I wanted to mention this on my holiday blog but forgot and just got reminded of it when I saw this comic.

Quite a few of the Americans on the ship would use "Excuse me!" to apologise instead of "I'm sorry", which I found very strange. I use "excuse me" to either get someone's attention or if I want to get past etc. not for apologising. Despite having been to America and with Americans, thas was the first time I encountered this.
To be honest, if someone stepped on my foot and said "Excuse me", I would say "No, I won't. You better watch it." If they said "I'm sorry", I'd say "Don't worry about it."

Is this usage of "excuse me" common or maybe a regional habit?