Cruise ship crime reaches 2-year high, casting ‘dark cloud’ for travelers: expert

Crime rates aboard cruise ships leaving the U S have reached a two-year high and one expert says this creates a dark cloud for travelers According to input from the Department of Transportation accusations of crimes were published onboard cruise ships from Jan to March Twenty-three incidents were stated rapes were sexual assaults and seven were assaults which all reportedly happened on cruise ships Robert McDonald a former Secret Facility special agent and criminal justice lecturer at the University of New Haven described Fox News Digital crime negatively affects the cruise industry McDonald has coordinated prevention for various dignitaries around the world POPULAR CRUISES SUSPEND ISLAND STOP OVER ESCALATING GANG VIOLENCE WHAT TO KNOW Sometimes the cruise lines don't want to review 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 McDonald revealed 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 assured spending their money McDonald commented cruises are more prone to crime because of the number of people packed in a tight area I think anytime we get large numbers of people together whether it's at a Super Bowl encounter or at a World Series tournament 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 explained Anytime we get together those numbers are going to go up whether that's at a resort whether it's on a cruise ship On March two illegal immigrants were arrested after allegedly molesting a minor while onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise that set sail from Miami Jose Prudencio Diaz and Ricardo Daniel Mondragon Leal were charged with child molestation and exhibition after an case on Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas ship CRUISE LINE BANS DOZENS AFTER MASSIVE BRAWL CAUGHT ON CAMERA BREAKS OUT AT TEXAS PORT 'DO NOT SAIL LIST'The victim was identified as a -year-old boy who recounted police he was in the ship's sauna when Diaz and Leal allegedly began masturbating in front of him According to records from the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office Diaz and Leal forced the victim to touch them Leal also allegedly forced the minor to perform a sex act Department of Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem explained in a post on X We WILL get these sickos out of our country One latest occurrence involved dozens of Carnival Cruise Line passengers who got into a brawl while disembarking from a ship April In a video posted to social media several cruise passengers push through crowds in the Port of Galveston cruise terminal During the fight which happened in the cruise port people can be seen punching and kicking others Carnival Cruise Line placed passengers on a do not sail list prohibiting them from getting aboard any of the company's ships A spokesperson for Carnival Cruise Line previously explained Fox News Digital it doesn't tolerate violence The matter was turned over to law enforcement the spokesperson stated We will not tolerate such behavior and people have been placed on our Do Not Sail list Fox News Digital reached out to Carnival and Royal Caribbean for comment Fox News Digital's Greg Wehner contributed to this summary