Crimes and Medical Care on Board Cruise Ships: Do the Statistics Fit the Crimes?

In 2009, your authors published an article entitled An Examination of the Evolution of Crimes at Sea and the Emergence of the Many Legal Regimes in Their Wake.1 The article discussed various international problems that can occur on cruise ships at sea.2 The cruise ship industry was, and still is, largely self-regulated—which in turn leads to serious problems arising from the neglect of passenger concerns.3 At that time, we disclosed that there were many international regulations addressing some areas, but not all.4 The present day poses different problems than in the past. The intention of this article is to explore crimes that affect passengers on cruise ships from outside the ship; crimes committed on board the ship; the lack of universal medical standards; worrisome medical malpractice concerns; as well as, to offer suggestions for the benefit of both the passengers and the cruise lines. As this article will show, the cruise ship industry has not been forthcoming when making all available statistics public.5 Specifically, there has been a lack of reporting from the industry of certain criminal activity and illness outbreaks on board the ships. By failing to make this information available to the public, consumers cannot make informed decisions about whether or not to set sail on a particular cruise line.