The federal class action lawsuit alleges up to 960 Royal Caribbean passengers may have been affected
A Royal Caribbean passenger is suing the cruise line and a former crew member after the employee allegedly hid a camera in her cabin’s bathroom.
Filed on October 17 on behalf of the guest, who is identified in the suit only as Jane Doe (or S.F.), the federal class action lawsuit alleges that former stateroom attendant Arvin Joseph Mirasol snapped photos of her “while undressed and engaging in private activities” during a February 2024 cruise on the company’s Symphony of the Seas ship, then uploaded the photos to the internet and dark web.
The suit alleges that Royal Caribbean “knew or should have known sexual assaults were reasonably foreseeable” in light of previous sexual assaults aboard its ships. (Last year, for example, a passenger on the company’s Harmony of the Seas was arrested for allegedly filming people, including children, in a public bathroom without their knowledge.)
“Royal Caribbean became aware of this problem in March of 2023 when a hidden camera was found in a public bathroom on the pool deck of one of its ships, yet it has seemingly done nothing since then to protect its passengers from reoccurrences,” attorney Michael Winkleman, who is representing the plaintiffs, wrote in a statement. “Who knows how many countless numbers of pornographic images of these unsuspecting passengers will circulate on the internet forever because Royal Caribbean failed to protect their privacy and allowed Mirasol to make these passengers victims.”
The suit — which also claims the cruise line did not notify individual class plaintiffs who stayed in cabins serviced by Mirasol between December 1, 2023, and February 26, 2024, and that up to 960 passengers may have been affected — seeks unspecified damages and a jury trial.
While aboard the Symphony of the Seas on February 25, 2024, S.F. discovered a hidden camera affixed to the counter under the sink in her cabin bathroom, according to police.
She reported it to authorities, who ultimately found surveillance videos showing Mirasol installing a camera in the guest’s bathroom, as well as videos in his possession depicting naked children ranging from 2 to 17 years in age.
In August, Mirasol, a citizen of the Philippines, was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for filming guests, including children, with hidden cameras while they were unclothed.
Despite years of public scrutiny, litigation, and Congressional hearings on the problem, the cruise industry has long been plagued with sexual assault claims.
According to a report from the U.S. Department of Transportation, 131 alleged incidents of sexual assault and rape were reported on cruise ships in 2023 — with Miami-based Royal Caribbean seeing the second-highest frequency of reported incidents.
