries not uniquely maritime in nature, the passenger must show the cruise line had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition. That means proving the company either knew about the hazard or should have known because it existed long enough for staff to discover and fix it. That standard is what drove both the Carnival trip-and-fall verdict and the alcohol overservice ruling against Carnival in 2026.²²

Shore Excursions

Shore excursion cases, like Hannah Smith’s, are especially complex because cruise lines typically argue they are not responsible for independent third-party operators. Courts have been willing to hold cruise lines liable under several theories: negligent selection of an operator with a poor safety record, failure to warn passengers of known dangers, and apparent agency when the cruise line’s marketing leads passengers to believe it operates or controls the excursion.²⁴ Federal law also prevents cruise lines from contractually insulating themselves from liability for their own negligence on voyages touching U.S. ports, under 46 U.S.C. §30509.²²

Alcohol Overservice

Unlike on land, where liability for overserving alcohol varies by state under so-called dram shop laws, cruise ship alcohol claims are governed by federal maritime law. Under Hall v. Royal Caribbean (2004), cruise lines have a dual duty: to avoid overserving passengers and to protect visibly intoxicated passengers from foreseeable harm. Comparative negligence applies, meaning the passenger’s own responsibility can reduce the award, as it did when the jury found Diana Sanders 40% at fault.⁸

1
Brais Law Firm. Hannah Smith v. Carnival Corporation Case Filing Details
2
New York Post. College Grad Loses Both Her Legs in Bloody Boating Accident After Booze-Filled Carnival Cruise Excursion
3
Cruise Law News. Young Woman Suffers Catastrophic Injuries After Excursion Accident From Carnival Ship
4
Brais Law Firm. Brais Law Firm Retained to Represent Hannah Smith in Catastrophic Maritime Injury Case
5
Miami Herald. Carnival Passenger Awarded $300,000 After Being Overserved Alcohol
6
CBS News Miami. Carnival Cruise to Pay Injured Passenger for Overserving Alcohol
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Cruise Law News. Carnival Passenger Awarded $300,000 After Being Served at Least 14 Shots on Cruise
8
FindLaw. Hall v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.
9
New York Post. Carnival Cruise Passenger Wins $300K Lawsuit After Being Served 14 Tequila Shots
10
SCOTUSblog. Court Rules Against Cruise Lines in Cuban Confiscation Case
11
U.S. Supreme Court. Havana Docks Corp. v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.
12
Sullivan & Cromwell. Supreme Court Adopts Broad Reading of Key Terms in Title III of the Helms-Burton Act
13
New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Attorney General Davenport Announces Multistate Settlement With Norwegian Cruise Line
14
KOLO-TV. Settlement Made With Norwegian Cruise Line Regarding Sales Practices, Cancellation Procedures
15
NBC Miami. Carnival Data Breach Exposes Personal Information of Cruise Passengers
16
Carnival Corporation. Notice of Data Breach
17
People. Royal Caribbean Passenger Sues Cruise Line After Allegedly Sustaining Injury on Surf Simulator
18
Local 10 News. Royal Caribbean Passenger Plans to File Lawsuit After Water Slide Partially Breaks
19
PWD Law Firm. Miami Judge Orders Carnival to Pay $344,000 to Cruise Passenger Injured in Trip-and-Fall Accident
20
Cruise Blog. Cruise Week Report: Norwegian Sued After Injury
21
Deep Arrival. Royal Caribbean Passenger Injury Lawsuits
22
Plaintiff Magazine. Cruise Ship Passenger Injury Litigation
23
Cornell Law Institute. Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. Shute
24
Brais Law Firm. What to Do if You Are Injured on a Shore Excursion During a Cruise