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

A number of news sources are reporting that yesterday the U.S. Coast Guard medevaced an ill cruise passengerman from a cruise ship to a North Carolina hospital for treatment.

The ship doctor on the Norwegian Cruise ine's Gem cruise ship notified the Coast Guard that  a 38-year-old man was going into shock. The cruise ship was reportedly about 75 miles east of Wilmington at the time.

A helicopter from the Coast Guard Air Station in Elizabeth City North Carolina then flew the man from the cruise ship to New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington.

The Coast Guard says the man was in stable condition. His name was not released.

• Comments (1)

Cruise expert Professor Ross Klein reports that a NCL passenger went overboard from Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Sun shortly after the cruise ship pulled out of the Falmouth shipping pier in Jamaica late Wednesday. 

Professor Klein has the most complete list of passenger overboards over the course of the last ten years.

Professor Klein's website refers to an article in the Jamaica Observer which reports that the Trelawny police responded to an incident late on Wednesday involving a passenger who died after going overboard from the top deck of the cruise ship Norwegian Sun.

The newspaper quotes the head of the Falmouth Police Division, Superintendent Andrew Lewis, stating that he was informed that the cruise passenger was taken from the water by crew members of the vessel, which had turned around after an alarm was raised that the passenger had jumped.

The police reported that the incident occurred 25 minutes after the vessel left the Falmouth cruise shipping pier about 6:00 pm.

The article is confusing, claiming that the passenger allegedly "jumped" while  Superintendent Lewis referred to "the man falling in the water."

Yesterday, the Jamaican Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett issued a bizarre statement, expressing regret over the incident but said he stating that "the circumstances has nothing to do the destination."

NCL, which is based here in Miami, has not issued a statement about the incident.  The only reports I have seen about the passenger overboard are from Professor Klein who is in Canada, and the newspaper in Jamaica.  

The Miami-based cruise lines do a remarkable job keeping these type of incidents under the radar.

Like many overboards, it is less than clear whether the passenger jumped or fell, and if so whether alcohol was involved.

If you were on the cruise or have information, photographs or video regarding the incident, please leave a comment below. 

November 4, 2011 Update:

Tonight NCL issued the following statement:

"At approximately 7 pm ET on Wednesday, November 2, 2011, a guest traveling on Norwegian Sun was observed jumping overboard from a public area on Deck 12.  The ship immediately turned around, launched rescue boats and conducted a search.  At approximately 8 pm ET, the guest was located in the water, returned to the vessel and pronounced deceased by the ship’s doctor.

All appropriate authorities have been notified.  Out of respect for the family, the company will not be releasing any further details.  Norwegian Cruise Line extends its deepest sympathies to the guest’s family and friends during this difficult time.

Norwegian Sun departed Port Canaveral, Florida on October 29, 2011.  The ship is sailing a Western Caribbean itinerary and had visited Falmouth, Jamaica on Wednesday."

November 7, 2011 Update:

Several passengers have left comments below.  One passenger, Kate, sent us a photograph of one the rescue boats.  (The exposure of the photo was adjusted substantially because it was very dark).

• Comments (25)

Multiple news sources are reporting that two passengers died aboard a Norwegian Cruise Line ship which returned to port in Boston this morning.  The passengers died separately on the ship on Thursday.

One of the passengers, a 67-year-old woman, has been removed from the vessel.  State Police said that her death was not suspicious.

The second death, involving a 23-year-old man, is being investigated.  His cabin is being scrutinized by crime scene investigators because of his young age and the unknown cause of his death.

Massachusetts State Police and Suffolk County detectives are investigating the deaths.  

NCL has yet to commented on either death. 

The last time a young passenger died on a NCL was August of last year.  A 21 year old passenger died aboard the Epic after a severe allergic reaction to peanuts.   

Were you on the cruise or have information about these deaths?  Please leave a comment below.

October 28, 2011 Update:  The NCL cruise ship is the Norwegian Dawn.  The local District Attorney states that neither incident involved foul play.  

• Comments (8)

A local news station in Tampa, WTSP 20 News, has a story about an elderly couple's cruise horror story. 

Betty and Ronald Coleman from Port Ritchie Florida were sailing on a Panama Canal cruise aboard the Norwegian Pearl when Mr. Coleman contracted what is described as norovirus.  NCL put the Colemans ashore in Cartegena Columbia without contacting the couple's son Mark, even though they listed him as the emergency contact on paperwork the cruise line required them to fill out. 

Ms. Coleman, who was obviously overwhelmed by trying to take care of her sick husband, complains: "My son is on the paper you sign, for next of kin to be called in case of an emergency. I would have thought they would have notified him if they are leaving me in a foreign country."  

The couple's son first learned of his parent's plight after receiving a frantic call from his mother.  She did not know where she was.  NCL subsequently told him that that she was still on the cruise ship.  Finally, Mark had to contact the State Department to find his parents.

