Cruise Law News : Maritime Lawyer & Attorney : James M. Walker : Walker & O'Neill Law Firm : Admiralty Law, Cruise Ship Accidents & Injuries

The Bermuda Sun reports this week that three cruise passengers were taken to the hospital in Bermuda after Princess Cruises' Grand Princess arrived in port.

A female passenger reportedly broke her ankle, a male passenger suffered a heart condition, and another male passenger lost consciousness in the cruise ship's swimming pool.  

This was the Grand Princess’s only trip to Bermuda this year. 

Bermuda has recently lost a number of cruise lines as customers this year.  Holland America just announced that the Veendam will no longer visit Bermuda after next year, after making 24 cruises from New York this year.  That announcement occurred shortly after Carnival announced that it was cutting cruises to Bermuda from 16 trips by four cruise ships this year, to just one in 2012.

The president of Bermuda's Chamber of Commerce characterized these developments as a “big blow to the island’s economy.” 

Photo credit:  Grand Princess cruise ship in Bermuda Flickr (tribewantedgilligan)

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Two months ago I commented on the absurd press releases issued by Royal Caribbean Cruises in an article "Royal Caribbean Press Statements And Other Gobbledygook."

Well here we go again!

Yesterday Royal Caribbean released a PR statement entitled "Over-Worked Americans Give Up an Average of 459 Million Vacation Days Each Year."  Royal Caribbean points out that most Americans are "over-worked, over-tired and stressed-out."  I agree, this sound like my law office. 

In response, Royal Caribbean suggests that a cruise will solve everything.  The cruise line tries to relate to the average Joe by reminding him " . . . if the President of the United States, who just returned from a respite on Martha's Vineyard, can still find time, then shouldn't everyone?"

Yikes.  I can just see an employee, struggling to pay the house mortgage and car note, telling his boss - I'm  going spend a few thousands of dollars and chill out on a cruise with my family.  See ya later!     

The cruise line's marketing people even came up with a catchy phrase - "Cruise Them Or Lose Them."

The cruise line claims that vacations reduce the chances that a woman will suffer depression by 50% and reduce a man's risk of suffering a heart attack by 32%.  Maybe the marketing slogan should have been even more straight forward: "Cruise Or Lose Your Life!" 

Now, this strikes me as some pretty desperate marketing.  Take a cruise or you are going to have a stroke?  How exactly is a week long drinking binge and all-you-can-eat buffets on a cruise ship going to avoid a coronary? 

But this is the "Nation of Why Not?"  So ladies throw away your Paxil and gentlemen flush your Lipitor down the drain.  All you need is a Royal Caribbean cruise. 

You can have your heart attack when you get back to work.

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Heart attacks on cruise ships are one of the leading causes of passenger deaths.  The U.S. and the Canadian Coast Guards do a remarkable job rescuing passengers from cruise ships, far distances from the mainland.

The video below show the rescue by the Canadian Coast Guard of a 78 year old passenger who suffered a heart attack and was in critical conditions. The cruise ship, the Sea Princess, was 100 miles from Vancouver Island.   

Credit:           /A\ News Vancouver Island

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