The Dark Wake of Princess Cruises
Pollution. Pandemics. Predators. Why the “Love Boat” brand is anything but romantic.
They sell it as paradise at sea.
White linen tablecloths. Towering cakes carved into swans. A smiling captain who looks like he’s never known stress.
But behind the champagne flutes and cheesy musicals, luxury cruises have spent decades navigating something murkier than the open ocean: corruption, negligence, and crimes that would make a cartel blush.
Welcome aboard Princess Cruises—where the smiles are polished, but the scandals run deep.
Photography: Royal Princess at Sea Princess Cruises
The “Magic Pipe” That Cost $40 Million
It started like something out of a detective novel. A crew-built “magic pipe” used to bypass pollution control systems on the Caribbean Princess. The goal? Dump oil-laced wastewater into the ocean. Covert. Continuous. Criminal.
A whistleblower engineer finally had enough and reported the trickery in 2013. What followed was a damning investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, exposing over a decade of illegal dumping, faked logbooks, and corporate coverups across five ships in the Princess fleet.
In 2016, the company pled guilty to seven felony charges and was slapped with a then-record $40 million fine—the largest environmental criminal penalty ever handed to a cruise line.
📄 Read the full DOJ report here
But instead of course-correcting, Princess doubled down.
Under Supervision—Still Breaking the Law
After the 2016 conviction, the company was placed under a court-ordered Environmental Compliance Program. Independent monitors. Random audits. Public scrutiny.
It didn’t matter.
In 2019, Princess and its parent company Carnival Corporation admitted to violating probation. A federal judge in Miami was so alarmed, he threatened to suspend their entire U.S. operation. The new fine? $20 million, and further monitoring.
Then in 2022, yet another violation. More dumped waste. More lies. This time, a $1 million fine, and a mandate to set up an internal investigation office.
Environmental watchdog Friends of the Earth gave Princess an “F” on its Cruise Ship Report Card, citing criminal violations and disregard for public health.
The takeaway? For Princess, environmental law is more of a suggestion than a rule.
Photography credit : ABC News
COVID-19 Outbreak: The Ruby Princess Debacle
If you were in Australia in March 2020, you remember the name Ruby Princess.
While most of the world was locking down, Princess Cruises disembarked thousands of passengers in Sydney—many already infected. Authorities later confirmed 663 COVID-19 cases and 28 deaths, making it one of the deadliest outbreaks tied to a single ship globally.
The legal fallout was fierce.
A class action lawsuit followed. The Federal Court of Australia ruled in 2023 that Carnival Corporation breached its duty of care, misled passengers, and ignored critical health risks.
Lead plaintiff Susan Karpik sought $360,000. She was awarded $4,423. The court didn’t mince words—but justice didn’t exactly come with champagne.
📄 Federal Court ruling summary
Princess had offered a $15 million settlement in 2022. Passengers demanded $69 million. The offer was rejected. The case proceeded. The result? A messy legal loss with unclear consequences for the broader class.
Instagram Likes & 95 Kilos of Cocaine
Fast-forward to 2024. Two Canadian women—Isabelle Lagace and Melina Roberge—were globetrotting on the Sea Princess, documenting their travels in sun-drenched selfies from London to Sydney.
But authorities weren’t impressed with their filters.
Australian Customs, working with Canadian and U.S. agencies, found 95 kilograms of pure cocaine, worth over $30 million, stashed in their luggage. Alongside them? A 63-year-old man named André Tamine.
The “trip of a lifetime” turned into international drug trafficking charges and the threat of life in prison.
Princess claimed no knowledge of the operation. But questions remain: How does that much cocaine make it onto a ship? How many others weren’t caught?
Assault at Sea: A Nightmare for One Passenger
In November 2024, a woman from Arizona boarded the Caribbean Princess. By the end of the trip, she had filed a federal lawsuit against the company, alleging sexual assault by a crew member.
According to the complaint (Case No. 1:25-cv-20562), a DJ at the onboard Skywalker Lounge offered to escort her back to her room—then raped her inside it.
The lawsuit alleges Princess failed to screen staff, didn’t provide adequate security, and neglected to act on the incident afterward. It paints a harrowing picture of vulnerability and silence at sea.
This wasn’t an isolated concern. The U.S. Department of Transportation has recorded numerous cases of sexual assault aboard cruise ships, with Princess among the repeat offenders.
A Pattern, Not an Accident
One or two scandals could be bad luck.
But Princess Cruises has:
Dumped toxic waste overboard (for over a decade)
Ignored environmental probation—three times
Mishandled a deadly pandemic outbreak
Enabled a $30M drug trafficking ring
And now faces a rape lawsuit involving its own staff
Each incident is distinct. Together, they form a pattern—of negligence, systemic failure, and corporate culture that puts image above integrity.
When Fiction Mirrors Reality
If any of this sounds like the plot of a thriller... it kind of is.
In Mortice: Double Tap, Mort finds himself aboard a luxury cruise ship but he’s not sipping martinis in the sunset.
AJ Wilton didn’t write Double Tap as a retelling of Princess Cruises’ darkest moments—but truth has a nasty habit of sneaking into fiction.
Lines blur. Corruption hides behind five-star service. And somewhere between the buffet and the lifeboats, danger quietly boards.
Read the First Chapter of Mortice: Double Tap — Free
If this peaked your interest, Mortice: Double Tap will have your heart racing.
📘 Click here to read the first chapter now
Because someone has to ask the questions.
And someone like Mort? He gets answers.