NCL claims that it provided the couple with an opportunity to call home, but the Colemans allegedly "chose not to."   How and why this allegedly occurred is not explained.  But a cruise line should never disembark an elderly couple like this in a foreign country without first making sure that it contacted the emergency contact.  It's far fetched to believe that the couple instructed NCL not to call the emergency contact.  It's inexcusable for NCL not to have done so.  Ms. Coleman seemed stressed out and Mr. Coleman, described in the video as " . . . so sick that he could not sit up to even sign a paper," was obviously so ill NCL didn't want him on its cruise ship.  

NCL issued a completely unrepentant press release.  NCL side stepped the norovirus issue, denied responsibility for not telling the family of the emergency, and claimed that the Colemans were, in fact, "appreciative" of the cruise line agent's assistance ashore in Columbia.

The guest relations team on a cruise ship should always contact the emergency contact number whenever it forces a family off of a cruise ship in a medical emergency.

Blaming the sick elderly guest in a case like this reflects poorly on the cruise lines' manners.

For other similar stories, read:

And The Cruise Industry Wonders Why It Has An Image Problem . . . (continued)

• Comments (1)

Last week we reported on the case of Lindo v. NCL (Bahamas) Ltd. where the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed the dismissal of a case filed on behalf of a seriously injured NCL crewmember from a U.S. court, leaving him to seek compensation in Nicaragua.    

Today the same court entered a similar order in the case of Henriquez v. NCL.  Mr. Henriquez was injured when another  crew member smashed a glass bottle on his head and stabbed him while they were aboard the NCL cruise ship.

When he filed suit for compensation under the Jones Act and the maintenance and cure doctrine, NCL responded with a motion to send his case to arbitration in Nicaragua where the arbitrator would apply Bahamian law. 

The appellate court refused to entertain the crewmember's argument that arbitration is against public policy because an arbitrator in Nicaragua applying Bahamian law might not recognize his claim under the Jones Act.  The court held that Mr. Henriquez "cannot avail himself of the public policy defense at this stage . . . only after arbitration may a court 'refuse to enforce an arbitral award if the award is contrary to the public policy of the country.'"

The court also rejected the argument that arbitration should not proceed because he signed his employment agreement under duress. 

Finally, the Eleventh Circuit dismissed the crewmember's maintenance and cure award and held that it was subject to arbitration.

This xenophobic decision is unconscionable.  The Bahamas has not adopted U.S. statutory law or maintenance and cure.  This type of ruling ensures that cruise lines face limit virtually no accountability when they injure a crewmember on their cruise ships and then refuse to provide prompt and adequate medical care.  In the process, the Eleventh Circuit has departed from 90 years of Jones Act history and close to 200 years of maintenance and cure decisions.    

• Comments

Yesterday, in the case of Lindo v. NCL, a federal appellate court entered a decision which further stripped the legal rights away from seriously injured cruise employees.   

The Lindo case is the latest decision which reflects that our judiciary has little concern for the rights of cruise employees outside of the U.S. 

Eight years ago the Norwegian cruise ship Norway blew up at the port of Miami.  Originally bearing the name SS France, the Norway was an old decrepit cruise ship built in 1960.  It was poorly maintained.  Over the course of 40 years, the ship's old boilers had been neglected to the  point of criminal wrongdoing   The cruise ship suffered from a long history of safety problems.  The NCL executives refused to invest the money necessary to replace the dangerous boilers which were cracking and ready to burst. 

The cruise ship was a time bomb waiting to explode.  

On May 25, 2003, the faulty boilers blew up while the Norway was docked at the port of Miami.  Vapors, smoke and human flesh billowed hundreds of feet into the air.  The explosion scalded eight Filipinos and one Jamaican crewmember to excruciatingly painful deaths, leaving dozen of family members grieving the loss of their husbands, fathers and brothers.  

The families filed lawsuits against NCL and its parent company, Star Cruises, for negligence under the Jones Act, unseaworthiness, failure to pay maintenance and cure under the general maritime law of the United States, and punitive damages

NCL paid what is described as a confidential settlement, rumored to be over $7,000,000, to the family of the dead Jamaican crewmember.

But NCL responded to the lawsuits filed by the families of the eight dead Filipino men by moving to enforce language in the crewmembers' employments agreements which purported to prohibit the filing of lawsuits in the U.S.  NCL argued that the dead men's lives were to be valued by a compensation scheme set up in the Philippines which set the value of a dead seafarer at around $60,000.  

Even though the cruise line is headquartered here in Miami and the accident occurred here, NCL instructed its Miami defense lawyers to argue that the families had to pursue arbitration in Manila where a dead Filipino was considered less valuable than the luxury cars driven by NCL's executives.

