Cruise Ship Lawyers Blog
Hundreds of passengers and crew were reported among the sick in at least five separate outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness in December, according to reporting from The Washington Post.
Just last month alone, 781 passengers and 109 crew reported symptoms of the highly contagious norovirus. Such symptoms include diarrhea and vomiting. In 2024, the cruise ship industry reported at least 16 stomach illness outbreaks on ships. This is the highest number of outbreaks since 2012, according to numbers reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While the main cause of these outbreaks has been norovirus, other causes that have been identified include E. coli and salmonella.
In total, nearly 2,000 passengers and over 200 crew members got sick in 2024. In 2023, there were 14 outbreaks.
The annual average of norovirus outbreaks on ships is 12, according to the CDC.
People can become ill from norovirus at any time, but the virus is mostly contracted from November to April. The virus causes an average of over 19 million illnesses with over 100,000 hospitalizations annually.
Other Cruise Illnesses
In October, the CDC released a report detailing an outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease linked to two unnamed cruise lines. The cause of the outbreaks was linked to private balcony hot tubs. In total, about a dozen passengers fell ill to the severe form of pneumonia first discovered in 1976 at a gathering of the American Legion in Philadelphia.
Legionnaires’ Disease comes from the bacteria legionella and grows best in warm, slow-moving water. Many cases arise from inadequate water management and/or cleaning policies in places like hot tubs but can occur from bacteria growth on showerheads, decorative fountains, swimming pools or cooling towers. People get sick from breathing in mist of vapor containing the bacteria. Those most at risk of infection are current and former smokers, people 50 years old or older, and those with preexisting health conditions such as chronic lung diseases, cancer or weakened immune systems.
Leesfield & Partners
Leesfield & Partners has been representing injured cruise ship passengers in various personal injury practice areas including medical malpractice, cruise ship crimes and premises liability. In that time, the firm has secured multiple record verdicts and settlements on behalf of injured passengers and has been named among the leading cruise ship injury law firms in the country.
Attorneys at the firm have secured over $35 million for passengers injured as a result of a cruise ship’s negligence in nearly 50 years of personal injury practice.
Previous Cruise Medical Cases
Leesfield & Partners previously represented the family of a 9-month-old baby who was the victim of negligent cruise ship doctors. Instead of recognizing her clear signs of meningitis and administering the necessary antibiotics, doctors misdiagnosed the infant with a stomach bug. As a result, she became a triple amputee, and her life has been forever changed.
Attorneys with the firm secured a multi-million-dollar recovery for the child and her family.
The doctors on board another cruise ship meant to treat the illnesses or injuries of those on board failed yet another Leesfield & Partners client when they refused to accept that a 16-year-old patient was suffering a stroke. Their reasoning was that “teenagers do not have strokes.” Despite the child presenting with clear signs of a stroke, these doctors refused to intervene and evacuate their patient.
Another multi-million-dollar recovery was secured on behalf of that client.
Another family traveling on a cruise ship lost a husband, father and grandfather when he suffered a heart attack while the ship was still in port. Instead of allowing this man – who was on the ship to celebrate a milestone anniversary with his family – to be evacuated and find the immediate medical attention he needed, cruise officials denied him an evacuation. The man was left to suffer in agony for hours before he died while his family watched.
The firm secured a multi-million-dollar recovery for the grieving family.
Another case in which a cruise line failed to evacuate a passenger in distress resulted in a $1.75 million recovery for the client.
The firm secured $3 million for a female client in a cruise ship medical malpractice case.
Previous Legionnaires’ Disease Cases
Leesfield & Partners has become among the top personal injury law firms when it comes to litigating Legionnaires’ Disease cases, a condition Florida health officials say is on the rise. In 2023, Leesfield & Partners attorneys settled two cases back-to-back of two unrelated clients at the same resort who had fallen ill from the disease. One client is a Florida native while the other was visiting the state from Maryland. Within days of leaving the resort, both individuals sought medical treatment at separate hospitals for symptoms of soreness, fever fatigue and difficulty breathing. Both individuals tested positive.
The firm secured six-figure settlements for the clients.
A case handled by eric Shane, a Leesfield & Partners Trial Lawyer, resulted in a six-figure settlement for a woman who had been staying at a Florida hotel. Throughout her stay, the woman frequently used the hot tub that was on the hotel’s property. The same day she checked out from the hotel, the woman began experiencing fever and swelling, both of which are symptoms of Legionnaires’ Disease.
While at the hospital, the woman went into septic shock and suffered an acute kidney disease from her ordeal. It was later discovered that the hotel and its maintenance personnel were not complying with industry standards for hot tubs.
Two men are at the center of an ongoing Legionnaires’ Disease case, also being handled by Mr. Shane. In that case, both men were exposed to the disease at their Florida condominium. One of the men who was exposed to the disease has tragically passed away.
