Margaritaville at Sea passenger files lawsuit alleging rape at Bahamas hotel

A Margaritaville at Sea passenger is suing cruise line parent company Classica Cruise Operator, alleging she was sexually harassed by an employee at the hotel the company booked, according to a lawsuit filed last week.

The hotel has a history of sexual harassment allegations and the cruise line has a duty to warn and protect its passengers about the hotel’s “dangerous conditions,” according to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

“We want to make people aware,” the passenger’s attorney Alex Perez of the maritime and admiralty law firm Lipcon, Margulies & Winkleman, PA, told USA TODAY. “This kind of thing happens in foreign ports. I know you’re on vacation, but you have to be careful. This can help people make informed decisions.”

The passenger, referred to in the case as “Jane Doe,” is a Missouri resident who took a two-day cruise from West Palm Beach to the Bahamas and back in August 2023.

According to the complaint, Classica had arranged accommodation for the passenger at the Viva Fortuna Beach by Wyndham in Freeport, Bahamas, because there were no cabins available for her on the ship.

Resources and Laws: What you should know if you are sexually harassed on a cruise

The complaint states that the passenger left her room at night to get water when an employee forcibly forced her into the control room of the resort’s theater, locked the door and raped her.

This is not the first rape allegation at Viva Fortuna Beach by Wyndham. In 2016, a TripAdvisor user who was getting married at the resort wrote in a review that she was raped by staff when a security guard opened her door while her husband was away. The general manager had responded to the review by saying that the resort takes “allegations of violence very seriously.” The investigation reached a dead end when no evidence was found.

According to the complaint, it is common practice for resort staff to offer alcohol to guests “with the goal of sexually abusing and/or raping them when they are vulnerable.”

“Prior to the incident occurring, (Classica and Wyndham) knew or should have known that the resort was not reasonably safe and/or that resort employees were prone to sexual misconduct,” the lawsuit states. However, Classica failed to warn the passenger or provide her with safety during her stay there.

Margaritaville at Sea and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts did not respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment.

Jane Doe is suing the resort for damages for the physical injuries and pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, “mental anguish,” “loss of enjoyment of life,” and medical expenses she incurred as a result of the assault, among other things.

The lawsuit will help “to ensure that this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” Perez said. “This is step number one. I’m not here to portray the cruise lines as villains. I have a sister, a mother, there are women in my life and I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”

This is the latest in a series of sexual harassment cases linked to Margaritaville at Sea cruises. Last year, two women aboard the Margaritaville at Sea Paradise cruise ship said they were raped by a bartender who sneaked into their room at night and impregnated one of them.

Kathleen Wong is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Hawaii. Reach her at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Second Margaritaville at Sea passenger sues cruise ship and hotel for rape