Royal Caribbean Cruise Passenger Sentenced to Jail for Over 5,000 Images of Child Pornography
In a story we first reported on in December last year, a cruise passenger aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for transporting thousands of child pornography photos and videos on a cruise from Port Canaveral.
Gary Lee Reed seemed like a normal passenger but an initial search of his laptop computer revealed 1,162 photos and videos when he cruised on Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas ship during a cruise to the Bahamas and back to Florida.
Federal agents searched the 47-year-old's computer laptop he brought during the cruise and found the extensive collection of child pornography. The Orlando Sentinel reported that around 350 of the victims in photos and videos were identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The images included sexual abuse of toddlers and babies.
Reed was returning to Port Canaveral at the end of the cruise to the Bahamas. The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of Homeland Security Investigations.
Reed is from Idaho and a newspaper there reported earlier this year that Reed had a desktop computer, thumb drives, CDs and DVDs where he downloaded and stored child pornography images at his home.
A forensic search of the computers, discs, USB flash and digital hard drives revealed a staggering amount of child pornography: 38,731 images and 680 videos of child pornography. A more detailed search of his laptop seized after the cruise in Florida revealed a total of 3,021 images and 2000 videos of child pornography.
Reed faced up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release for the crime, according to the plea agreement, which adds that he will also have to register as a sex offender.
Think passengers and crew members with child porn on cruises are rare? Read here.
Photo Credit: Florida Today
Jamaica. You can't comprehend a ship fire until you have seen the flames and billowing smoke and listened to the frightening sounds surrounding such an event..jpg)
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combustible materials such as wood or plastic and did not involve fuel or other flammable liquids.
Saturday night, CBS's "'48 Hours" will air what is being described as "important new evidence" in the mysterious disappearance of George Smith during his honeymoon cruise. The episode is called "48 Hours: Murder at Sea?"
We represented George's wife, Jennifer, who instructed us to retain noted forensic scientist Henry Lee in the face of the cruise line's lack of cooperation..jpg)
Cruise lines hate U.S. governmental scrutiny of their business operations. .jpg)
In his letters yesterday, the Senator is inquiring into the internal safety audits which the cruise lines and the cruise association are allegedly conducting. At the recent cruise trade show on Miami Beach, the Carnival, Royal Caribbean and NCL cruise executives talked at length about their ability to learn from their own internal investigations but never stated that they would release the reports from the investigations.
that 66 women were raped during a three year period. But in a court case we handled, the cruise line was ordered to reveal that the actual number of such crimes was much higher.
ordeal. The comments to her frightening personal experience are revealing. Some comments seem to be from crew members accusing her of being hysterical and essentially telling her to "get over it."
The charter costs over $3,000,000 plus the costs of booze, excursions, and of course flying the partners around the world to Spain. I don't see these fat cats flying economy.
ship's doctor only with "flu-like symptoms."
But in 2009, the couple were on a Royal Caribbean cruise as passengers aboard the Liberty of the Seas when Captain Myhra became ill and four days later died of Legionella in a Miami hospital..jpg)
Today was another weird day in the world of cruise law. Sitting in my office I watched CNN coverage of the bombing in Boston on my big screen TV's most of the day while also following the travel industry's internet coverage of the unveiling of images of Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas (as well as filing a few lawsuits against my favorite cruise line).
Quantum of the Seas presentation in a bumper car with a Royal Caribbean logo painted on the top. You guessed it - Royal Caribbean will offer the first cruise ship with a bumper car rink! Hundreds of drunk passengers without helmets smashing into each other on the high seas! That should keep the defense lawyers at the cruise line busy for a decade.
Then there is something called simulated sky-diving which the Quantum will premier. Sure sounds dangerous, but again it is "simulated" right? Looks like flying to me (broken neck anyone?). Take a look at the 
thought of was that Royal Caribbean probably over-served the guest too much booze in the first place. I later read comments that the passenger in question was probably drunk when he threw a bunch of stuff overboard and then staggered back to his cabin and passed out.
