Southwest
Cruise ship passengers from across US sue after worker sentenced for placing hidden cameras in guest rooms
Nineteen passengers, including four minors, who cruised on board Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Sea are suing the cruise line and a former company employee, who placed hidden cameras in their guest rooms.
Arvin Joseph Mirasol, a citizen of the Philippines and former Royal Caribbean crew member named in the lawsuit filed on Tuesday, was sentenced in August in Florida to 30 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to producing child pornography.
The passengers, who were not named in the lawsuit and rather referred to by abbreviations, are mostly American citizens from all across the country, including New York, Georgia, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas, while several passengers are from Canada.
The latest suit, obtained by Fox News Digital, comes months after a separate class-action lawsuit was filed against Mirasol and the Miami-based cruise line in October, alleging that as many as 960 people may have been victims of a hidden camera in a bathroom on board.
“This is an extraordinarily unusual case in that the pool of victims can be nearly 1,000 or more men, women and children,” Spencer Aronfeld with Aronfeld Trial Lawyers, who represent the 19 cruise ship passengers, told Fox News Digital.
ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISE LINE SUED OVER HIDDEN CAMERA THAT MAY HAVE FILMED HUNDREDS OF PASSENGERS: LAWSUIT
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in the Southern District of Florida, names Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and crew member Arvin Joseph Mirasol as defendants. Pictured is the Symphony of the Seas, the ship on which Marisol recorded passengers without their knowledge. (Photo by Daniel SLIM / AFP)
The new lawsuit alleges that during his time working as a stateroom attendant on the cruise line from December 2023 through February 2024, Mirasol “taped a video camera containing a memory card in the Plaintiffs’ passenger cabin bathrooms and captured images of the Plaintiffs while undressed and engaging in private activities,” without their knowledge or consent, adding that he then uploaded these images “to third parties and/or to the world wide web, including, but not limited to, the dark web.”
“For those who had their images recorded, uploaded on the internet and potentially sold on the dark web – this has created deep emotional pain, sleepless nights and tearful days,” Aronfeld told Fox News Digital.
Lawyers for the alleged victims also argue in the suit that Royal Caribbean “should have known sexual assaults were reasonably foreseeable considering the prevalence of sexual assaults aboard [Royal Caribbean’s] cruise ships.”
There were a total of 26 sexual assaults and rapes reported during Royal Caribbean cruises in 2023, and 22 sexual assaults reported during Royal Caribbean cruises in 2022, according to the Secretary of Transportation, the documents continue.
Overall data shows that sexual assault allegations on cruise ships rose in 2023, with 131 sex crimes reported to the FBI on ships embarking and disembarking in the United States in 2023, up from 87 in 2022, lawyers wrote.
MAN ON VACATION WITH FAMILY GOES OVERBOARD ON NORWEGIAN CRUISE SHIP IN BAHAMAS
Arvin Joseph Mirasol was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison on Aug. 28, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida. (Broward County Jail)
In addition to the crimes committed on Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas, a hidden camera was installed in a public bathroom on the top deck of another Royal Caribbean cruise ship – Harmony of the Seas – during a cruise which left Miami on April 29, 2023, according to the lawsuit.
The camera allegedly recorded more than 150 people, including at least 40 children, using the Royal Caribbean bathroom “in various stages of undress” until the hidden camera was discovered by a passenger on May 1, 2023, lawyers wrote.
Royal Caribbean “failed to take adequate steps and/or provide adequate security and/or training and/or supervision to prevent such sexual assaults, including video voyeurism, to occur aboard its cruise ships,” the lawsuit states, adding that the cruise line also “failed to warn its passengers of sexual assaults, including video voyeurism, occurring aboard its cruise ships.”
Lawyers argue that the motive behind this was “financial in nature,” explaining that Royal Caribbean “willfully chooses not to warn its passengers about sexual assaults, including video voyeurism, aboard its cruise ships so as not to scare any prospective passengers away.”