Why the discrepancy between the compensation owed to the wife and children of a Jamaican crewmember versus the family of a Filipino? 

The answer lies in the word "arbitration."  Unlike the Filipinos, Jamaican crewmembers were not subject to arbitration agreements, which are designed by large corporations to take away a crewmember's right to a jury trial in the U.S.   The Jones Act has provided crewmembers - both U.S. and "foreign" seafarers - the right to seek compensation from juries in the U.S. for dangerous work conditions aboard ships for the past 90 years.

Recognizing that a U.S. jury would fairly consider compensation for the Jamaican seafarer, NCL paid a fair amount of compensation to the surviving family members in Jamaica. 

But for a Filipino who might have to arbitrate the case?  NCL gambled that it could convince a U.S. federal court to kick the Filipino families' cases out of the U.S. because of an "arbitration" clause in the Filipino crewmembers' employment agreements.  Without a jury trial under the Jones Act in the U.S., the Filipinos' cases would be worth peanuts.

NCL's strategy worked.

On October 14, 2003, in the case of Bautista v. Star Cruises, 286 F. Supp. 2d 1352 (S.D. Fla. 2003), a federal district court in Miami granted NCL’s motion to compel arbitration and closed the cases.  On January 18, 2005, in Bautista v. Star Cruises, 396 F.3d 1289 (11th Cir. 2005), the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the order compelling arbitration.

The Bautista case stripped the NCL crewmembers of their right to try their cases in state court before a jury in the U.S.  The opinion was a result-oriented decision for big business and against the "little man."  NCL thereafter settled the death cases for a small fraction of what anyone in a civilized country would consider fair and just    

After NCL's stunning success in Bautista, other cruise lines based in Miami began inserting language in their crewmember contracts of employment taking away the right to a jury trial under the Jones Act.   Carnival and Royal Caribbean began requiring the cruise employees to arbitrate their cases outside of the U.S. without a jury.  The cruise lines unilaterally deprived their ship employees of U.S. remedies and inserted language requiring the application of foreign law. 

Crewmembers have historically been entitled to special protection under U.S. law.  Under the Jones Act, cruise employees are entitled to seek compensation for unsafe work conditions and must prove only that their injuries were caused by their employer's slightest degree of negligence.  Under the "unseaworthiness" doctrine, cruise lines are liable to their employees for dangerous shipboard conditions without a showing of negligence.  Crewmembers are also entitled to the payment of their living expenses and medical care under the "maintenance and cure" doctrine which has existed in the U.S. since around 1820.  Another important right afforded to seamen is a Federal statute which provides penalties against maritime employers for not timely paying wages to the crewmembers.

Cruise lines instead chose to insert the law of countries like Panama or the Bahamas.  These countries do not recognize the unseaworthiness or maintenance and cure doctrines.  Although the concept of negligence exists, these countries apply a much higher threshold necessary to establish liability and do not provide nearly the same elements of compensation.    

For the past six years, the cruise lines have sought to enforce arbitration clauses which send their employees outside of the U.S. to foreign countries which have few laws protecting the crewmembers.

In 2009, the crewmembers finally received a break when the Eleventh Circuit held an arbitration clause attempting to apply Panamanian law was null and void when it deprived the seaman of his U.S. statutory right to recover penalties wages when the cruise line refuses to timely pay wages. 

In Thomas v. Carnival Corp., 573 F.3d 1113 (11th Cir. 2009), the court held that public policy prohibited a cruise line from enforcing arbitration where the result was that a crewmember was stripped of his rights under U.S. law.  

Unlike the tortured and result-oriented reasoning in Bautista, the Thomas decision was regarded as a fair and logical decision by the Eleventh Circuit.  Finally, the Eleventh Circuit pushed back against the cruise industry's wholesale assault against the rights of crewmembers.     

Many maritime lawyers thought that the Eleventh Circuit would apply the logic of the Thomas decision to reject arbitration clauses which stripped crewmembers of their statutory rights under the Jones Act.    

But yesterday, crewmembers received a cruel blow when the Eleventh Circuit upheld a decision enforcing a NCL arbitration agreement which required the application of the law of the Bahamas and prohibited a seaman  from pursuing litigation in the U.S. applying the Jones Act.  In Lindo v. NCL, a crewmember from Nicaragua employed on the Norwegian Dawn was seriously injured during his work.  The NCL employment agreement contained language that crewmember claims  would be arbitrated in Nicaragua (Lindo’s country of citizenship) under Bahamian law (the law of the flag state of cruise ship).

In a split decision, the Eleventh Circuit upheld the arbitration agreement even though the crewmember lost his right to a jury trial under the Jones Act.  In a plodding and painfully reasoned 66 page opinion, the majority essentially upheld Bautista and effectively overruled the Thomas decision.   The court prohibited the seaman from making a public policy argument that the effect of a forum clause sending his case to Nicaragua and a choice of law clause applying Bahamian law waived his rights.   The court held that at the conclusion of the case, he might be able to raise this argument, although this appears to be at best an inefficient result and more probably an illusory remedy. 

