13 Costa Smeralda Guests Face Prosecutors After Shipboard Brawl
Surveillance footage and crew accounts traced the confrontation to a comment near the nightclub before it moved into corridors and a nearby elevator bank.
Updated September 25, 2026
Costa Cruises has placed 13 passengers aged 18 to 20 on its Do Not Sail List following a violent fight aboard Costa Smeralda on March 5, 2026. The passengers were also referred to prosecutors in Palermo on suspicion of aggravated brawling after the incident during an overnight sailing between Naples and Palermo.
“We do not tolerate this kind of behavior and have placed the individuals involved on our Do Not Sail List,” a Costa Cruises spokesperson told People.
One passenger was taken to a hospital after being knocked unconscious and kicked in the head. Medical examinations found no serious injuries.
Fight spread through public areas
The passengers belonged to two groups, one from Salento and the other from Sicily. The Salento group had boarded Costa Smeralda in Civitavecchia, while the Sicilian group embarked in Palermo. It is not known whether members of the groups had met before the cruise.
Investigators traced the confrontation to a comment directed at a young woman near the ship’s nightclub. The initial verbal exchange escalated into physical violence, moving from the nightclub area into corridors and a nearby elevator bank.
Footage released by the Palermo Maritime Border Police showed a chair being thrown and furniture displaced during the fight. Several participants were also seen continuing to kick a passenger after he had lost consciousness.
Police identified 13 passengers
Ship personnel alerted the Palermo Maritime Border Police after the confrontation. When Costa Smeralda reached Palermo, officers reviewed the ship’s surveillance footage and gathered accounts from crew members to reconstruct the incident and identify those believed to have participated.
Police identified 13 passengers and referred them to the Palermo prosecutor’s office on suspicion of aggravated brawling. The passengers were not taken into custody, and no arrests have been reported. It remains unclear whether the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Palermo has formally charged any of them.
Costa imposes sailing ban
Costa Cruises’ passenger terms require that guests’ conduct not affect the “safety, comfort, wellbeing or enjoyment of other Passengers.” Section 10.2 authorizes the ship’s master to disembark guests, confine them to their staterooms or restrict their activities in response to unruly behavior. In this case, the cruise line imposed a longer-term consequence by adding the 13 passengers to its Do Not Sail List.
Separate cruise-related fights in June 2026 also led to penalties. Six guests arrested after a brawl in Nassau that continued at a police station received combined fines exceeding $52,000. In another case, Carnival Cruise Line banned 16 guests following a fight at PortMiami after a three-night Carnival Conquest sailing.
