Cruise Passenger Protection Act of 2025

Summary

Creates new passenger-protection rules for large cruise ships that embark or disembark passengers in the United States, strengthens victim support and incident reporting, and reorganizes the U.S. Code chapter that governs cruise-vessel passenger matters. It requires the Secretary of Transportation to review which international cruise-line “bill of rights” provisions are legally enforceable, establish an advisory committee, set up 24/7 victim-assistance services and public incident data, update reporting and log-access rules for law enforcement, and limit the statutory subchapter to vessels with overnight accommodations for 250+ passengers.

• Requires the Secretary of Transportation to review which provisions of a 2013 cruise industry passenger bill of rights are legally enforceable and to publish enforcement procedures.
• Creates a permanent advisory committee on passenger-vessel consumer protection with specified membership, duties, and reporting obligations.
• Establishes a Director of Victim Support Services, a 24/7 toll-free victim hotline, mandatory written summaries of rights, and required victim-support services and referrals.
• Mandates public monthly incident-data reporting (aggregated by cruise line; disaggregated for victims, crew, minors, overboard) and requires vessel owners to link to the data site.
• Reorganizes and narrows the cruise-passenger statutory subchapter to apply only to vessels with overnight accommodations for 250+ passengers that embark/disembark in the U.S.
• Expands which shipboard logs must be made available to FBI and investigators, clarifies jurisdictional language, and tightens time and method requirements for employer notification to law enforcement.
• Directs the Secretary to study placing onboard victim-support personnel and report feasibility findings to Congress within one year.
• Requires interagency consultation (DOJ, CDC, etc.) and directs the Secretary to issue implementing regulations for many duties.