In a well written and compelling dissent, Judge Barkett cited the tradition of recognizing the “great public policy of preserving [seamen as an] important class of citizens for the commercial service and maritime defence of the nation.”  Judge Barkett cited one of my favorite maritime cases, the case of Harden v. Gordon, 11 F. Cas. 480, 483 (No. 6,047) (C.C.D. Me. 1823) where U.S. Supreme Court Justice Story adopted "maintenance and cure" as part of American jurisprudence.  

Seamen have historically been regarded as "wards of the admiralty," and their rights have been a special subject of U.S. maritime jurisdiction.  The majority opinion in Lindo completely ignores this well established tradition and line of cases.  The Lindo decision has no mention of equitable principles, public policy, or basic human rights.

The notion that a crewmember stripped of his Jones Act, unseaworthy and maintenance and cure remedies under U.S. law will find justice under the laws of the Bahamas in an arbitration proceeding in Nicaragua is preposterous.

Unless there is a reconsideration by the Eleventh Circuit en banc, the cruise industry will view the Lindo case as a green light to screw ship employees at every turn. 

• Comments

Fellow Miami lawyer Keith Brais has filed a lawsuit against Norwegian Cruise Lines ("NCL") on behalf of a passenger who alleges that she was raped while aboard the Norwegian Sun cruise ship.

The alleged incident occurred in April when the passenger was participating in an NCL organized "pub crawl."   

NCL employees took her and other guests around the ship stopping briefly to drink at various bars where the bartenders encouraged the passengers to drink above safe limits.  After the drinking game, the passenger alleges that she was raped in a public bathroom.

The lawsuit alleges that NCL created a dangerous situation by over-serving the guest alcohol to the point that she could not protect herself and not escorting her safely back to her cabin.

Several years ago, an appellate court here in Miami held that cruise lines face liability when they serve passengers alcohol to and then past the level of intoxication.  The fact that the passenger voluntarily drank the alcohol does not act as a bar to the legal claim.

Mr. Brais is one of the few maritime lawyers here in Miami who blogs about cruise line issues.  His blog is called the Maritime Law Blog and is worth reading. 

• Comments

Hawaii News Now is reporting today that an environmental group in Hawaii has located an illegal dumping site.

Much of the garbage and large plastic bags reportedly came from the Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of America cruise ship, including "paperwork, documents, and dozens of cabin cards with the names of passengers and the dates they sailed."

The Hawaii News Now website reports that Carroll Cox, president of EnviroWatch, was tipped off to the dump site.

In addition to the cruise ship trash, the site contained old tires and oil bins.

The website reported that a company called Honship Maritime Service collects NCL's garbage from its cruise ship.   Honship Maritime Services apparently has a contract with a company called "The Trash Man" to haul the trash away.

Looks like someone took a shortcut and dumped about a quarter acre of garbage across the site. 

The state inspectors are in the process of investigating the dump site and will determine who is responsible for not properly disposing the garbage.

The article contains a number of photographs of the garbage including a photo of discarded NCL cocktail glasses.

Photo credit: Hawaii News Now  

• Comments

A post by a cruiser on a CruiseCritic forum yesterday indicates that a cruise passenger visiting Bermuda was assaulted and battered in an attempted robbery last week.

One June 14th, a passenger from the NCL Dawn cruise ship was walking back to the ship around 4:00 p.m. from Snorkel Beach on what is described as a "relatively well traveled walkway in front of the main entrance to the Maritime Museum." 

A Bermudian man punched the passenger in the face, knocking him to the ground and then began to search through the passenger's pockets.  The passenger fought back and then fled back to the cruise ship where he reported the incident to security personnel and customs agents. Bermudian police reportedly stated that such attacks have become more frequent  in recent years.

On June 8th, the BDA Sun reported that two NCL crewmembers from the Dawn were assaulted early in the morning in Snorkel Park and one of the crewmembers required medical treatment in a hospital.

The newspaper then published an article about the fracas entitled Warning of Tourism Fallout after Fight.   Snorkel Park chief Tom Steinhoff is quoted as saying: "Behaviour like this threatens further investment in Bermuda and threatens Bermuda tourism – we are going to do everything we can to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again."

On May 31, 2011, the Royal Gazette newspaper reported on the attacks of two cruise tourists in an article entitled "Man Admits Attack on Cruise Ship Visitors."  A Bermudan man admitted attacking two cruise tourists with a piece of metal pipe in a public bathroom in Par-la-Ville Park.  As usual, the newspaper did not mention the name of the cruise line or cruise ship.

Last week's violent assault and battery of a cruise passenger is not going to help the island's reputation.

