Senate Committee Hears Cruise Passenger Testimony

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation heard disturbing testimony on Wednesday regarding passenger safety issues onboard cruise vessels. The testimony was part of the latest hearing on the Cruise Passenger Protection Act (CPPA).

Those who spoke included a victim of sexual assault that took place onboard a Royal Caribbean vessel, a passenger whose mother died following what she described as lax medical care on a Carnival ship and a woman trapped on the Carnival Triumph during the February 2013 engine fire incident in the Gulf of Mexico.

Rockefeller’s bill
The Cruise Passenger Protection Act, which was introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) in 2013, aims to regulate U.S. cruise lines and return rights to passengers that they waive in order to get onboard.

In particular, the bill would require cruise lines to release accurate crime statistics and create victim support services for those harmed onboard a vessel. (https://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/1340)

Rockefeller introduced the bill following the Carnival Triumph engine fire incident, which left the ship adrift without power for days, subjecting passengers to conditions both unsanitary and uncomfortable.

Dedicated to protecting cruisers
Rockefeller said that he is still dedicating himself to protecting cruiser rights.

“Most people who take cruise ship vacations have a good experience,” said Rockefeller during yesterday’s hearing. “But once in a while, things can go terribly wrong; incidents like these are unfortunately also a part of the cruise experience.”

He said the cruise lines have a history of suppressing passenger rights and covering up crimes, and it is the government’s job to ensure that Americans are adequately protected onboard ships – even in international waters or when docked abroad.

“You have to be able to report [a crime], and do it fairly easily,” said Rockefeller. “[Passengers] give up [their] liability, and [they] don’t know what [they’re] giving up. To me it is deceitful, easy to correct and unnecessary.”