Royal Caribbean class action says cruise line is responsible for hidden camera in passenger rooms

Royal Caribbean hidden camera class action overview:

• Who: An anonymous woman filed a class action lawsuit against Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
• Why: The plaintiff alleges a former Royal Caribbean employee secretly placed a hidden camera in the rooms of cruise passengers and counters the company’s assertion that her claims should go to arbitration.
• Where: The Royal Caribbean hidden camera class action lawsuit was filed in Florida federal court.

A woman who filed a class action lawsuit against Royal Caribbean, alleging the cruise line is responsible for a former employee secretly placing hidden cameras in passengers’ rooms, says the company must face the charges in court.

Plaintiff Jane Doe filed the class action lawsuit against Royal Caribbean on Oct. 20 in Florida federal court, alleging negligence, invasion of privacy, video voyeurism and infliction of emotional distress. 

The former Royal Caribbean employee, Arvin Joseph Mirasol, was sentenced to 30 years in prison last August after pleading guilty to producing child pornography. 

Mirasol admitted to breaking into and trespassing in passengers’ cabins, hiding under their beds while they were in the room and videotaping women and even minor children while they were undressing and taking showers, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.

Royal Caribbean has asked the court to send all claims asserted by the U.S.-based plaintiffs to arbitration. However, the plaintiff in the case is fighting the cruise line on this point, arguing in an April 17 court filing that it’s “absurd” to say that passengers agreed to waive their right to litigate such claims.

Royal Caribbean passengers should be able to litigate claims, plaintiff argues

Doe argues that the presence of an arbitration clause in the contract passengers signed when booking their cruise does not mean they agreed to waive their right to litigate their claims.

She says a “simple reading” of both the Ending Forced Arbitration Act and a federal maritime statute prohibiting forced arbitration for intentional torts obligates the court to deny Royal Caribbean’s request.

Doe filed the Royal Caribbean hidden camera class action lawsuit on behalf of a proposed class of passengers who were aboard Symphony of the Seas between Dec. 2, 2023, and Feb. 26, 2024, and who stayed in cabins aboard the vessel that were serviced by Mirasol.

The Royal Caribbean hidden camera class action lawsuit is one of dozens of cases filed against the cruise line over the incidents, which occurred for three months in late 2023 and early 2024. In November, Royal Caribbean was hit with a separate class action lawsuit by a woman who alleged she was secretly recorded in a bathroom by a cruise crew member.

What do you think of the allegations in this Royal Caribbean hidden camera class action lawsuit? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Adam M. Moskowitz, Joseph M. Kaye and Leo A. Wiesinger of The Moskowitz Law Firm PLLC and Jason R. Margulies, Michael A. Winkleman, Jacqueline Garcell and Marc E. Weiner of Lipcon Margulies & Winkleman P.A.

The Royal Caribbean hidden camera class action lawsuit is Doe v. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., et al., Case No. 1:24-cv-23953-DPG, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami Division.

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