Cruise Ship Litigation

Published on: August 9, 2024

Disney Cruise Line Announces New Ship – What to Know

Disney Cruise Line announced plans for a new ship this week set to take sail in 2025.

Disney’s Destiny Cruise Ship will sail four and five-night voyages from Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas and the Western Caribbean starting in November 2025. The ship is reportedly a merging of the stories of villains and heroes alike from Disney, Pixar and Marvel’s most-beloved stories. The ship will have three restaurants, themed “splash zones” and live shows with character meet-and-greets.

This comes just two weeks after Carnival Cruise Lines announced the addition of three more ships to its fleet with the carrying capacity to rival that of Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas which is reportedly the largest cruise ship in operation today. The cruise ship industry is rapidly expanding after taking a major hit following the COVID-19 pandemic which saw the industry shut down to stop the spread of the virus. According to data based on research from J.P. Morgan, by 2028, the cruise ship industry will capture approximately 3.8% of the $1.9 trillion global vacation market. Globally, 35.7 million passengers are expected to set sail in 2024. This is a 6% increase from pre-COVID-19 numbers.

Published on: July 26, 2024

Athens Convention, Shore Excursion Limitations, and Barbetta Rule: What to know about cruise ship litigation

By Leesfield & Partners

With the sun warming your skin, the sea breeze tussling your hair and a full buffet waiting for you at lunchtime, the possibility that something may go awry seems impossible. For many, cruise vacations go off without a hitch. Others, however, are not so lucky.

When it comes to the unlucky ones, Leesfield & Partners attorneys are ready to help pick up the pieces to guide injured clients through the legal process. With over four decades of experience navigating devastating cruise passenger and crew member injury cases, the firm has been recognized as a leader in its field with record verdicts in the state and nationally for injured clients.

With its landmark office in the heart of Miami, about a 30-minute drive from PortMiami, also known as the “cruise capital of the world,” Leesfield & Partners attorneys have had thousands of passenger injury and wrongful death cases come across their desks. Attorneys with the firm have handled cases of medical malpractice at the hands of inept cruise line doctors, devastating cases of wrongful death during shore excursions, and negligent security cases in which passengers and or crewmembers have become the victims of violent crime while on board these ships.

Published on: July 16, 2024

Man’s family awarded $2 million in lawsuit after he died from burn at Kentucky motel. What do places like hotels and cruise ships owe customers?

By Leesfield & Partners

The family of a 76-year-old Kentucky man was awarded over $2 million this month after his death from a burning incident in a motel shower, according to news outlets.

The incident happened in 2021 while the man was on a business trip. When he got in the shower, hot water estimated in the lawsuit to be 150 degrees Fahrenheit scalded him. The man fell and was unable to get up until coworkers who heard him screaming rushed into the bathroom to help. The man had third-degree burns following the incident and died seven months later after spending most of his time in and out of hospitals. Third-degree burns affect the deeper layers of the skin and burn down to the fatty tissue. They require immediate medical attention.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of the grieving family did not specify what caused the water to come out at 150 degrees. A judgment filed earlier this month stated that the hotel failed to properly inspect and maintain the property in a reasonably safe condition.

Published on: June 19, 2024

Cruise ships set to plug into power in Port Miami, attracting more ships to the area. Leesfield & Partners suspects a major problem

By Leesfield & Partners

Cruise ships at Port Miami will be able to plug into the county’s power grid – a move that officials say will boost the local economy by attracting more cruise lines to the area while cutting down on pollution.

There’s just one problem. More ships means an increase in the possibility of cruise ship injuries, a practice area that Leesfield & Partners knows all too well.

The decision was spurred by sustainability efforts from Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava who told reporters in an article published in The Miami Herald that the project would bring the county that much closer to cutting down on its carbon emissions.

Published on: May 23, 2024

Leesfield & Partners: A History of Protecting Cruise Ship Guests and Employees from Corporations.

By Leesfield & Partners

While packing sunscreen or researching potential sights to see, no one expects that their long-awaited cruise vacation might end in tragedy. However, in its decades of practice, Leesfield & Partners has seen all too well just how easily these trips can take a turn for the worse.

Whether it be crashes on excursion buses, slipping on decks void of regulation handrails or an on-board medical professional refusing to evacuate a guest, Leesfield & Partners has seen families through it all. These tragic injuries have changed the lives of cruise ship guests, employees, and their loved ones, forever marring what should have been a beautiful memory of a relaxing getaway or just another day at work.

In 2023, approximately 7.3 million people went through Port Miami on their way to their cruises.

