“To improve passenger vessel security and safety, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section designates the Act as the “Cruise Passenger Protection Act of 2025” and specifies that, unless otherwise provided, amendments and repeals in the Act refer to provisions of title 46, United States Code.
This section establishes within the Department of Transportation's Office of the General Counsel the Office of Maritime Consumer Protection, headed by an Assistant General Counsel, to serve as the primary entity for consumer protection issues relating to covered passenger vessels (i.e., passenger vessels and small passenger vessels, excluding federal or state vessels) and to implement specified duties under the Cruise Passenger Protection Act of 2025. The Office must (1) carry out this new chapter, (2) provide industry compliance assistance, (3) process consumer complaints, (4) inspect vessels for owner awareness of requirements, (5) investigate potential violations, and (6) pursue enforcement. This section further directs the Secretary, acting through the Assistant General Counsel, to develop standards within 180 days after recommendations from an advisory committee under the Cruise Passenger Protection Act of 2025 for a conspicuous summary of key terms (e.g., undisclosed costs and fees, indemnification, waivers, limitations on liability, notice requirements, time limitations, arbitration, forum, and jurisdiction) in passage contracts; requires such summaries to be provided to prospective U.S. citizen passengers before the terms become binding, with links on booking websites and inclusion in specified promotional materials beginning 180 days after standards development; mandates clear identification in passage contracts of a statute of limitations for lawsuits of not less than 3 years; and requires periodic review and updates to the standards.
This section directs the Secretary of Transportation, acting through the Assistant General Counsel for the Office of Maritime Consumer Protection, to determine within 180 days of enactment whether any rights in the 2013 Cruise Lines International Association passenger bill of rights are enforceable under federal law and to include in standards under 46 U.S.C. §16104(a) a statement informing prospective passengers of such enforceable rights and available enforcement methods (e.g., private cause of action or administrative action). This section establishes an advisory committee for covered passenger vessel consumer protection—defined as passenger vessels or small passenger vessels subject to 46 U.S.C. chapter 161 (i.e., vessels carrying at least 12 passengers for compensation)—to advise on customer service improvements. The committee, with one representative each from passenger vessel owners, small passenger vessel owners, international industry associations, state or local consumer protection experts, consumer protection nonprofits, victim assistance nonprofits, and relevant federal agencies, must (1) evaluate existing programs and recommend improvements or new ones; (2) within one year of establishment, recommend key passage contract terms to highlight prior to becoming binding (e.g., undisclosed onboard fees, vessel flag country, foreign law applicability, medical service liability limits, lost property reimbursement caps, and claim filing locations); and (3) review and update recommendations annually for five years and periodically thereafter. The Secretary must report committee recommendations to Congress within 30 days, including industry implementation status; the committee terminates 15 years after enactment.
This section establishes a Director of Victim Support Services within the Department of Transportation's Office to serve as the primary federal point of contact for applicable passengers (i.e., alleged victims of certain crimes on board passenger vessels, as defined in 46 U.S.C. §3523(g)(3)(A)(i)), providing them a written summary of rights, a 24/7 toll-free telephone number, and immediate, free, confidential support services such as reporting assistance, mental health counseling, criminal justice advocacy, and investigation status updates. (1) The Secretary must designate an interim director within 30 days of enactment and appoint a final director within 180 days, in consultation with the Department of Justice and other agencies; (2) the director must coordinate with nonprofits, develop processes for support services and care continuum, issue guidance for vessel security guides, and act as liaison with vessel owners, agencies, and embassies; and (3) within 180 days of enactment, the Secretary must develop and distribute a summary of victims' rights (e.g., contacting the FBI, the director, or advocates confidentially), in consultation with the Department of Justice and victim assistance groups. The director may extend services to guardians or relatives of deceased or minor victims and, as appropriate, utilize passenger vessel resources.
This section makes clerical amendments to tables of contents in Title 46, U.S. Code, by (1) adding a new Part L—Office of Maritime Consumer Protection (chapter 161) to the table of chapters for subtitle II; and (2) adding sec. 16106—Assistance to victims of crimes on board certain passenger vessels—to the table of sections for chapter 161.
This section reorganizes chapter 35 of title 46, U.S. Code, into subchapters I (General provisions) and II (Cruise vessels) by inserting headings and redesignating §§3507–3510 as §§3523–3526; establishes applicability of subchapter II to passenger vessels authorized to carry 250 or more passengers, with overnight accommodations for 250 or more passengers, on voyages that embark or disembark passengers in the United States (excluding federal and state vessels); and defines terms in new §3522, including _exterior deck_ (i.e., any exterior weather deck accessible to passengers), _owner_ (i.e., owner, charterer, managing operator, master, or individual in charge), _applicable passenger_ (i.e., U.S. citizen passenger), _physician_ (i.e., doctor of medicine or osteopathic medicine with at least three years of relevant experience or specified board certification), and _qualified medical staff member_ (i.e., medical professional certified in advanced cardiovascular life support and advanced trauma life support).