When injured Royal Caribbean crew members contact us, there are a few things that they usually say:
have baskets of Ibuprofen pills out at the nurse's station, not unlike a bowl of candy to eat..jpg)
Yesterday, I wrote a short article here about a 49 year old man who reportedly sexually assaulted a 15 year old boy on the Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas cruise ship. As I mentioned earlier, a FBI press release states that Todd Nordahl, of Tuscon Arizona, was arrested when the Royal Caribbean cruise ship returned to Galveston from a seven-night cruise. Nordahl was charged with sexually abusing the boy on March 27. He allegedly provided alcohol to the minor victim, made sexual advances toward the child and then sexually assaulted him.
The experts recommended that certain steps be taken to reduce the number of incidents. In response, the cruise line implemented none of the recommendations. Instead, Royal Caribbean began a PR campaign stating that sexual misconduct was "rare" and touted that the "safety of passengers was its highest priority." The Cruise Line International Association (CLIA) later adopted the "safety is our highest priority" slogan as its official talking point..jpg)
See the video below to watch the disturbing story..jpg)
The young girl, who was vacationing with her family, was led to believe that she would meet friends there. However, after entering entering the cabin, she was confronted by an older passenger, Luiz Scavone, age 20. His full name is Luiz Antônio Scavone Neto (right). The Broward Sheriff's Office (BSO) said that Scavone and the 15 year old boy prevented her from leaving, removed her clothing, forced oral sex, and then both raped her. "The victim told them 'no' several times and tried to leave but was not able to," according to the BSO. Scavone and the 15-year-old boy have been charged with "lewd and lascivious battery." Both pled guilty to the crimes..jpg)
Amado Nicholas Hernandez, age 31, (left) is a pedophile who was employed by Celebrity Cruises as an audiovisual manager and provided onboard guest-entertainment services aboard the Constellation cruise ship. Hernandez was arrested after police determined that his computer contained 450 photographs and about 250 video files of child pornography portraying a total of 44 different victims. The criminal complaint filed against Hernandez alleged that upcoming cruises included several stops in Mexico. Hernandez, in documented online chats, reportedly had bragged that he had bought young boys for sex in Mexico and “almost offed one,” the criminal complaint alleges. He reportedly dressed as Santa Claus on the Celebrity cruise ship and was photographed with the children of passengers sitting on his lap. .jpg)
A Royal Caribbean crew member has pleaded guilty to the sexual abuse of a 14 year old girl during a Caribbean cruise. 25 year old Fabian Palmer admitted engaging in sexual relations with the girl during a cruise from Baltimore in December 2010. Crew member Palmer was employed by Royal Caribbean as a pool attendant and interacted regularly with passengers during cruises. He met the girl and her family earlier during the cruise. Palmer took the child into a men's locker room on the Enchantment of the Seas and engaged in sexual acts in the bathroom..jpg)
images of child pornography on a laptop he took on the cruise ship. According to a complaint filed in Orlando federal court, authorities were inspecting cruise passengers onboard Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas cruise ship on December 10, 2012, when they discovered that the laptop computer of cruise passenger Gary Lee Reed, of Blackfoot Idaho, had around 1,162 images and videos depicting child pornography. The images included sexual abuse of toddlers and babies. Reed reportedly admitted that he has viewed child pornography for many years. He was arrested and subsequently indicted by an Orlando federal grand jury on a child pornography charge..jpg)
A Pittsburgh-area man was sentenced to nearly five years in federal prison for traveling to Florida in order to take a cruise so he could molest a young boy. Seventy-three-year-old Sherwood Stevenson pleaded guilty to traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. Stevenson fondled a 6-year-old boy while in a hot tub on the Royal Caribbean Liberty if the Seas cruise ship in December 2009. When that boy got away, Stevenson made brief contact with another boy. Stevenson told investigators he took the cruise so he could molest young boys..jpg)
A 49 year old cruise passenger was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a 15 year old boy during a recent cruise aboard the Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas.
Last night I received an email from a person who follows cruising who received information that there may have been what is being described as a "murder / suicide" on an unidentified Royal Caribbean cruise ship. There was a vague posting of the alleged incident on the .jpg)
If you have any information about this alleged incident, please leave a message or 
ship departed..jpg)
A former Royal Caribbean crew member recently posted a short video explaining, in his view, how the cruise line steals a portion of the tips intended for stateroom attendants. We posted the video in an article 
Royal Caribbean announced a new tipping policy.
