Peeved Cruise Passengers Sue Over Hidden Cameras

A dozen Royal Caribbean passengers are suing the cruise line after a staffer was found guilty of installing hidden cameras in their rooms. CBS News reports that the law firm representing the 12 plaintiffs filed the complaint last week in Miami. "The fact that many of the victims we represent still do not know if and how their images have been used or circulated is incredibly disturbing," attorney Spencer Aronfeld said in a release. "Some of the plaintiffs are children—and once an image is on the internet it is there forever."

At the heart of the case is Arvin Joseph Mirasol, a former cabin attendant for RC's Symphony of the Seas who TMZ says was first detained by authorities in February after a young female passenger stumbled upon a camera squirreled away under her bathroom sink on a cruise out of Florida. Mirasol, a Philippines national, was arrested in the next port and his devices were confiscated. Investigators say they found footage of people showering and getting dressed on those devices—including children as young as 2.

Mirasol is accused of planting the hidden cameras on at least 12 cruises between December 2023 and this past February. He's said to have told investigators that he'd also sneak into rooms while passengers were showering, hide under their beds, and record them. The complaint notes he then posted some of that content online, including on the dark web, per USA Today. The plaintiffs, who are seeking a jury trial and punitive damages, allege that nearly 1,000 passengers may have been victims of Mirasol.

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He pleaded guilty in August to producing child sexual abuse material and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He and the cruise line also face another class-action suit filed in October by a mom and her two daughters. The more recent complaint notes that 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." The cruise line, for its part, has stayed mum of late, but after Mirasol's arrest, it said in a statement that "we have zero tolerance for this unacceptable behavior." (More Royal Caribbean stories.)