Tennessee Woman Sues Carnival Cruise Line After Catastrophic Drugging, Sexual Assault, and Propeller Accident During Shore Excursion in Nassau

Brooklyn Pitre, a resident of Tennessee, has filed a comprehensive maritime personal injury lawsuit against Carnival Corporation, Pearl Investment Management Group, Limited, and Sun Cay, Limited in the Southern District of Florida. The lawsuit, filed under Case No. 1:26-cv-23310-KMW, alleges that Pitre suffered severe and permanent physical, toxicological, and psychological injuries following a catastrophic shore excursion to Pearl Island and Sun Cay in Nassau, Bahamas, on May 12, 2025, after boarding the cruise ship Carnival Celebration in the Port of Miami.

Cruise Passenger Injured on Carnival Celebration Adventure Due to Severe Alcohol Overservice, Spiked Drinks, and Assault

According to the complaint, the harrowing incident occurred after Pitre and her companion booked the Pearl Island Beach Escape with Lunch excursion through Carnival’s proprietary network. Upon arriving at the shoreside destination, local excursion bartenders and supervisors allegedly plied Pitre and her companion with unsafe volumes of complimentary alcohol, including repeated liquor pours administered upside down directly into their mouths from plastic bottles. The complaint outlines that these drinks were surreptitiously spiked with a drug-facilitated sexual assault sedating substance, a toxicological condition later verified via medical testing. While Pitre was rendered completely incapacitated by the combination of forced alcohol overservice, marijuana distribution, and chemical sedatives, an excursion supervisor allegedly isolated her inside a private oceanfront cabana and committed an act of non-consensual sexual battery by pressing his hands and groin against her buttocks.

Carnival Accused of Failing to Properly Vet, Monitor, and Regulate Unsafe Shore Excursion Operators Across Fleet

The lawsuit alleges that Carnival Corporation had extensive actual and constructive knowledge regarding the unfit, lawless, and hazardous operational practices maintained by its chosen shore excursion entities. Pitre’s legal team notes that previous complaints regarding extreme overservice of alcohol, drug distribution, and inappropriate physical boundary violations against female cruise guests had been communicated directly to Carnival or posted publicly on major travel forums for years prior to this incident. Despite clear travel advisories from the United States Department of State detailing heightened risks of sexual assault and unregulated watercraft operations in Nassau, Carnival actively promoted the excursion as a safe, hand-selected, and fully vetted adventure. The complaint asserts that Carnival routinely censors negative safety reviews on its web platforms to maintain a false appearance of fleetwide safety, thereby trapping unsuspecting passengers into booking highly profitable but inherently dangerous shoreside excursions.

Complaint Alleges Catastrophic Catamaran Ferry Operation and Lack of Mooring Safety Protocols Near Cruise Pier

In addition to the physical and chemical violations suffered on the island, the complaint targets the structurally unsafe and reckless operations of the catamaran ferry used to transport passengers back to the cruise terminal. Upon arriving near the pier, the ferry captain failed to properly tie off or secure the vessel with aft mooring lines, choosing instead to keep the inboard engines engaged and the propellers actively turning in reverse to hold the ship against the dock. Because the island and shipboard crew failed to provide any restroom facilities or safety warnings, Pitre’s companion was directed by crew members to enter the water via the aft diver platform to relieve herself. The companion was immediately sucked into the active starboard propeller wash, resulting in a near-traumatic amputation of her leg. Pitre, finding herself inside the identical zone of danger and immediate path of the turning blades, single-handedly grabbed her friend’s hand to prevent her from being entirely pulled under the hull, covering Pitre in blood and inflicting permanent psychological trauma.

Plaintiff Seeks Punitive Damages for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Toxic Injuries, and Lost Academic Capacity

Pitre brings multiple maritime tort counts against the cruise line and excursion companies, including negligent selection, negligent retention, negligent failure to warn, general negligence, battery, vicarious liability, and negligent infliction of emotional distress under the maritime zone of danger framework. The lawsuit states that as a direct result of the compound trauma of being drugged, sexually assaulted, and forced to perform a life-or-death rescue in a propeller wash, the previously healthy college graduate suffered severe physical impact, toxicological damage, and profound psychological injury manifesting as debilitating post-traumatic stress disorder. Her psychological impairments ultimately forced her to withdraw from her graduate studies at Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University. Pitre seeks full compensatory damages for ongoing psychiatric care, past and future medical bills, lost earning capacity, the lost value of her cruise vacation, and a substantial award of punitive damages to penalize the defendants for their reckless disregard of passenger safety.

Contact a Cruise Ship Shore Excursion Injury Lawyer Today if You Were Harmed on an Unsafe Vacation Tour

Cruise passengers injured or victimized during shoreside excursions due to spiked drinks, physical assaults, or negligent vessel navigation are protected under federal maritime law. Cruise operators have a non-delegable legal obligation to ensure that the third-party providers they endorse, market, and profit from meet basic standards of human safety and commercial competence. If you or someone you love suffered a catastrophic physical injury or psychological trauma due to cruise line negligence or operator misconduct during a vacation tour, contact our team of experienced maritime injury lawyers today. We are committed to helping survivors advocate for their rights, hold multinational cruise lines accountable, and pursue the maximum compensation available under the law.

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Disclaimer: Our firm does not represent the plaintiff in this case and is not involved in the litigation. The information provided is a summary of allegations based on publicly available court filings. We make no representations about the truth of these allegations, are not commenting on the merits of the case, and are not predicting any outcome.