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A year ago. Cruise Law News was the first one in the U.S. to report that a 
parties had stipulated to a dismissal. Sounds to me like Travolta paid a settlement, after losing his arbitration motion, in order to avoid the prospect of all of his dirty laundry being aired out before a jury in Los Angeles. The parties probably agreed to keep the settlement terms secret. A good move by Travolta to put this spectacle to bed.
Falmouth itself. The cruise passengers are bused out of town to shop in Ocho Rios or visit places like Dunns River Falls. 
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One of the topics I harp on here at Cruise Law News is the danger of having a sexual predator sailing in the next cabin to you while you enjoy a vacation cruise. 
A retired U.S. Coast Guard official called me last week about issues of cruise ship safety. We had an interesting hour and one-half discussion about whether modern cruise ships are designed to safely evacuate passengers and crew members in times of emergencies like fires or sinkings. 
Royal Caribbean not only has the largest cruise ships in the world, but it has the largest lifeboats in the world.
When these canisters are opened (see video bottom), a life-raft inflates in the water below. (We are talking about life-rafts - not lifeboats). These life-rafts are connected to a series of chutes running up to deck 4. The passengers and/or crew evacuate the cruise ships by jumping into the entrance to this emergency evacuation apparatus on deck 4. They then rapidly slide / fall down a steep, vertical drop into the inflated life-raft below..jpg)
his buttocks. After catching his breath, he exclaims "I got stuck!".jpg)
lifeboats and the rest will be left to take their chances jumping down the chutes hoping to land in a raft many stories below. 
Navigator of the Seas’ 15-night sailing from New Orleans to Rome (Civitavecchia) on April 6;
all sorts of trinkets." The stores sells an assortment of items including ". . . fridge magnets, shot glasses, key rings and even small Caribbean Christmas tree decorations.".jpg)
Mr. Smith were suspected of either being involved in or knowledgeable of the circumstances surrounding his death. 
It seems that Royal Caribbean has plans for a half-dozen new names for its cruise ships of the future..jpg)
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Royal Caribbean Cruises just announced a third Oasis-class cruise ship will be built at the South Korea-owned shipyard STX France after the financing fell through with the STX Finland shipyard. .jpg)
reefs
Although Royal Caribbean confirmed the incident occurred, the cruise line disembarked the passenger in Antigua rather than detaining him to be arrested by the FBI when the cruise ship returned to port in Fort Lauderdale.
Over 14 years ago, I was interviewed by Linda Coffman who has a very nice and exceedingly polite blog called 
Perhaps the idyllic and carefree perception of cruise vacations is as much to blame as anything for passenger discontent when the slightest out-of-the-ordinary incident crops up. Cruise lines tout their products as 'simply the best' and 'like no other vacation on earth.' Are they telling the truth? Absolutely. It's true--the worst day on a cruise is better than any day on land. Unless, of course, your ship is on fire, the plumbing doesn't work, or you're dead in the water with a tropical storm fast approaching. 
Maritime Law Association and serves on the Admiralty Law Committee of the Florida Bar. In addition to having the unique perspective of representing both cruise lines and passengers, he has handled cases for clients throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and South America. 
Take the fire aboard the Tropicale. Despite wide spread media coverage, few major news organizations reported the Tropicale’s prior problems which could be traced back to 1982 when a fire broke out during its inaugural cruise. 
After each incident of this type, the cruise lines immediately offer a reimbursement of some type and, perhaps, a free cruise. Inevitably, the story becomes old and everyone - including the cruise line - forgets about what happened, until the next collision, fire, or other mishap occurs.
