Does the Cruise Industry Have a Crime Problem? Here Are the Facts

by Sarah Kuta
Last updated: 10:00 PM ET, Mon May 26, 2025

Several high-profile incidents aboard cruise ships have made headlines recently, from a massive brawl on Carnival Jubilee to the possible murder of a man on MSC Virtuosa.

But does the cruise industry have a crime problem? Far from it, says Charles Syvia, vice president of industry and trade relations for Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).

“Cruise ships are one of the safest vacation options in the world, with rates of serious crimes that are exceedingly lower than those on land due to multiple layers of security and the nature of cruising,” he tells TravelPulse. “Cruise lines have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to criminal behavior, and allegations of major crimes on cruise ships are extremely rare.”

He points to the results of a CLIA-commissioned study conducted by James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University. Fox investigated rates of homicide, sexual assault and assault resulting in serious bodily injury between January 2016 and December 2019.

He compared crimes that took place on cruise ships with those that took place on the United States mainland, looking at the number of crimes that occurred per 100,000 people.

During that period, the sexual assault rate was 63.8 on the mainland, compared to just 19.2 on cruise ships, Fox found. The aggravated assault rate was 432.2 on the mainland, compared to just 2.6 on cruise ships. And the homicide rate was 11.9 on the mainland, compared to 0.1 on cruise ships.

“Clearly, the rates for the cruise industry are much lower than for land for all three offense categories,” Fox wrote in a summary of his findings. “The rates of victimization on board cruise ships remain a small fraction of the counterpart statistic for land.”

He adds: “As demonstrated once again, travel by sea aboard commercial cruise ships is exceptionally safe in terms of the risks associated with violent criminal activity...While no vacation destination is completely free of risk, cruising is clearly a relatively safe option.”

Syvia also points out that the cruise industry is heavily regulated both nationally and internationally when it comes to safety and security. And the industry’s reporting of criminal statistics is “unprecedented” compared to other sectors of tourism, he adds.

For example, the cruise industry is subject to the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act, which was enacted in 2010 and prescribes security and safety requirements for most cruise ships that embark and disembark in the U.S. The cruise industry supported the law, which codified many voluntary reporting measures that were already in place.

Under this law, cruise lines must report certain types of criminal activity to the FBI, including homicides, suspicious deaths, missing U.S. nationals, kidnappings, assault with serious bodily injury, firing or tampering with a vessel, thefts of more than $10,000 and sexual assaults. The FBI then compiles that data into public reports, which it publishes every quarter.

“Serious crimes can and do happen on the high seas,” the FBI wrote in an August 2024 statement, noting that alcohol is often a factor in such incidents.

Under the law, cruise ships are required to record all complaints of crimes and thefts over $1,000 in a logbook that is subject to inspection by law enforcement officials.

The most recent report, which covered the period between January 1 and March 31, 2025, includes 48 alleged incidents that took place on cruise ships. That’s just one more alleged incident than the 47 that took place during the same period of 2024, per the FBI’s data.

For comparison, here’s a full breakdown of alleged crimes that took place between January and March in recent years, according to FBI data.

2025: 48 incidents
2024: 47 incidents
2023: 32 incidents
2022: 17 incidents
2021: 1 incident
2020: 18 incidents
2019: 25 incidents
2018: 26 incidents
2017: 27 incidents
2016: 26 incidents
2015: 6 incidents

Beyond complying with U.S. federal law, CLIA members have also agreed to report serious crimes to local law enforcement, no matter where they take place in the world. Member cruise lines have also agreed to report these incidents to the ship’s flag state and that all passengers and crew are to be provided the means and assistance to contact law enforcement authorities.

Member cruise lines also take steps to safeguard children in youth activity centers, provide victim support, enact security measures to deter crimes and provide incident response training, among other safety and security initiatives.

“These comprehensive policies reinforce safety, transparency and accountability across the cruise industry,” according to CLIA.

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