This section revises crime reporting requirements for passenger vessels (i.e., cruise ships) under 46 U.S.C. §3523(g), including (1) requiring owners to make available to investigators all log books, security logs, engine room logs, and related entries regardless of maintenance location (previously limited to a centralized location readily accessible to law enforcement); (2) requiring FBI notification not later than 4 hours after a vessel employee is notified of alleged incidents involving specified crimes within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the U.S. (previously after incident occurrence and without specified deadline or jurisdiction details); (3) expanding reportable crimes to include any others submitted to the FBI via the Uniform Crime Reporting Program; (4) requiring FBI contact before vessel departure for incidents en route to or at a U.S. port; and (5) requiring contact with the U.S. consulate at the next port of call, within 4 hours of arrival, for incidents allegedly involving a U.S. national. It further requires owners to provide such records and information to the State fusion center (i.e., DHS-partnered entity under the Homeland Security Act of 2002 for integrating state, local, and regional intelligence on homeland security, terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction with federal efforts) for the embarkation port or nearest disembarkation port when the incident occurs. (Thus, these requirements supplement vessel incident reporting under 46 U.S.C. §10104 and other laws.) The section also updates references to the Secretary of Transportation's website for incident reports, requires a prominently accessible link to the vessel security guide on owner booking websites, and strikes previous subsections (k) and (l).
This section modifies cruise vessel video surveillance and crime response requirements under Section 3523 (as redesignated) as follows: (1) requires camera placement to incorporate feedback from an independent third-party risk assessment (removing prior "to the maximum extent practicable" qualifier); (2) eliminates restrictions on video access based on law enforcement or court order and on sexual assault incidents; (3) updates notice requirements to reference the subchapter; (4) extends general video retention to 1 year after voyage completion (from 20 days after footage obtained) and sexual assault footage retention to 5 years (from 4 years); and (5) directs the Coast Guard Commandant, in consultation with the FBI, to issue interim video retention standards within 180 days of enactment and final standards within 1 year, considering crime investigations, vessel types, privacy, and technology. It further revises man-overboard detection technology requirements to mandate certification by an independent third party accepted by a classification society; expands the criminal activity prevention and response guide to include victim support services, rights summaries, hotlines, and other Secretary-recommended information, requires its provision to alleged crime victims, and mandates submission to the Secretary of Transportation and FBI; and adjusts sexual assault supply requirements to account for voyage length and vessel capacity.
This section revises passenger vessel design, equipment, construction, and retrofitting requirements by (1) extending applicability to vessels under the subchapter; (2) requiring each exterior deck to meet minimum railing height standards unless they interfere with lifesaving or emergency equipment; (3) specifying that stateroom and crew cabin entry doors must provide an unobstructed view via peephole or equivalent (with interior privacy covers permitted); (4) eliminating the high-risk area limitation for certain security measures; and (5) authorizing the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive these requirements with a recorded justification. This section further revises medical standards for passenger vessels by requiring (1) sufficient qualified medical staff based on passenger capacity (as regulated by the Secretary in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services); (2) crew training on automated external defibrillators and medical emergency reporting; (3) granting U.S. citizen next-of-kin's request to return a deceased passenger's body on the vessel (absent foreign jurisdictional requirements or extended voyage delays of 21+ days, with vessel owner covering costs); (4) basic life support and CPR certification for all crew; and (5) basic English listening and speaking proficiency for passenger-facing crew on vessels from or to U.S. ports (via specified tests). The medical standards amendments take effect 180 days after enactment.
This section enhances enforcement of passenger vessel security and safety requirements (i.e., standards for cruise ships carrying 250 or more overnight passengers) by (1) striking the exception in 46 U.S.C. §3523(h)(1)(A) that limited civil penalties to $50,000 in certain cases; (2) requiring the Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Homeland Security, and Attorney General to share information necessary to implement the requirements without waiving applicable privileges; and (3) authorizing the Secretary of Homeland Security to withhold or revoke required vessel clearance, or deny U.S. entry, for any vessel owned by a person who violates the requirements or 46 U.S.C. ch. 161 or fails to pay related penalties.
This section makes technical and conforming amendments to chapter 35 of title 46, United States Code (i.e., cruise vessel security and safety provisions), as follows: (1) in §§3523–3526, replaces phrases such as “to which this section applies” or “to which section 3507 applies” with “to which this subchapter applies” and strikes certain paragraphs, subsections, and headings in §3526; (2) strikes paragraph (4) of §3523(g); (3) updates cross-references in §§3106(e) and 8440(c)(2) of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 from “3507” or “3507(f)” to “3523” or “3523(f)”; and (4) revises the table of contents to add subchapter I (general provisions, §§3501–3506) and subchapter II (cruise vessels, §§3521–3528).