The Bermuda Police have an online website which contains "daily reports" of crime.  Although there is an online account of the earlier incident involving the crewmembers, there is no mention of the assault of the cruise passenger last week.

Unlike many of the Caribbean islands, Bermuda has long enjoyed a reputation for being a generally safe destination (the exception being the brutal rape and death of a young Canadian tourist Rebecca Middleton and the incompetence of the Bermudian authorities which followed). 

Are crimes against cruise passengers and crew a problem in Bermuda?    

June 22, 2011 Update:

Cruise Critic has an interesting article about this incident.  The police in Bermuda are claiming that this was no random act of violence but rather a "drug deal gone wrong."  The police do not deny that the passenger was injured.  Rather they are saying that the alleged drug transaction led to the violence. 

I'm not sure that makes me feel any better.  It seems to raise the issue whether Bermuda may have a problem with drugs as well as violent crime. 

The article is entitled "Bermuda Police Debunk Alleged Attack on Cruise Ship Passenger." 

June 23, 2011 Update:

The Royal Gazette newspaper in Bermuda is finally covering the story - "Alleged Robbery was Drug Deal Gone Bad Govt."
 

• Comments

Multiple news sources are reporting that a passenger from a Norwegian Cruise Line cruise ship went overboard in the Mississippi River last night. 

The Norwegian Spirit had sailed for approximately three hours from New Orleans when the passenger went into the river around 8:00 p.m.

A rescue boat was deployed from the NCL cruise ship.  The passenger was rescued and returned  back to the cruise ship.

The passenger was injured and received medical treatment aboard the cruise ship which made arrangements to disembark the passenger ashore further treatment.

There are no reports explaining how and why the passenger went overboard.  The good news is that the passenger was rescued safely, which is not the usual outcome of cases like this.

A photograph was taken of the rescue by a passenger aboard the cruise ship and posted via Twitter, @sheets.

Does anyone have information about this latest overboard?  Please leave a comment below.

Photo credit:   @sheets

• Comments (1)

The Royal Gazette newspaper reports that a crew member from the the Norwegian Sun cruise ship was transported to Bermuda because of a medical emergency.

The Norwegian Cruise Line ship was near Bermuda after sailing from Port Canaveral, Florida en route to the Azores when the 23 year old Peruvian crew member became ill.

The cruise ship took the crew member off the ship by stretcher to a pilot vessel which transported her to the island of Bermuda where she was taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

Cruise Lines like NCL have a non-delegable duty to provide prompt, adequate and complete medical care to their ill and injured crew members. 

Medevacs involving crewmembers are relatively rare, especially compared to medical evacuations of passengers.

• Comments (1)

The Miami Herald and CBS-4 are reporting that the NCL Epic cruise ship returned to port in Miami late last night shortly after leaving on a Caribbean cruise due to a medical emergency involving a passenger. 

The Miami Herald's article "Emergency Forces Cruise Ship's Return to Miami - Passenger May Have Died" stops short of stating that the passenger died.  But numerous on line sources are indicating that the emergency involved a passenger death. 

The newspaper's story is based on comments posted on what is described as a "popular cruising website" (probably  CruiseCritic.com).  The comments apparently suggest that a 21 year old passenger may have died due to an allergic reaction to something he ate.  A number of police officers boarded the cruise ship when it returned to port in Miami, and there is alot of speculation about what happened.   

There has been no information released by NCL, which adds to the speculation.  This cruise line public relations contacts are Susan Robison, vice president, corporate communications & media promotions (305) 436-4762 srobison@ncl.com, and AnneMarie Mathews, director, public relations (305) 436-4799 amathews@ncl.com.  

And its vice president of sales and passenger services, Andy Stuart, is a regular on Twitter @nclandy and tweeted non stop when the Epic made its inaugural voyage a few months ago. 

Cruise lines like NCL lose alot of credibility when the only time you hear from them is when they are selling cruises and they disappear when trouble strikes.  

Update:

A travel agent and blogger's website Chris Cruises has the following statement from NCL:

“After setting sail on a seven-day Eastern Caribbean cruise yesterday at approximately 4 pm, Norwegian Epic returned to the Port of Miami at approximately 12:45 am for a medical disembarkation. While the ship was approximately 40 nautical miles from Miami, a guest on board suffered a heart attack and passed away. All local authorities were notified and some met the ship upon arrival. The ship departed at approximately 2:45 am. Norwegian Cruise Line extends its sincerest thoughts and prayers to the guest’s family during this difficult time.”

Although the official NCL statement references a "heart attack," the FBI stated that the passenger had an allergic reaction to food.

A passenger on the cruise left a comment below that the passengers ate peanuts in a cookie.

The comments regarding the incident at Cruise Critic are here.   

The passenger has been identified as Kevin Edouard of Spring Valley, New York.

