The Cruise Passenger Protection Act of 2025 establishes comprehensive consumer rights, creates a dedicated federal consumer protection office, bans forced arbitration, and mandates enhanced safety and rapid crime reporting standards for large cruise vessels.
Doris Matsui
Representative
CA-7
The Cruise Passenger Protection Act of 2025 establishes comprehensive consumer protections by creating a new federal office to handle complaints, banning mandatory pre-dispute arbitration, and mandating clear contract summaries for passengers. The bill also significantly enhances safety and security by tightening requirements for onboard crime reporting, increasing video surveillance retention, and mandating improved medical readiness standards for cruise vessels. This legislation aims to increase accountability for cruise lines while providing clearer recourse and better support for travelers.
Cruise Ship Consumer Bill Tightens Rules: Bans Mandatory Arbitration and Requires 5-Year Crime Video Retention
If you’ve ever booked a cruise, you know that the ticket contract is usually written in microscopic print and is about as easy to understand as a tax form written in ancient Greek. The Cruise Passenger Protection Act of 2025 is looking to change that, essentially giving passengers a much better hand when dealing with major cruise lines.
The bill creates a new Office of Maritime Consumer Protection within the Department of Transportation (DOT) to act as a dedicated federal watchdog for cruise passengers. This office will field complaints, investigate violations, and enforce the new rules. Critically, it also mandates that cruise lines must provide a concise, easy-to-read summary of "key terms"—like hidden fees, liability limits, and the time limit for filing a lawsuit—before you are legally bound to the ticket contract (SEC. 101).
Your Ticket Contract Just Got a Legal Upgrade
For most people, the biggest headache with cruise contracts is the fine print that signs away your rights. This bill cuts through that noise with two massive changes. First, it bans mandatory pre-dispute arbitration (SEC. 101). That means cruise lines can no longer force you into private arbitration—which often favors the company—unless you agree to it after a problem occurs. Second, it invalidates any clause that stops you from joining a class action lawsuit (SEC. 101). If you’ve ever felt like your small complaint wasn’t worth suing over, this change ensures you can join with hundreds of others to hold companies accountable.
Furthermore, the bill sets a minimum three-year statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit against the vessel owner (SEC. 101). No more getting tripped up by contracts that try to force you to sue within a year or less. For anyone who has ever tried to navigate a dispute with a large corporation, these changes are a game-changer for legal fairness.
A Federal Lifeline for Victims
Moving beyond contracts, the bill establishes a comprehensive system for supporting victims of crimes that occur on board. It mandates the creation of a Director of Victim Support Services at the DOT (SEC. 103). This director will be your federal point person, coordinating mental health services, helping you track the status of investigations, and acting as a liaison between you, the ship owner, and federal agencies like the FBI.
To ensure transparency, the Secretary must set up a public website showing a statistical breakdown of all serious incidents reported, updated monthly and grouped by cruise line (SEC. 103). Every cruise line must put a clear link to this government data on their booking pages, so you can check a ship’s safety record before you buy a ticket. If you are an alleged victim, the ship must immediately give you a copy of a newly updated security guide and inform you of your right to notify the FBI.
Safety and Surveillance: Longer Memory, Tighter Rules
If a serious incident occurs, evidence is everything. This bill dramatically increases the requirements for video surveillance and retention (SEC. 203). The standard retention period for security footage is being bumped from 20 days to one year after the completion of the voyage. For records related to sexual assault incidents, that retention period extends to five years.
Additionally, the bill tightens security standards across the board. It requires that crew members who interact with passengers on U.S.-bound or U.S.-originating vessels must have a basic grasp of spoken and listening English, proven by standardized tests (SEC. 204). All crew must also be certified in CPR and basic life support. For the ships themselves, technology used to detect passengers falling overboard must now be certified by an independent third party, and stateroom doors must have a way to see outside, like a peephole (SEC. 204).
What It Means for the Industry
These changes come with real costs and compliance burdens for cruise operators. The bill increases the penalties for safety and security violations, removing a previous $50,000 cap on certain fines (SEC. 205). The federal government is also getting serious about enforcement: the Secretary of Homeland Security can now deny clearance or entry to any vessel whose owner commits a violation or refuses to pay an assessed penalty (SEC. 205). For cruise lines, this means ignoring the new consumer protection and safety mandates is no longer an option; it could literally block their ships from docking in the U.S.