Cruise Ship Lawyers Blog
A norovirus outbreak on a cruise ship docked at Port Everglades on Friday left at least 169 people ill, according to reporting from local media.
Holland America Line’s Rotterdam ship was headed to the Caribbean, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica over a 12-day voyage when it reported the outbreak of norovirus, which causes gastrointestinal illness, to the Centers for Disease Control. There were over 2,600 passengers on board with more than 900 crew. At least 152 passengers and 17 crew members reported being ill during the voyage. Common symptoms of norovirus are vomiting and diarrhea but can also include headaches, muscle pain, cramps and fever.
Holland America officials reported that their crew increased cleaning and disinfection procedures and isolated the infected to mitigate the spread.
The voyage took place from Feb. 2-14. Cruise lines are required to report these cases to the Centers for Disease Control. The Rotterdam outbreak was reported on Feb. 7.
Leesfield & Partners
From premises liability cases to shore excursion injuries, Leesfield & Partners has seen just about every injury type that can arise during a voyage. In 48 years of p[personal injury practice, the firm has secured multiple record settlements and verdicts for clients due to a cruise line’s negligence. Our attorneys have developed cutting-edge trial techniques and doggedly pursue the best possible outcome for clients and grieving family members.
The firm recently filed suit after a woman on a jet ski tour on her cruise ship was injured when the tour guide crashed into her. Our client was a passenger on Royal Caribbean when she booked a guided jet ski tour on the cruise line’s private islands, CocoCay. During the tour, a guide crashed his jet ski into that of our client’s while trying to pass her, causing multiple spinal fractures and other severe injuries.
That case is being handled by Partner Justin B. Shapiro.
”Royal Caribbean advertises these tours as no experience necessary,” Mr. Shapiro said. “And they do that in an effort to sell as many of these tours as they can. And what ends up happening, they have these large groups of inexperienced, unqualified people riding around on jet skis together. It’s a recipe for disaster.”
This is the latest in a series of outbreak reported to the CDC in recent months. Numbers reported to the CDC in November showed 781 passengers and 109 crew has reported norovirus symptoms with 16 stomach illness outbreaks on ships in 2024, marking it the worst year for stomach illnesses on ship in over a decade. In all, nearly 2,000 passengers and over 200 crew members got sick in 2024. In 2023, there were 14 outbreaks. The annual average for these types of outbreaks on ships is 12, according to data from the CDC.
Leesfield & Partners has handled numerous cases in which cruise lines have left passengers susceptible to adverse health outcomes, either by refusing evacuations in an emergency or by not having capable medical staff aboard the ship.
Doctors and other medical staff aboard a ship failed to diagnose an infant suffering from meningococcal meningitis. Instead, the medical staff insisted that the child was suffering from a stomach bug and did not administer the antibiotics she needed. AS a result, the 9-month-old baby underwent multi-digital and foot amputations.
Leesfield & Partners attorneys secured a $5.5 million recovery for the baby and her family.
A cruise ship that did not properly screen blood from another passenger negligently administered it to a 72-year-old retired nurse who needed an emergency blood transfusion while on the ship. As a result, the woman tested HIV-positive.
The firm settled the case with the cruise line for $4.25 million.
A 65-year-old woman suffered a stroke aboard a ship and was refused an evacuation. Leesfield & Partners obtained a $4 million award.
A crew member who reported to his ship’s infirmary with symptoms of nausea had to later have his right arm amputated after medical personnel incorrectly administered medication, ignoring clear, black box warning labels. Instead of administering the medication to the man slowly, over the course of several minutes, and injecting it deep into the muscle, the medical team injected the medication rapidly into the man’s IV. He was in immediate agony, describing the feeling in his arm as an unbearable, burning pain.
He was left to suffer for hours. His arm later showed early signs of necrosis with erythema, tenderness and cyanosis. Days later, after the ship had docked in Port Canaveral and our client was allowed to seek medical treatment on shore, it was decided that his arm would have to be amputated.
Leesfield & Partners recovered $3.4 million for the crew member.
Other Cruise Illnesses
In October 2024, the CDC released a report of outbreaks of Legionnaires’ Disease linked to two unnamed cruise lines. The cause of the outbreaks in those instances was linked to the hot tubs located on the private passenger balconies. In all, about 12 passengers had symptoms of Legionnaires’ Disease, a severe form of pneumonia first discovered at a 1976 meeting of the American Legion in Philadelphia.
Leesfield & Partners has handled numerous cases of clients who were injured or had passed away due to Legionnaires’ Disease exposure. Eric Shane, a trial attorney at the firm, has spearheaded Leesfield & Partners Legionnaires’ Disease litigation.
A $300,000 award was secured for a woman who contracted Legionnaires’ Disease from a Florida hotel. The woman began experiencing symptoms the same day she checked out from the hotel, where she had repeatedly used the property’s hot tub during her stay. As a result of the exposure, the woman suffered an acute kidney injury and continues to suffer with pain and fatigue.
Mr. Shane is handling a Legionnaires’ Disease case in which two men were exposed to the Legionella bacteria from their South Florida residential complex. Both had used the property’s whirlpool spa. One of the men died as a result of his exposure.
That case is ongoing.
Previously, the firm settled two back-to-back cases of Legionnaires’ Disease involving the same resort. In that case, Ira Leesfield, the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, found that the resort was negligent in failing to property maintain and sanitize its water systems. These water systems included decorative water features that caused the spread of the bacteria, leaving guests vulnerable to contracting Legionnaires’ Disease.
Two six-figure settlements were reached for the clients in those cases.
