Sponsors (4)
Introduced April 17, 2025 by Donald J. Bacon · Last progress April 17, 2025
The bill clarifies liability and creates explicit nonpecuniary damages for cruise-related injuries—giving families more predictable compensation—while increasing potential costs for operators (and thus passengers) and leaving government-operated vessels outside its remedies.
Families of injured or deceased cruise passengers can recover defined nonpecuniary damages (loss of care, comfort, and companionship), making compensation amounts and categories more certain in lawsuits.
Passengers will have clearer legal definitions of what qualifies as a 'cruise ship,' reducing ambiguity in litigation and consumer-protection disputes and improving predictability of legal outcomes.
Small cruise operators and passengers may face higher costs because clearer liability standards and increased litigation exposure can raise operators' insurance and operating expenses, potentially increasing ticket prices.
Passengers and families involved in incidents on state or federal government-operated vessels are excluded from these defined remedies and may remain subject to different or more limited compensation routes.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Adds statutory definitions of "cruise ship" (≥250 passengers with sleeping berths, U.S. embark/disembark) and "nonpecuniary damages" (loss of care, comfort, companionship) and updates related text.
Revises the federal statute that addresses certain cruise-ship matters by adding clear definitions. It defines “cruise ship” as a passenger vessel authorized to carry at least 250 passengers with sleeping accommodations that embarks or disembarks passengers in the United States (excluding government-owned vessels and coastwise voyages). It also adds a definition of “nonpecuniary damages” as loss of care, comfort, and companionship and updates related statutory text and the table of sections.