"cruise ship"

Published on: November 26, 2024

A College’s Year-Long Study Discovered Cruise Ship’s Effects in Key West was ‘like having 32 hurricanes.’ What to Know.

When cruise ships sail into Key West, the looming vessels evoke thoughts about the tourist economy.

What people don’t think about is how much damage these ships can cause to local marine life as they navigate through the port.

The College of the Florida Keys recently revealed in a year’s long study that the turbidity measures of ships – the level of suspended particles, such as sediment and organic matter, stirred up by the ship as it moves through the area – surpassed limits set forth by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In some cases, these ships’ turbidity measurements reached levels akin to storms such as the recent damage left behind by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

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: September 18, 2024

Popular Tiktokers blasted online for allegedly leaving children alone in cruise cabins, monitoring them on FaceTime. Don’t be fooled, this isn’t a “parenting hack”

By Leesfield & Partners

Popular Tiktokers Matt & Abby Howard have come under fire for a video they posted to their millions of followers seemingly showing them leaving their toddlers in two separate cabins aboard a cruise ship so that they could enjoy dinner, child-free.

The video, posted to Abby Howard’s Instagram story which only appears for 24 hours before it vanishes, seemed to explain that the couple, who were on a seven-night cruise with family, was using FaceTime and baby monitors to check up on their boys, 1 and 2 years old, who they had allegedly left alone in two separate cabins.

“So we ended up taking them [to the cruise daycare] for 5 nights and it became apparent that they weren’t enjoying it and therefore we weren’t either,” Abby Howard wrote in the initial post. “So THEN we switched our dinner time to AFTER their bedtime and Facetimed the monitors while we ate. And that worked out muchhhh better for everyone.”

Published on: July 24, 2024

A Look at the Fine Print: How Cruise Lines and Water Sport Rental Companies Find Ways to Avoid Liability & Protect Themselves

By Leesfield & Partners

Lengthy terms and conditions are scrolled past with fervor, and liability waivers are signed on digital screens in a rush. Whether it’s before a jet-ski guided tour in Key West, a parasailing adventure, or when purchasing a ticket aboard a cruise ship, people pay little mind to the language in these documents before they sign. When tragedy strikes, however, these documents are one of the first things a corporation’s attorney will point to to avoid liability.

It is important to note that these waivers do not give cruise lines a free pass to flout safety regulations. Case law out of the United States Federal District Court is evident that these waivers do not imbue cruise lines with an impermeable shield, saving them from being held liable. Instead, these waivers can be used in court to show that a cruise line tried to warn the injured party of the risks associated with a certain activity. In the event of an injury, passengers are still able to pursue compensation for damages at the hands of negligent corporations despite having signed a waiver.

In Florida, where cruise lines dock at five main ports transporting millions of passengers in and out of the state every year, liability waivers are frequently used by vendors in an attempt to protect themselves. Under state law, these waivers stand only when safety regulations, as outlined in Chapter 327, Florida Statutes, are followed. For example, jet-ski rentals and guided tours, which are thriving businesses in a state known for its sparkling waters and warm weather, have routinely displayed their disregard for these regulations. Under these regulations, vendors are required to give pre-ride instructions to include operational and safety instructions, warnings of local hazards, navigational instructions, and details about what to do when there is a change in weather and or water conditions. In the 48-year experience in South Florida, Leesfield & Partners attorneys have learned that these companies are more likely to give a safety rundown that is too brief, if they give one at all.

Published on: July 19, 2024

As summer ends, thousands of families will flock to PortMiami for cruises. Here’s what to know if you are injured

By Leesfield & Partners

With the dwindling days of summer vacation and the promise of back-to-school sales and homework assignments on the horizon, families all over the United States will head to South Florida in droves for last-minute summer getaways. The area has plenty to offer that attracts millions of tourists every year from the famed beauty and history of the Florida Keys to the opportunity to observe wildlife in the Everglades. Many families, however, will head straight to PortMiami, the cruise capital of the world, to board one of many cruise lines that frequent the area.

PortMiami saw 7.3 million people pass through it in 2023 as the cruise line industry continued to gain back its footing after the pandemic. With increased traffic to the area as this boon in the industry continues comes the rise in the possibility of injuries.

With a home base in Miami, Florida, Leesfield & Partners has had the unique opportunity of watching cruise ships compete with one another over the years to become “floating cities” and sea-bound theme parks. Today, more and more ships are equipped with winding slides, slippery water parks and onboard attractions that can sometimes lead to catastrophic injury when the right precautions are not taken. When the latter takes place, Leesfield & Partners has been there to support injured clients and grieving families. The extensive experience of Leesfield & Partners attorneys attained over its 48 years representing clients is to the benefit of an injured person seeking our legal counsel.

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 31, 2024

Georgia woman tells news outlets how Carnival Cruise Ship left her stranded and sedated in Dominican Republic hospital with no way of getting home

By Leesfield & Partners

Basking in the sun or heading to a cholesterol-raising buffet for the fourth time in a single morning, no one thinks about the dangers aboard cruise ships. Statistics show, however, that cruises are riddled with all kinds of hazards. From sexual assaults to falls resulting in broken bones or requiring surgery, Leesfield & Partners has represented just about every injury aboard these massive holiday vessels.

When stories are spread in the media about cruise medical care and its often devastating consequences, Leesfield & Partners attorneys know that it is unfortunately not all that uncommon. Some people simply do not receive the care they require while others are left to suffer from illnesses or injuries because a cruise doctor refuses to evacuate them. In some cases, cruise ships will abandon a sick passenger in a foreign country to continue on its journey with the other passengers. This is much like the case of an elderly passenger represented by the law firm who suffered a hemorrhagic stroke. This type of stroke, according to the National Institute of Health, is a bleeding in the brain caused by a ruptured blood vessel. The passenger was able to disembark from the ship in the Bahamas for emergency transfer back to Broward County, Florida. The cruise line never verified that the airport would be open and the woman was left to wait at the closed airport where she died waiting to be transferred.

Fortunately for a grandmother heading to the Bahamas on a Carnival Cruise Ship, the outcome was very different.

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: September 4, 2015

Landmark case levels the playing field for cruise passengers writes Ira H. Leesfield in Miami Herald

By Leesfield & Partners

In a special letter to the editor published on September 4, 2015, in the Miami Herald, Ira H. Leesfield revisits the importance of the decision reached by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, not only for the case of Teresita Sorrels, but for present and future injured cruise passengers.

“In reversing the trial court’s order, the Eleventh Circuit gave Teresita Sorrels her day in court and allows passengers injured by the alleged negligence of the cruise line the same rights as if they were otherwise the victims of land-based negligent businesses.” writes the senior managing partner of Leesfield & Partners.

Click here to read the article written by Ira H. Leesfield for the Miami Herald.