Of course, the debate of a “free cruise or not” ignores the real issue of passenger safety. The important question is whether the cruise industry is devoting adequate financial resources to make their fleet as safe as possible for families and their children. Things like state of the art sprinkler systems, sophisticated security monitoring, and vigorous background checks on their employees.
line’s legal responsibility. An example would be when cruise lines change the itinerary and the passengers miss a popular port.
seems reasonable enough. But even if the cruise lines is negligent, there is a $100 limit of liability for lost valuables, and a $500 limit if the valuables are deposited in a safe-deposit box in the purser’s office and then lost or stolen. 
the cruise line knew or should have known of the hazard, yet failed to correct the hazard or warn passengers of the danger. This is often quite difficult to establish. 
Many lawyers by-pass the negotiation stage and file suit immediately. This is not always in a passenger’s best interest. The passenger usually lives in a distant state or in Canada or Europe. All cruise lines require that the lawsuit must be filed in a certain city, such as Miami. The passengers will therefore have to travel to Miami to appear for a deposition and for trial. Over 90% of our clients live outside of Florida, and over 30% live abroad. It is expensive to travel to and from Miami, and these expenses usually cannot be recovered from the cruise line even if they are found responsible. 
The 
Paul Trotter, age 34, is the most prolific cruise child porn king known to the public so far. He worked for Cunard for seven years as a child supervisor aboard the Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth. He would take the children to areas not covered by surveillance cameras and physically and sexually abuse them. A real sicko, he would film himself sexually molesting the children to watch later. This was ultimately what got him caught. Someone tipped the police off in the U.K. where he lived. A police search of his computer revealed not only child pornography but his own videos of his crimes against the kids he was entrusted with on cruises. One newspaper reported that he supervised the "play zone" on 295 cruises over his seven years with Cunard. He admitted to abusing thirteen child probably because he was caught with images of 13 victims, is my suspicion. 295 cruises and several thousand children. A play zone of his own with no one supervising him while he abused the customer's kids. A pedophile's dream. How many more victims are there? .jpg)
audiovisual manager and provided onboard guest-entertainment services aboard the Constellation cruise ship..bmp)
pornography. Putra was an assistant cabin attendant. It should concern any parent who cruises with their children to think of pedophile cabin attendants coming into the stateroom.
Timothy David Webb, age 32, (left) was arrested after he disembarked Royal Caribbean's cruise ship Grandeur of the Seas as a passenger at the Norfolk cruise ship terminal. Webb is a convicted sex offender and has a prior conviction sodomy in the state of Virginia. The customs agents pulled Webb from a line of passengers disembarking the cruise ship and searched his laptop, which contained child pornography videos. 
Djedovic from 2005 to March 2012 aboard a number of different cruise ships.
injured in a fall. The guest was initially treated in our medical facility, but required additional and urgent medical attention that could only be provided in a hospital. Therefore, the ship turned around and returned to Port Canaveral, Florida, where we could debark the guest and their family so that the guest could receive urgent medical care.
Several newspapers are reporting that a cruise ship passenger died during a snorkeling excursion while visiting the Caribbean island of Dominica.
The U.S. Attorney's Office released the following statement:
Last month, two cruise ships from Miami-based cruise lines arrived in New Orleans. NCL's Norwegian Star, with capacity for around 2,300 passengers, transitioned to the "Big Easy" and relieved the Norwegian Spirit which had been home-ported there. 
The lawyers here at Cruise Law are traveling again to Jamaica. We will be visiting our clients to see how they are doing. We will also make ourselves available to meet with any crew members (or their family members) who need to learn about the legal rights of cruise ship employees if they become ill or injured on cruise ships. .jpg)
Voyager of the Seas Passengers in Sydney Harbour
Many passengers were upset that the cruise line kept them in the dark. Some others were handed at the port an "information sheet" in which Royal Caribbean said those ill had been limited to ''a small percentage of guests.''
A passenger aboard the Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas cruise ship states that an engine room fire broke out ten days ago. 
medevaced after developing complications shortly after the ship left Galveston. You can watch the dramatic hoisting of the passenger up to the Coast Guard helicopter .jpg)
One of the web sites which I read from time to time is ".jpg)
Carnival
There is a nice article in the West Australia newspaper about a elderly cruise passenger who had the misfortune of falling on a cruise ship. 
