Cruise Ship Lawyers Blog

Published on: November 18, 2024

Over 100 people sue after cruise ship illness. Now, the cruise line is being accused of downplaying the numbers.

More than 100 passengers who traveled on P&O’s Ventura, a ship owned by Carnival Cruise Line, have filed suit after they say they got sick on board.

Attorneys for the passengers claim there were “repeated outbreaks” of illness on the ship between April and June. About 519 passengers reported for weeks about their symptoms of norovirus, a stomach bug that causes inflammation in the stomach and intestines and is highly contagious. The first outbreak allegedly took place in May during a two-week cruise around the Canary Islands.

In reporting from the BBC it was alleged that Carnival communicated that less than 1% of passengers experienced symptoms while Southampton health officials claimed the number was closer to 12% of passengers.

Published on: November 15, 2024

Photos Show Fallout of Bad Weather Damage to Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship

By Leesfield & Partners

Photos were published online of the damage to a cruise ship that was hit by storm-force winds while sailing from Spain to Miami.

The frightening voyage resulted in the injury of at least one passenger who will be allowed to evacuate the ship for additional medical care on shore in Las Palmas, Spain. No other details, including the condition of the passenger, were immediately available Wednesday.

Passengers reported to CBS news that their captain said over the ship’s intercom speakers that the ship was impacted by winds that had gone from 46 mph to over 80 mph.

Published on: November 15, 2024

Cruise Ship Passenger Evacuated Amid Medical Crisis. Here’s What You Need to Know About Most Cruise Lines.

By Leesfield & Partners

A cruise passenger recently experienced a medical crisis and was successfully evacuated. However, in the experience of Leesfield & Partners, such evacuations are not always granted. When they are denied, it often results in serious harm to the passenger’s health.

One reason a cruise ship might deny a passenger a medical evacuation is because evacuations often result in a delayed voyage, which impacts their passengers’ traveling plans and their own schedules. Thankfully, the 69-year-old woman at the center of the recent incident was able to seek additional and potentially life-saving medical attention thanks to the evacuation.

The woman was taken by helicopter from her Carnival Cruise Lines ship to the Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and was accompanied by her spouse and one staffer from the on board medical team, according to reporting from a national news outlet. Once there, local emergency responders transported her to Centro Médico Hospital.

Published on: November 12, 2024

Hurricane-Force Winds Injure Cruise Ship Passenger. What Do These Companies Owe Their Passengers?

By Leesfield & Partners

Hurricane-Force Winds Injure Cruise Ship Passenger. What Do These Companies Owe Their Passengers?

A Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines passenger was injured after their ship was hit by forceful winds, according to USA Today.

The ship, Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas, “experienced sudden movement” on Nov. 7 as the ship headed to Miami, Florida, from Barcelona, Spain. The incident happened as the ship sailed through Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands. The passenger is being disembarked for additional medical attention, a cruise line spokesperson told reporters.

Published on: November 1, 2024

Illinois Man Killed During Cruise To The Bahamas. Now, His Friend Is Facing Felony Charges.

By Leesfield & Partners

A utility task vehicle (UTV) cruise ship excursion in the Bahamas became deadly following the tragic death of an Illinois passenger. Now, the man’s friend who was driving the vehicle is facing felony charges.

James Darling, 21, of Park Forest, Illinois, was recently charged with vehicular manslaughter in the death of his friend, according to local media. Darling also faces additional drug charges.

The incident happened on Oct. 20 in Arawak Cay, a man-made island in Nassau that is also known as Fish Fry.

Published on: October 30, 2024

Outbreaks of Legionnaires’ Disease Linked Back to Two Cruise Ships, CDC says.

By Leesfield & Partners

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a report detailing two separate outbreaks of Legionnaires’ Disease linked to cruise ships on different cruise lines.

The report’s findings say that the two ships, which were referred to as only “Ship A” and “Ship B,” had outdoor, private hot tubs on balconies. These hot tubs, according to the CDC, were the most likely cause of the outbreaks. Cases began springing up in November 2022, resulting in at least 12 passengers exposed to the disease.

Ship A, which had cases of Legionnaires’ Disease from November 2022 until April 2024, had a total of eight cases on board. Five of these cases stemmed from the same 14-day cruise in November 2022. Two other cases were identified from August-September 2023. In April 2024, one additional patient was identified. Both patients who were exposed in 2023 told health officials they were staying in cabins with hot tubs on the balconies. Of these cases, six were hospitalized.

Published on: October 25, 2024

Critics Rave Over Cruise Ship Doctor TV Show. Leesfield & Partners Knows the Reality is Starkly Different

By Leesfield & Partners

Despite great reviews calling Joshua Jackson a “miracle worker” for pulling off the antics shown in his new show, Doctor Odyssey, which follows the adventures of a cruise ship doctor, Leesfield & Partners knows the bleak reality and its consequences for passengers.

In nearly five decades of personal injury practice in Miami, Leesfield & Partners attorneys have recovered over $66 million for hundreds of victims of negligence at the hands of cruise ship doctors. Despite these companies marketing their ships as vessels with state-of-the-art infirmaries and staffed with some of the leading medical professionals in the field, this is often not the case. In fact, it has been the experience of this law firm that these ships have hired subpar doctors and nurses who do not meet the standards necessary to practice medicine in the United States.

These companies are able to skirt these regulations because they operate under different regulations while at sea, often traveling between countries and in international waters, paving the way for doctors who are not licensed in the U.S. to be hired for these roles.

Published on: October 21, 2024

Woman Charged, Accused of Assaulting Fellow Passengers Aboard Florida Cruise Ship

By Leesfield & Partners

A woman was taken into custody by police when her cruise ship docked at PortMiami after police accused her of assaulting another passenger.

Kelli Lyn Ryan, 49, of Huntsville, Alabama, was charged with battery on a person 65 years old or older.

A person convicted of this charge in Florida is guilty of a third-degree felony and could face a prison sentence of up to five years and or a fine of up to $5,000.

Published on: October 10, 2024

Following Social Media Couple’s Controversy on Cruise Ship, Royal Caribbean Banned this Baby Item. What to Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

After TikTok couple Matt and Abby Howard received pushback from their millions of followers for showing themselves allegedly leaving their children in a cabin unattended while watching them on a baby monitor, Royal Caribbean updated its banned items list to include the devices.

“Baby monitors are not allowed to be used onboard our vessels as their radio signal could interfere with ship communication and/or navigation systems,” Royal Caribbean officials said in reporting from MSN Monday.

The controversy began when the couple, who regularly document their lives online as parents of two under 2 years old, showed a solution to the issue of attending dinner with two rowdy toddlers. The alleged solution appeared to online viewers as though the duo had decided to leave their boys asleep in separate cabins while they watched them on FaceTime and on baby monitors.

Published on: October 2, 2024

At Least 180 Passengers Fell Ill Aboard Royal Caribbean International’s Radiance of the Seas. What Happened to Them?

By Leesfield & Partners

Over 180 people were sickened with a suspected gastrointestinal illness while vacationing on a seven-day voyage aboard Royal Caribbean International’s Radiance of the Seas cruise ship, the Centers for Disease Control announced Monday.

As of Tuesday, the cause of an illness that led to 180 passengers becoming sick aboard the ship had not been released. A total of 2,172 passengers were on board at the time and the afflicted accounted for just over 8% of passengers.

Three of the over 800 crewmembers on the ship reported being sick. Since the illness was discovered, RCI and its working crew allegedly increased cleaning and disinfection procedures to combat the spread of the illness, made announcements to notify passengers of the outbreak and collected samples from the sick for testing.