Reports of crimes aboard U.S. cruise ships reach 2-year high, data shows

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It appears now is not a good time to book a spot on a cruise departing from a U.S. port.

According to data obtained by Fox News from the U.S. Department of Transportation, crime rates reached a two-year high on cruise ships after 48 alleged offences were reported in the first three months of 2025.

“Sometimes, the cruise lines don’t want to report this information on the front end depending upon, again, what type of crime it is, which brings unfortunate attention to them, just as it would when we have airplane situations or the delays in airplanes that we’re having now,” Robert McDonald, a former Secret Service special agent and criminal justice lecturer at the University of New Haven, told Fox News.

“All of that negative vibe and negative information puts a dark cloud over the industry, an industry that wants people to come to it and wants them to be comfortable spending their money.”

Of the alleged crimes reported this year, 24 were identified as rapes, 10 were sexual assaults and seven were criminal assaults.

According to McDonald, criminal acts are more likely among large groups of people who are confined to a small space for extended periods of time.

“I think anytime we get large numbers of people together, whether it’s at a Super Bowl game or at a World Series game or an NBA Finals or graduations or whatnot, whenever we get people together, whenever there’s alcohol involved, whenever there are people being able to let loose a little bit from their normal personality, I think that exacerbates the ability for numbers to rise in that regard,” he said.

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A recent brawl among passengers who disembarked from a cruise ship near Houston paints a wary picture.

As vacationers were picking up their luggage last month at the Galveston Cruise Terminal following a seven-day, round-trip voyage of the Caribbean, fists began to fly.

Video shared to social media showed two men fighting as a large group of people swarm them and aggressively throw punches amid the chaos.

A security guard runs toward the melee before two police officers arrive in an attempt to break up the brawl.

The fight apparently stemmed from an incident on the ship’s basketball court the day before.

A Chicago man was charged after an elderly person was allegedly pushed in the baggage area following an argument.