Nancy also commented on the absence of any mention of the disease outbreak: "The outbreak didn't rate a mention on TV or news papers ($$ damaging to tourist trade)." (The image of the Voyager of the Seas to the left was from an earlier norovirus outbreak when the ship was sailing out of New Orleans in February). 
Alaska and back. I can't imagine the abuse of the waters in Europe, Africa, and South America.
of the seas. It adopted a PR campaign that it was "Saving the Waves" (see photo) by encouraging its employees (and guests) not to throw any garbage overboard..jpg)
so severe there were often ambulances waiting for passengers in the ports they visited."
The cruise lines always blame the passengers for not washing their hands, but there is far more to the story than pointing the finger at the guests. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), whereas "person to person" transmission of norovirus has been documented, "norwalk gastroenteritis is transmitted by the fecal-oral route via contaminated water and foods."
The 
For the past week I have been visiting my sister in Oregon. She and her husband have a cottage on the McKenzie River outside of Vida, Oregon, some 30 miles to the east of Eugene. 
brought me back to Miami: "Royal Caribbean Cruises." 
working 90 hour weeks is more than the workers can receive back home. "If they don't like the work, they can quit" is the common wisdom. No doubt many crew members are easily replaceable considering that a country like India has hundreds of millions of people unemployed.
One of the men stated that they were handed backpack from a man in Falmouth, Jamaica. This man reportedly had previously worked aboard the Allure of the Seas. One of the crew members, Thom, had worked with this former crew member to smuggle narcotics on and off the Allure before. He was reportedly paid $2,000 upfront and was then to receive $1,000 once he delivered the cocaine in Fort Lauderdale. .jpg)
This is the third person to go overboard from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in the last three weeks.
Royal Caribbean and its subsidiary, Celebrity Cruise, have been in a state of panic lately frantically trying to fend off bad publicity surrounding an expose' on 
day cleaning cabins and toilets, and a day working in the galley..jpg)
Local NBC 6 reports that Royal Caribbean delayed reporting the disappearance of Allure of the Seas cruise passenger, A'riel Marion, for two hours, even though another passenger on a lower balcony was literally hit on the arm as Ms. Marion fell to the water..jpg)
Today I read an interesting case analysis from the Journal of Business Case Studies (May/June 2012), which studied the business model of the second largest cruise company in the world, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. .jpg)
largest corporations, the flag states " . . . are not only reluctant to discipline major contributors to their economies, but also do not have the resources to enforce regulations or even punish polluters.".jpg)
A .jpg)
The case will be remembered as a result-oriented decision where the xenophobic appellate court's priority was to send the case away from the U.S. based on whatever justification it could scrap together..jpg)
But our anniversary also brought us hate e-mail as well. 
Already reeling from the publicity of its delayed reporting of a
who was awarded a medal of commendation by President Reagan in the 1980's and whose skills and service to this country are beyond reproach. He must be shaking his head in disgust after reading the PR statements dreamed up by the cruise line's PR team members who don't know the difference between port and starboard. 
The impression created by Royal Caribbean and its friends at Cruise Critic was that Royal Caribbean "immediately" notified the proper authorities and "immediately" searched the waters for the young woman and that the search lasted six hours from 9:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. until the Coast Guard released the cruise ship to continue with itinerary. 
at 9:25 PM Eastern Standard Time last night. The incident was apparently captured on the cruise ship's CCTV cameras. 
earth a judge in Bermuda could assert jurisdiction over a theft committed by a U.S. citizen on a foreign flagged cruise ship in international waters?
I won't say that I told you so, although I will mention that this is exactly what I predicted in my prior articles:.jpg)
her while she was cruising with Michelle, her best friend since she was five years old..jpg)
about cruise ship crimes.
at the cruise-line-recommended stores. 
escape, only to be dragged back in to the room. .jpg)
with several other men as disc jockeys (DJ's). 
Cruise lines have an obligation to warn of dangers ashore in the ports of call that they sail to and where there guests are reasonably likely to frequent such as local bars near the cruise ships. 