August 20 2010 Update:

A news station in Tampa reports that NCL confirmed that Mr. Edouard suffered a severe allergic reaction to peanuts: "Epic Passenger's Allergy Believed to be Peanut." 

August 23, 2010 update:

Passengers on the cruise are commenting that another passenger died and a brawl broke out during the cruise.    

Please leave a comment below if you are on the cruise or have information about what happened.

• Comments (24)

This has been another exciting week in the strange world of the cruise industry.  I thought that I would spend this Friday recapping some of the interesting cruise stories this week.   

Cruise Shills?

The week started with the travel site Tnooz picking up our article Cruise Crime and the Indifference of Travel Writers and asking Are Travel Writers Shills For The Cruise Lines? 

A number of prominent travel writers, including Pauline Frommer of the Frommer Travel fame, left comments.  Ms. Frommer was right on point in discussing the provisions of the new cruise safety law, which will be signed by President Obama next week.  And she was gracious in thanking the International Cruise Victims for pushing the new cruise law forward over intense opposition by the cruise industry and its shill organization, the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA).  Other travel writers joined the debate, including a few cruise travel writers who could not help taking a cheap shot against our blog.

Royal Caribbean Norovirus

Readers of Cruise Law News continue to comment that Royal Caribbean is struggling with norovirus aboard its cruise ships.  There are 50 comments to our article Norovirus On Royal Caribbean's Jewel Of The Seas?  The last comment today reports that the Celebrity Constellation continues to have norovirus on board, following the usual ill-fated last minute "additional sanitizing."

Stay tuned.  You will continue to hear stories of sick passengers - followed by "enhanced cleaning" - and then more sick passengers.  When will this cruise line release the test results of the potable water on its ships?  Tired of this cruise line always blaming passengers for not washing their hands?  Consider reading Cruise Ship Norovirus - Something in the Water?   

Murder on NCL's Jade? 

Several sources are reporting that a passenger was murdered aboard Norwegian Cruise Line's Jade cruise ship earlier this week.

Canadian sociologist and cruise crime expert Dr. Ross Klein and the ever gossipy Cruise Critic community published passenger accounts that a passenger murdered his wife on the Jade.   

Did it happen?  I don't know.  I hope not.  But NCL will never say.

This is one of the classic problems with the cruise lines.  They are terrified of bad press so they sweep the bad news under the rug.  But when the truth comes out, they look like they are hiding the ball.  The new cruise law will address this issue.  Cruise lines will be required to report crimes at sea and also provide a link on their web sites to the crime data. 

When the new cruise law takes effect, the public can cut through the gossip and finally take an an accurate account of cruise ship crime.   

Were you aboard the NCL Jade?  Do you have information to share about the alleged murder? 

Were you aboard the Royal Caribbean Jewel of the Seas or the Celebrity Constellation?  How is the cruise line handling the latest bouts of norovirus? 

If you have some information to wish to share, please leave a comment below.

• Comments (4)

My article on Wednesday "And The Cruise Industry Wonders Why It Has An Image Problem . . ." contained the "usual suspects" - Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Carnival subsidiary Princess Cruises - whose shenanigans have been featured in Cruise Law News over the past year.

But right after publishing the article, I read a story in the Miami Herald's "Action Line" - "Funeral Disrupts Cruise Plans" - which involved another Miami cruise line, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL).

The story is straight forward.  A couple from Key Largo, Ms. Boland and Mr. Samuel, purchased a NCL cruise on the Sky leaving from Miami with three other couples.  But Mr. Samuel's brother died, and his funeral was in Georgia on the day the ship sailed.  So the couple notified NCL, asking for a credit on a future cruise.  NCL said no. They then asked for their cruise to be donated to charity (Make-A-Wish).  NCL said no.

Then comes the sick part.  NCL then re-sold the cabin to another couple.  Yep.  NCL got a double profit due to the death of Mr. Samuel's brother.  Really sick.

NCL is active on Twitter @NCLFreestyle, so I tweeted a reference to the Miami Herald article. 

No response. 

NCL's "Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Passenger Services," Andy Stuart, is also active on Twitter @nclandy .  So I tweeted him "Double cruise profit for death? Say it aint so Andy!" 

No response. 

NCL should have permitted a child with cancer and his or her parent go on a once-in-a-lifetime cruise.  Or make a small donation in memory of Mr. Samuel's brother.  But to double sell the cabin under these circumstances?

And cruise lines wonder why they have an image problem .  .  . 

Credits:

Photographs     Twitter

• Comments

A fascinating article appeared in USA Today's Cruise Blog by Gene Sloan - "Titans of the Cruise Industry See Their Net Worth Soar."

This is an amazing article reporting on the Forbes 400 richest people in the U.S., which includes Carnival fat cat billionaires Mickey Arison, Royal Caribbean's Pritzker family, and entrepreneur Leon Black whose private equity firm controls Norwegian Cruise Lines, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. 

