Royal Caribbean Facing Class Action Lawsuit After Cruise Ship Worker Was Caught Hiding Cameras in Guest Bathrooms

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Royal Caribbean Cruises faces a proposed class action lawsuit following the discovery and apprehension of a cruise ship crewmember who planted hidden cameras and reportedly captured several videos of guests, including minors, in various stages of undress in their cabins and bathrooms.

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The 32-page lawsuit was filed by a passenger aboard Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas cruise ship who discovered a hidden camera planted under the sink in her cabin bathroom in February 2024. The crewmember held responsible—who, according to an August 2024 press release, has since been sentenced to 30 years in prison—was a stateroom attendant who serviced the plaintiff’s cabin and those of up to 960 other passengers who took a cruise on the vessel between December 1, 2023 and February 26, 2024, the case reports.

The class action suit claims Royal Caribbean failed to take adequate measures and provide sufficient security to prevent the acts of sexual assault by way of video voyeurism. The pseudonymous plaintiff says the video camera she found hidden in her bathroom captured images of her while she was undressed, which she believes were then disseminated to third parties and potentially the dark web.

Additionally, in an interview with law enforcement, the crewmember—a Filipino man named Arvin Joseph Mirasol—admitted to hiding under guests’ beds to secretly film them exiting the shower, the press release shares.

Per the complaint, Royal Caribbean failed to properly warn passengers of the “prevalence of sexual assaults” aboard its cruise ships—particularly in light of a similar instance on another vessel in 2023, where a hidden camera secretly recorded more than 150 people using a public bathroom until the device was discovered by a passenger.

The United States Department of Transportation reports 26 instances of sexual assault documented during Royal Caribbean cruises in 2023, and 22 incidents the year before. Despite its knowledge of these statistics, the defendant has stayed quiet on the subject “so as not to scare any prospective passengers away,” the filing contends.

The company has also “willfully [chosen] not to fortify its onboard security detail … because to do so would require [Royal Caribbean] to increase security spending and to divert berths reserved for passengers to accommodate additional security aboard its ships, thereby reducing revenue and profits,” the lawsuit alleges.

Importantly, the suit asserts, Royal Caribbean still has yet to notify all passengers who stayed in cabins assigned to Mirasol between December 2023 and February 2024.

The hidden camera lawsuit against Royal Caribbean looks to represent any passengers aboard the Symphony of the Seas vessel between December 1, 2023 and February 26, 2024 who stayed in cabins that were serviced by Mirasol and who were subjected to his sexual assault and sexual harassment while he was employed by the company and a member of the crew.

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