Canadians impacted in cruise line data breach affecting six million
Canadians who love cruise vacations could be among the millions affected by a massive Carnival Cruise Line data breach.
On May 27, Carnival Corporation announced that it had been targeted in a cybersecurity incident and is working to inform guests whose personal information may have been accessed illegally.
“On April 14, 2026, the company’s IT security team identified unauthorized activity involving an employee’s account,” reads a notice on the company’s website. “An unauthorized actor used social engineering to deceive an employee to gain access to a limited portion of the company’s IT system.”
The company stated that it immediately blocked the unauthorized activity and began working with security experts to improve security and investigate the incident. The Independent reports that 5,995,277 individuals have been impacted by the data breach.
Daily Hive contacted the company to ask how many Canadians may have been impacted, but it did not disclose that information.
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“Our investigation found certain personal information was illegally accessed,” stated a Carnival Corporation spokesperson. “We’re notifying affected individuals and deeply regret any concern this causes.”
While the full scope of the breach is still being assessed, the company said that the information potentially accessed varies among affected individuals. The exposed data may include names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, and government-issued identification numbers, including driver’s licence and passport numbers.
Carnival Corporation said that it’s emailing guests who were affected and that it’s offering U.S. guests free credit monitoring.
The number of Canadians going on cruises has been steadily rising. According to Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), 1.18 million Canadians cruised in 2024, with that number increasing by 7.6 per cent to 1.27 million in 2025.
“Protecting the privacy and security of personal data is a priority for us, and we’ve added new layers of security and monitoring on top of the comprehensive protections already in place,” stated the Carnival Cruise spokesperson. “We’ll also continue advancing our defences against evolving threats.”