The article which is re-printed in its entirety below is an insight into how to create a fortune by convincing tax paying Americans to turn over their hard earned money to foreign incorporated, non-tax paying companies operating foreign flagged cruise ships. 

The phenomenon is of particular interest to me because I represent the backbone of the cruise industry - crewmembers like Ismael Richards (photograph above) who worked for 14 years - over 350 hours a month never making more than $545 a month until his back failed and he was abandoned by the cruise line.

Mr. Richards found himself with an one-way ticket back to St. Vincent, disabled, with no 401(k) plan, no pension, no job prospects, no social security and no social safety network.

So here is the article about cruise line billionaires, for your prurient interests:  

"The past year has been a good one to be a titan of the cruise industry. Just ask Micky Arison (photograph right).

A year ago, as cruise stocks were plunging along with the economy, wealth watcher Forbes was pegging the Carnival mogul's net worth at just $2.9 billion -- a multi-year low. But with the industry on the rebound, Arison's fortunes once again are on the rise.

Forbes' annual ranking of the world's billionaires for 2010, out late Wednesday, puts Arison's net worth at $4.4 billion, placing him at No. 189 on the magazine's closely-watched list. A year ago he ranked at No. 221.

Arison still has a long way to go to reach his former glory. As recently as four years ago, when the cruise business was riding high, Arison's hefty stake in Carnival had landed him among the 100 richest people in the world. In 2006, Forbes estimated Arison's net worth at more than $6 billion, putting him at No. 94 on the list. He ranked at No. 129 in 2007 and No. 189 in 2008.

Micky Arison isn't the only Arison whose fortunes are rebounding. Another Carnival heir, Shari Arison, is now worth $3.4 billion, up from $2.7 billion a year ago, according to Forbes. Alas, Shari Arison's rising wealth isn't enough to keep her in place in the rankings, where she has dropped to No. 277 from No. 234 in 2009. Four years ago she was within striking distance of the Top 100 at 109.

Another would-be cruise mogul, Leon Black (photograph below, left), also is doing better. The self-made financier who controls Apollo Management -- the private equity firm that in turn controls Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven seas Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line  -- almost didn't make the Forbes list last year as his net worth plunged to just $1.1 billion. But this year he's on the rebound with a net worth that Forbes pegs at $2.5 billion. He now ranks No. 277 on the list, up from No. 647 a year ago.

Also faring better are the many members of the Pritzker family of Chicago who collectively own a sizable chunk of Royal Caribbean.  Forbes says Thomas Pritzker is now worth $1.6 billion, up from $1.3 billion a year ago (though his ranking on the list has fallen to No. 616 from No. 559 in 2009). Jay Robert Pritzker, Anthony Pritzker and Penny Pritzker, with $1.4 billion a piece, are next at No. 721, followed by a half dozen more Pritzkers who tie at No. 773."

Credits:

Ishmael Richards                 Jim Walker's Flickr photostream

Mickey Arison                         Business Week

Leon Black                             Adam Berry / Bloomberg / Lardov

• Comments

A jury here in Miami awarded a crew member injured on a cruise ship approximately $9,500,000 as compensation for serious injuries sustained on a NCL cruise ship.

Danny Simpson, a citizen of the U.K., was employed by spa concessionaire, Steiner Transocean, as a fitness instructor aboard the Norwegian Crown. In 2006, he slipped on the spa floor and injured his back.

Mr. Simpson sustained nerve injury to his spine which caused urological damage. He now suffers from impotence and underwent penile implant procedures.  Mr. Simpson also experiences bowel and urinary problems and has to use a catheter.  His family has to wash out her bowels several times a week. 

Mr. Simpson, age 42, is married and has six children.

The verdict was obtained by my friend, David Brill, and his law partner Julio Ayala.

David Horr and Eduardo Hernandez (photo, right) of the law firm of Horr Novak & Skipp defended Steiner Transocean at trial. 

Previously, NCL reached a settlement with Mr. Simpson before trial.

Following the filing of post trial motions by Steiner's lawyers, this case will go on appeal for another year.  

For other breaking cruise law news, don't forget to read:  Top Cruise Story of 2009 - Sister of Missing Princess Crew Member Angelo Faliva Speaks Out: "Vogliamo la Verità!" - "We Want the Truth!"

Credit:

Norwegian Crown  Tim Martin (via worldshipny.com)

• Comments

A 73-year-old cruise line tourist died after being shot by robbers in Santo Thomas de Castilla.  The Latin American Herald Tribune identified the victim as Paul Wolfgang Ritter.  There has been some confusion regarding his nationality, as different newspapers identified him as either a Dutch or German tourist.