ROYAL CARIBBEAN PASSENGER DIES SOON AFTER BEING DETAINED FOR CHAOTIC INCIDENT CAUGHT ON VIDEO
A partial view of the U.S. company Royal Caribbean Cruise Limited tourism cruise liner Symphony of the Seas. (LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images)
As a result of Mirasol’s crimes, his alleged victims “suffer from severe emotional distress, which manifests physically, causing [them] physical sickness, sweating, nausea, insomnia, dizziness, crying, and physical pain,” their attorneys wrote, adding that the former cruise travelers “live in constant fear, reasonably under the circumstances, that images of the Plaintiffs undressed while engaging in private activities are regularly viewed by others and used for illicit purposes.”
Aronfeld Trial Lawyers, on behalf of the alleged victims, are demanding trial by jury.
“Our mission is to fully investigate this case on behalf of our clients and hold RCL accountable for failing to properly vet, hire, supervise and retain Mr. Mirasol,” Aronfeld told Fox News Digital. “We have confidence that the jury will have no problem returning a substantial verdict in favor of the victims.”
Royal Caribbean International did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Christina Coulter contributed to this report.
Read the full article from Here
The star-studded feel-good giveback event of the summer has returned. KTLA 5 is teaming up once again with Project Angel Food for the annual “Lead with Love: Going the Distance” telethon to raise critical funds for medically tailored meals delivered to people living with serious illnesses throughout Los Angeles County. The seventh annual telethon airs […]
A woman was hospitalized with serious injuries after she was violently attacked by a robber in downtown Long Beach. On June 18, Jennifer Silva, 34, was attending a World Cup watch party at a Hooters restaurant at 90 Aquarium Way. After the game ended, she left the restaurant just before 11 p.m. As she walked […]
Jurors deliberating the fate of the man accused of starting the Palisades Fire, one of the most destructive wildfires in California’s history, failed to reach a verdict Thursday afternoon, telling the judge they were deadlocked.
A spokesperson from the United States Attorney’s Office told KTLA that jurors will continue to deliberate until they reach a verdict or give up.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30, a former Uber driver and one-time Pacific Palisades resident, is accused of starting the Lachman Fire on New Year’s Eve. The fire continued to smolder underground for about a week, even after Los Angeles firefighters believed it had been extinguished.
Flames reignited on Jan. 7, erupting into the deadly Palisades Fire that killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes in the upscale community, authorities said.
-
A courtroom sketch of Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, during his initial court appearance on Oct. 23, 2025. (Bill Robles) -
The U.S. Dept. of Justice booking photo of Jonathan Rinderknecht over the Palisades Fire devastation in Malibu, California in January 2025 (AP).
Prosecutors argued that Rinderknecht deliberately set the fire, claiming he had grown increasingly resentful of wealthy residents and viewed Pacific Palisades as a symbol of that frustration.
“Their case, though circumstantial, is strong,” KTLA legal analyst Alison Triessl said. “The defense is relying on, can they (prosecutors) show beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Rinderknecht actually started this fire and it wasn’t the result of fireworks or some intervening cause.”
The defense argued there is no direct physical evidence tying Rinderknecht to the fire and said the prosecution’s case relies entirely on circumstantial evidence. Rinderknecht did not testify during the trial.
Defense attorney Steve Haney spoke outside the courthouse Wednesday about why he believes it will be difficult for prosecutors to prove how the fire started.
“The lack of scene preservation. The fact that they got there after a lot of the evidence was missing. Not a lot of direct evidence. This is a circumstantial case, which is always difficult as a prosecutor to prove,” Haney said.
Rinderknecht, who was arrested and indicted last October, faces up to 45 years in prison if found guilty of three arson counts, including destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and timber set afire.
Tony Kurzweil contributed to this report
-
Colorado5 minutes agoSee the list of this year’s Fourth of July professional fireworks shows in the Denver area
-
Connecticut12 minutes ago
Newly released video shows Connecticut prison officers striking inmate before he died
-
Delaware15 minutes agoAnnual Delaware River Sojourn honors the nation’s 250th anniversary
-
Florida20 minutes agoFlorida Lottery Mega Millions, Jackpot Triple Play results for June 26, 2026
-
Georgia27 minutes ago
Georgia Lottery Mega Millions, Cash 3 results for June 26, 2026
-
Hawaii30 minutes agoPolice recover 19 gaming machines, $7K in Kakaako gambling bust
-
Idaho35 minutes agoThe reactor race has begun
-
Illinois42 minutes agoNew Illinois bill aims to overhaul public defense system | The Chicago Report
