Cruise Ship Lawyers Blog
Whether injuries take the form of slip and falls on the pool deck or refusal to evacuate amid a medical emergency, Leesfield & Partners is here to help you navigate the waters of cruise line personal injury cases.
Every year, thousands of cruise ship passengers are injured aboard ships for a wide array of reasons. And, every year, thousands of these passengers file personal injury claims against these cruise lines. Most of these claims fall under premises liability, where a cruise line fails to maintain a safe environment for passengers on its ship. However, Leesfield & Partners has extensive experience in this area of personal injury law and has encountered nearly every type of case imaginable. To date, the firm has secured over $40 million for cruise ship passengers injured due to that corporation’s negligence.
Shore Excursion
Cruise lines will regularly try to curtail their responsibility to passengers by placing the blame on other entities, such as tour guide or rental companies that organize shore excursions. However, because the majority of these experiences can be purchased either at the time of booking the cruise or through the cruise line’s website, a business relationship is established. As a result, if a passenger is injured on one of these excursions, the cruise line may still be held liable.
This defense was used by a cruise line at the center of a previous Leesfield & Partners case involving a terrible parasailing accident. In that incident, a mother and daughter purchased the adventure from the cruise line they were traveling with. On the day of the activity, a rope snapped while the two were in the air, sending them careening to the water below from hundreds of feet in the air. The mother died from her injuries while the daughter sustained traumatic injuries.
The firm filed suit against the cruise line and the tour operator, however, the cruise line attempted to argue that the tour operator was an independent contractor.
Leesfield & Partners secured a $7.25 million settlement on behalf of the family.
In another tragic shore excursion case, a family lost their special needs, adult son in a bus crash. The poorly maintained bus in that case was being operated by a driver with a history of driving violations. The bus crashed into an embankment and overturned. The young man was ejected from the bus and later died at a local hospital.
The firm secured a settlement of over $2.9 million for the family in that case.
Another shore excursion that resulted in severe injuries to multiple clients involved an all-terrain vehicle. Leesfield & Partners was able to secure a $1.28 million settlement in that case.
A 68-year-old client suffered severe injuries and a fractured femur while on a banana boat ride. The firm secured a $600,000 settlement.
Medical Malpractice
When it comes to cruise ship doctors, Leesfield & Partners knows that many are not held to the rigorous standards required in the United States, often resulting in subpar care and further harm to patients in need of proper medical attention. While cruise lines tout their medical staff’s knowledge and state-of-the-art facilities, it has been this firm’s experience that decisions made amid a medical emergency are for the benefit of the cruise line’s bottom dollar and not for the health and safety of the passenger. Leesfield 7 Partners has seen time and time again how cruise lines will delay or refuse altogether necessary evacuations for passengers in crisis. Evacuations can be costly for cruise lines by disrupting their voyage schedules.
One Leesfield & Partners case involves a man experiencing a cardiac event while his cruise ship was still in port. The man was aboard the ship with his family to celebrate a milestone anniversary. Despite their passenger clearly requiring emergency medical care, the cruise ship left port to sail to its next destination.
The man’s family had previously purchased evacuation insurance. Even so, they were denied such an evacuation when the need arose. The family was left to watch their patriarch suffer for hours before his death. The firm secured a multi-million-dollar recovery in that case.
Similarly, a 16-year-old suffering a stroke was denied an evacuation. Doctors in that case told the girl and her family that “teenagers don’t have strokes.”
Leesfield & Partners secured a multi-million-dollar recovery in that case.
Other cases of a cruise line’s medical staff failing passengers include that of a retired 72-year-old nurse who required an emergency blood transfusion on the ship. The medical team on the ship failed to adequately test the blood she was given in the transfusion. The woman became HIV-positive as a result. A $4.25 million settlement was secured by Leesfield & Partners attorneys.
The firm represented one woman with an infectious retropharyngeal abscess. The medical staff onboard failed to diagnose and treat her condition, causing permanent injury to the woman’s esophagus.
The woman was awarded $2.15 million thanks to the work of Leesfield & Partners.
Premises Liability and Negligent Security
As common carriers, cruise lines have a non-delegable duty to ensure the safety of their passengers. This means they are held to a higher standard of care and are responsible for ensuring that the ship is in a safe condition. Additionally, they must implement security measures to prevent criminal acts and other dangers that could harm passengers. This duty cannot be transferred or delegated to other parties, meaning the cruise line itself remains liable for the safety of passengers and crew onboard.
A 9-year-old boy was playing basketball on a cruise ship when he dove for an out-of-bounds ball. He hit a steel, unpadded grommet in the process and suffered traumatic brain injuries. The firm secured a $2.5 million recovery for the boy and his family.
A Canadian woman traveling on a cruise ship was brutally raped by a crew member who had access to her cabin. The firm obtained a multi-million-dollar recovery for the woman in that case.
An 8-year-old girl tragically died when she was separated from her family aboard a cruise ship. When the child leaned over a faulty interior railing on the ship, she fell several stories to her death.
A confidential settlement was secured by the firm in that case.
A Leesfield & Partners client was playing pickleball aboard a ship when he suffered a head injury. The firm secured a $500,000 settlement for the 62-year-old client.
What to Do
- Do not move from the area where the incident took place as long as you are not in immediate danger.
- Immediately report the incident to crew.
- Document all injuries and submit written requests to view and preserve the cruise line’s surveillance footage from the area where the incident took place.
- Photograph everything from the area where the incident took place to the injuries you suffered and clothing you were wearing. Either you should photograph these areas yourself or have a traveling companion photograph them for you. Additionally, you should request that a member of the crew take photos of the area before they begin cleaning it.
- Request all documentation from any doctors who examined you following the incident. These documents may be used as evidence in trial and can include anything from X-Rays to doctor’s notes.
- Submit written requests for incident reports conducted by any crew members or cruise officials investigating the incident.
- Follow up with your doctor immediately upon returning home.
- Begin contacting a cruise line injury attorney like Leesfield & Partners as soon as possible. It is important to note that there is a short statute of limitations for cruise line cases. In Florida, the statute of limitations for personal injury is two years. Most cruise lines require a notice of claim within six months of the incident with a lawsuit filed no later than one year afterwards.