“Just after we went through the Loterie Farm gate we felt the driver hit the brakes but no brakes, and then the bus just started careening down. About half way down we hit a speed bump and everyone hit the ceiling and then the bus just continued rolling down the hill. There was a guy driving coming up the hill while we were going down so we ran into him, flipped that vehicle over and then ran straight down into the ditch. Tree branches got into the bus and many people received whip lashes from the branches. Everyone was screaming manically, we thought we were plunging to our deaths but the tree saved us. The bus driver was pretty much shook up though.”.jpg)
Tonight, the CNN Anderson Cooper AC360 program aired a short documentary into the issue of the safety of children on the high seas, entitled "Safe at Sea.".jpg)
The cruise line, however, paid a settlement to the child. On the CNN program tonight, the child (whose identify was protected for her privacy) stated that she felt the crew member was a predator and had done it before..jpg)
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he was on the cruise ship and says that the fishing boat had no fishing equipment and that it was the Liberty of the Seas which altered course and passed the boat by some 250 meters. 
The captain of the Angela II had to cut all of its cables and nets and execute an emergency maneuver to avoid being run over by the Liberty of the Seas which passed 15 meters (less than 35 feet) away. 
(Genesis) class cruise ships, the Oasis of the Seas and the Allure of the Seas - the two biggest cruise ships in the world.
Another problem is that the removal of the natural reef exposes the shore to pounding of the waves. When I visited, I observed that the road from Ocho Rios to Falmouth, previously protected by the reef, was literally covered with water from the encroaching waves. The road was already eroding. 
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because they were filed in the wrong courthouse. Carnival and Royal Caribbean must be filed in federal court in Miami, and Costa cases (sailing from the US) must be filed in federal court in Ft. Lauderdale.
cruise ship's brig, accused of raping a young woman. 
Caribbean doesn't have "prison" attire. Even if the cruise line put the men in striped zoot suits, it was 5:00 AM and no one is up that early in the morning anyway. .jpg)
year old boy aboard Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas consumed so much rum and tequila that he literally drank himself to death. The cruise line corporate communications manager at the time responded to the minor's death cavalierly saying "the best advice that you can give is that a cruise is a resort vacation. It's not a baby-sitting service.".jpg)
In the same year an 
This week there has been a whirlwind of media attention surrounding allegations by a masseur that John Travolta sexually harassed and assaulted him in Hollywood earlier this year. .jpg)
ike to also cruise. Things like this make families nervous. Satirist Andy Borowitz published an article "
Cunard cruise ships
It has not been a good year for the cruise industry, as everyone knows. Just last month there was a .png)
ALLURE OF THE SEAS experienced an engine explosion/failure last night. According to a Swede who is currently on board, first a loud bang was heard, followed a few minutes later by a tremendous shaking sensation throughout the ship." Can anyone aboard verify this? 
confirmed that she was taken to JNF Hospital where she underwent several routine tests for sexual assault reports.".jpg)
articles 
Five Atlantis cruise with Royal Caribbean / Celebrity Cruises have been plagued by arrests or deaths..JPG)
A reader of Cruise Law News in the U.K. alerted me to an article in the 
case and then the lawyer would not settle for a penny less..jpg)
unsuccessful appeal of that order, and undeterred by the disciplinary proceedings and his ultimate disbarment. Four days after this Court issued the mandate in the first appeal, and in what appears to be a textbook example of legal chutzpah, Wingate filed a motion with the trial court for disbursement of costs . . . (emphasis added)
Mr. Owen's article contains a new twist, perhaps, to the incident. Mr. Gemmell may have argued with a Royal Caribbean crewmember at some point before he went overboard. The crewmember then allegedly left the vessel in Cozumel. Mr. Owens writes: 
While reports of five hundred sick passengers aboard two of Princess Cruises' ships sailing to Fort Lauderdale (Ruby Princess and Crown Princess) dominate the news here in South Florida, a newspaper in New Orleans is reporting that over 200 passengers were stricken with norovirus on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship this weekend.
. . . those stairs are so dangerous, why would they have stairs like this at a bar?????? while drinking is going on etc! No traction, no carpet, Nothing . . . .jpg)
The AP is reporting that a Irish cruise ship passenger went overboard from the Allure of the Seas, which is the world's largest cruise ship cruise ship.