Mr. Ritter was a passenger aboard a NCL cruise ship.  Although the name of the ship was not mentioned, NCL has two cruise ships the Norwegian Spirit and the Norwegian Sun which call on Guatemala.

Mr. Ritter was on a paid tour of Santo Thomas de Castilla and was visiting its historic cemetary when two men tired to rob him of his camera and then shot him.  The newspaper reported the capture of "two youth gang members" suspected in the murder. The banditos were identifed as gang members because of the tatoos on their faces.

Several newspapers, including CBS News, covering the story also commented on Guatemala's crime wave that has driven the murder rate up to around 17 a day - a statistic not known by most cruise passengers.

The Latin American Herald Tribune reports that "the more than 5,400 homicides reported last year in Guatemala – a nation of approximately 13 million – was nearly equal to the number of murders in neighboring Mexico, which has more than 100 million inhabitants and is the scene of open warfare among rival drug cartels."

A number of cruise lines other than NCL call on Santo Thomas de Castilla as a regular port, including Holland America Line and P & O Cruises.  P & O 's website has a section called "About Santo Thomas de Castilla" which promotes a visit to the cemetary as part of its "featured shore excurions:"

Santo Thomas de Castilla lies on Amatique Bay, off the Gulf of Honduras in northeast Guatemala. Belgians settled here in the 19th century and today you can see the cemetery where the pioneers are buried.

Crimes committed against cruise passengers while ashore in ports of call are a concern throughout the Caribbean and Central America.  Three weeks ago, Cruise Law News was the first in the U.S. to report that eleven cruise passengers were robbed at gunpoint at a major tourist attraction in downtown Nassau on a Sunday morning - "Eleven Cruise Passengers Robbed in Nassau."  

These types of stories do not find themselves being reported in U.S. newspapers.  The cruise community ignores them.   

Cruise lines are legally obligated to warn passengers of crime dangers in the ports of call they select and advertise for passengers. But don't expect the cruise line to provide a warning to your family, although some travel agents tell their clients to be careful.   

Photo credits

Santo Thomas de Castilla cemetary    Marycatherine Flickr Photodtream

Santo Thomas de Castilla shore excursion       P & O Cruises

• Comments (3)

Cruise ships are routinely used by both passengers and crew members to smuggle drugs.  Two recent newspaper articles from the Royal Gazette in Bermuda point this out.

Today, the newspaper reports that a passenger aboard Norwegian Cruise Line's (NCL) Norwegian Dawn was sentenced to seven years in prison in Bermuda for smuggling 5,048 grams of marijuana, with a street value of $252,000. 

U.S. passenger Anthony Issac brought the drugs to the Island in a suitcase aboard the NCL cruise ship.  A  "friend" of his paid him $10,000 to go on vacation and to drop the suitcase off in Bermuda.  The NCL passenger, a 34 year-old truck driver from the Bronx, apologized to the court in Bermuda.  He explained that he smuggled the reefer because he was "experiencing financial problems and  thought the money would help."

A couple of months ago, the Royal Gazette reported that a NCL cruise ship employee was jailed  for attempting to import more than $12,000 worth of cannabis into Bermuda. Crew member, Elroy Bent Brackman from Columbia, was offered $500 to import the drug while working aboard NCL cruise ship Norwegian Dawn. He had been caught smoking weed in his cabin, which led to a search.  

Like the NCL passenger, the crew member claims that he given $500 in New York if he would bring smuggle the marijuana on the cruise ship.  The court in Bermuda sentenced him to two-and-a-half years' in jail.

In November 2006, another NCL crew member Teeteta Lereria was sentenced to five years after trying to smuggle cannabis and heroin valued at more than $311,000 into Bermuda. She was employed as a cleaner aboard NCL's Norwegian Spirit.

Many of the crew members, particularly "cleaners" who do not earn tips, earn as little as $535 a month.  Working as much as 85 hours a week, their wages turn out to be less than $1.60 an hour.  Whereas this does not  justify criminal conduct, low wage employees are susceptible to being used as drug mules.  

The presence of drugs on cruise ships, particularly smuggled by the crew, raises a concern of violence between crew members.  This problem may also be behind the "disappearance" of crew members over the years - stories which have largely been ignored by the U.s. media. 

A search of the Royal Gazette's archives reveals that many passengers have also been arrested or fined for bringing marijuana into Bermuda. 

October 26, 2009 Update:

The Bermuda Royal Gazette reports today that another NCL passenger was busted for pot.  This time it was aboard NCL's cruise ship, Norwegian Majesty.  A Bermuda Customs sniffer dog found 12 joints of marijuana during a search of the cruise ship, while the ship was in port in St. George's.

The cruise passenger is an American, Frank Brazinski from Pennsylvania.  The joints were discovered in the passenger's luggage inside his cabin.  Not sure I understand how this resulted in a charge of importing drugs into Bermuda. The passenger pled guilty.

• Comments