The cruise line is facing a new lawsuit after two passengers claim the company failed to ensure their safety on board.
NBC 6 investigators learned their allegations were among dozens of similar incidents reported on cruises last year.
The incidents allegedly occurred on two separate MSC cruise ships. One of the cases involved a girl who claimed that another child on the ship had inappropriately touched her. Due to the nature of the incident, the passengers and their families have not been identified.
The 6-year-old’s mother spoke about the terrifying moment in an exclusive interview with NBC6.
“One night she was on a cruise and I got a call,” she said. “She told me that she had to go to the bathroom when she was going to the kids club, but the boy kept coming in and out of the bathroom and ended up saying she had to go to the bathroom. During that time, I touched her butt and private parts.”
She said it happened on board the MSC Divina in January last year.
“It’s very difficult for a mother to not be there when a child goes through something like that,” she added.
According to the complaint, the girl was in the ship’s “mini club” for children when she needed to use the restroom. She instructed her employees not to lock the bathroom doors, which she “did not supervise,” she alleges. Then the boy went inside.
“I immediately went back to the kids club and informed the staff there,” the girl’s grandmother said.
But the girl’s family claims the ship failed to report the incident to authorities.
“No action was taken from the beginning,” the mother said.
In a separate lawsuit, passengers on the MSC Meraviglia allege that a waiter on the ship attacked him in March after he followed his cousin back to the room the women were sharing.
“It’s very scary,” she said. “As soon as she opened the door and walked in, he came out of nowhere and when she turned around he was in the room right behind her and he was closing her door. ”
According to the complaint, he refused to leave despite multiple requests to leave.
She alleges in the lawsuit that at one point, as her cousin went to the restroom, a crew member “climbed” on top of her and “began unbuckling her belt throughout the physical struggle…continually touching her.” He licked her face and tried to take off her clothes.”
“My cousin jumped out of the bathroom and I was kind of freaked out,” she said. “He loosened up a little bit and I was able to slip out from under him.”
The woman explained that she ran into the hallway and called for help.
“He threatened us that if anything happened, he would come back if we said anything,” she said.
Records provided to NBC6 by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office on Monday show the cruise line interviewed the suspect’s crew members after the incident. In a statement, he claimed that the women invited him into the room, but that there was no physical interaction between them.
“The ship plans to return this crew member to port upon arrival,” the report states.
NBC6 detectives found reports of these types of incidents have been going up in the last year.
A total of 131 sexual assault cases, including rape, were reported to the FBI, up from 87 in 2022. Various cruise lines are involved in the incident. In most of them, the attacker was a passenger.
Lawyer Jack Hickey said the number was likely even higher.
“That means anything involving non-U.S. nationals is not reported,” he said. “Anything that a cruise line considers not to be sexual assault based on these definitions is not reported.”
Mr Hickey, who represents passengers suing MSC, said MSC needed more rigorous training and vetting of its employees.
“I think the initial training, supervision and screening really needs to change,” he said. “Will it be? I don’t think so.”
An MSC Cruises spokesperson told NBC6 that the company cannot comment on pending litigation.
However, a representative from industry group Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) said in a statement that cruise lines are “heavily regulated” and has “zero tolerance” for criminal activity, adding: “Cruise lines are “Allegations of serious crimes are taken seriously,” he added. extremely rare”
“If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone else,” said the MSC Meraviglia passenger. “And when you’re stuck on a boat in the middle of the ocean, it’s terrifying.”
After Congress passed the Cruise Ship Safety Act in 2010, the Department of Transportation began releasing data on sexual assault incidents. CLIA said this type of report is “unprecedented” compared to other sectors of travel and tourism.