Published on: June 9, 2023

$5.5 Million Recovery for European Passenger in Medical Malpractice Case Against Cruise Line – Leesfield & Partners Busts the Athens Convention’s Cap on Damages

By Leesfield & Partners

Leesfield & Partners attorneys successfully resolved a medical malpractice case on behalf of parents whose 9-month-old baby suffered catastrophic injuries as a result of cruise ship doctors’ malpractice. The important and potentially case dispositive legal issues, in this case, included a passenger ticket contract with restrictive forum selection and choice of law clauses. Unlike 99% of cruise ship ticket contracts this contract called for the application of law from our clients’ home country (United Kingdom). The U.K. is a signatory to the Athens Convention and its draconian cap on damages ($540,000). After strategic local and international litigation, Leesfield & Partners was able to multiply the client’s recovery by more than ten times the cap.

Facts of case were as horrific as the cruise line’s attempt to deny an innocent child justice

In the early days of a Caribbean cruise that departed from the Port of Miami, worried parents took their nine-month-old daughter to the ship’s infirmary. She was pale and lethargic, experiencing tachycardia and dehydration; all classic signs of a life-threatening meningococcal meningitis infection. Lethargy in an infant is a significant neurological change in condition that is a hallmark symptom of meningococcal infections.

Published on: June 14, 2021

Cruise with Care II

By Leesfield & Partners

Pitfalls for Passengers (post-COVID and otherwise):

Disney Cruise Lines re-opens June 26 with all major cruise lines to follow.

Beware of injuries on Inaugural cruises. . . the cruise industry is re opening with a fury. There is no certainty on how they will handle COVID, or how well their reinstated crew is trained. Remember, even before COVID, numerous cases of Norovirus were reported annually as ships came to port. So, Sanitation and safety issues must be paramount along with crowd control and CDC compliance. Will your co-passengers be vaccinated? Are you willing to spend days or weeks with those likely to spread the virus? Or, worse yet, confined in a ship’s infirmary?

Published on: June 8, 2021

Cruise with Care I

By Leesfield & Partners

Pitfalls for Passengers:

Disney Cruise Lines re-opens June 26 with all major cruise lines to follow.

Beware of injuries on Inaugural cruises. . . The cruise industry is re-opening with a fury. There is no certainty on how they will handle COVID, or how well their reinstated crew is trained. Remember, even before COVID, numerous cases of Norovirus were reported annually as ships came to port. So, Sanitation and safety issues must be paramount along with crowd control and CDC compliance. Will your co-passengers be vaccinated? Are you willing to spend days or weeks with those likely to spread the virus? Or, worse yet, confined in a ship’s infirmary?

Published on: May 10, 2021

A rising tide in cruise line, maritime and boating accidents – The cruise industry has re-opened!

By Leesfield & Partners

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COVID-19 brought more boaters and more watersports enthusiasts into close proximity, making waterways more congested. Cruise lines are now experimenting with post pandemic precautions. Americans and international travelers are ready to put coronavirus in the rear-view mirror, but many pre-existing water related hazards will be amplified by over enthusiasm on the water.

Is it safe to get back in the water?

Recently and over the past 40 years, our firm has been asked to investigate a significant number of cases involving collisions between watercraft in the bay, ocean and waterways surrounding Florida.

Published on: March 12, 2021

Is it safe to get back on board? Resuming cruise travel post COVID-19 pandemic:

By Leesfield & Partners

Millions around the globe are eagerly awaiting a green light to resume cruising once again. The decision to restart cruise operations carries with it an obligation on behalf of the cruise lines to ensure the safety of the passengers, crew, and residents of the various ports forming the infrastructure of the cruise industry. Cruise enthusiasts should carefully consider the decision to book their next cruise vacation, including locations and precautions.

The cruise line industry has been on “pause” since the pandemic arrived in March 2020. Now, the situation is fluid and unpredictable, with return dates changing like the tides. In the U.S., Carnival Cruise Line plans on resuming cruises in North America on June 27, 2020. Norwegian Cruise Line has delayed North American operations through May 31, 2021. And Royal Caribbean has suspended operations until the start of May 2021. Canada has extended a full ban on cruising until February 28, 2022, and in the UK cruises are on hold into summer 2021. In other parts of the world, some Asian and European cruises have already set sail in the new normal.

When cruises resume in the U.S. they will be subject to a strict safety framework issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The goal is to ensure that ship operators have adequate health and safety protections and crewmember testing protocols in place to stop the spread of the virus. Before fully operational cruises commence, the lines will be required to conduct simulated voyages to test their ability to mitigate COVID-19 risk. Thereafter, a phased return to passenger voyages will be permitted once virus safety and virus spread mitigation has been demonstrated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommend that all people avoid travel on cruise ships, including river cruises, worldwide. Passengers who decide to go on a cruise are instructed to get tested for COVID-19 three to five days in advance of a voyage, and to remain home for a full 7 days after travel even if they test negative after returning to home port. Some cruise lines have indicated they will require all passengers to receive a COVID vaccine prior to boarding. Others, including Norwegian Cruise Line, have already begun requiring the crew to be vaccinated. The cruise lines have indicated they will work with medical and scientific experts to develop best practices for safe sailing.