News sources are reporting that a passenger died aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship this morning after falling down a staircase. 
experience, and alcohol is often pushed by the cruise lines. 
returned to Serenade of the Seas and will continue on the sailing.
illustrates our commitment to the safety of the millions of guests and crew that sail on our ships." .jpg)
prior record of sexually harassing passengers. She retained us to represent her. I sent a handful of letters to President Goldstein, asking for our client's medical records, her statement, and the name and address of the Royal Caribbean employee who raped Laurie. We received nothing in response. Goldstein ignored us.
The 
crewmember Palmer admitted having sex with the girl, but claims that he believed that she was 16.
the Royal Caribbean cruise ship. His facebook page shows him fraternizing with numerous women around the cruise ship pool and other areas of the ship. The photos are all from his facebook page.
Numerous newspapers in Brazil are covering the story as well. Today 
This evening Dateline NBC will air what it is calling an "update" on the story of missing cruise passenger George Smith who disappeared under suspicious circumstances during his honeymoon cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas cruise ship in the summer of 2005.
happened aboard the ship in the early hours of July 5, 2005."
ago, the FBI was investigating the case, although I would consider it rather amateurish. The FBI had not even interviewed the passengers on either side of the Smith's cabin a month after the cruise. These individuals were first interviewed by Joe Scarborough on cable news. The investigation did not get serious until we boarded the cruise ship with forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee and a team of investigators. It was only after we retained Dr. Lee did the FBI test the carpet in the cabin for blood stains.
information was confidential and privileged which the cruise line had no legal obligation to disclose.
In truth, Dateline is now airing the same old photographs, cruise line documents and statements which we obtained in 2005 and which the cruise line has been offering to all of the families since 2006..bmp)
The alleged assailants are two Brazilian passengers who were sailing aboard Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas, which is based on Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida..jpg)
Are there security "sub-stations" in each of the neighborhoods?
In a story widely reported in the national media, the Centers for Disease Control failed Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas after conducting a surprise vessel sanitation inspection last month. .bmp)
It is rare for a cruise ship based in the U.S. to fail a CDC inspection.
and cruise lines avoiding or limiting liability for injuries and deaths on the high seas . . . if you are seriously injured, check with a maritime lawyer before you take the cruise line's word that their so-called 'waivers' are valid.".png)
Believe it or not, I like reading what cruise line CEO's write about. It's interesting to me to see the disconnect between the usually mundane things the cruise executives promote compared to missing passengers, shipboard crimes and norovirus outbreaks which the executives don't want you to know about.
What's going on? Did the cruise line abandon its marketing concept? Did Royal Caribbean tell the citizens of Why Not that their nation no longer existed?
Loyal-to-Royal cruise fans, did I miss something in the last couple of months? Do you know what happened to the Nation of Why Not? What do you think about the Answer it Royally theme?
read our thoughts 
Although Bloodsworth admitted to the crime and said that he had "made a terrible mistake," the Federal District Judge sentenced him to a decade in jail and ordered that spend the rest of his life under supervision by the U.S. Probation Office when he gets out of prison.
Over 95 percent of our firm's clients live out side of Florida. If you have a question about an accident on a cruise ship, send us an email. You can reach me directly: 
We will send you four documents..bmp)
The .jpg)
Our firm and our co-counsel Jonathan Aronson spent a few days this week in Jamaica. .jpg)
The opinion piece was written by Anthony L. Hall, who publishes an interesting and well written blog called the 
trusted to be the steward of such historic sites when it already staked its presence on the island bearing the white de La'Badie slave owner name?
The article is based on research conduct by cruise line expert Dr. Ross Klein, who has testified before our U.S. Congress on issues of crimes against cruise passengers. Dr. Klein's popular 
There is also a question whether the statistics released by Royal Caribbean are to be trusted.
A third class action lawsuit has been filed against Royal Caribbean Cruises seeking class action certification for what is alleged to be fraudulent conduct by the cruise line and executives Richard Fain, Brian Rice, and Henry Pujol.
the delay and lack of transparency in responding to an inquiry about problems with the art vendors on the cruise ships. 
San Juan four hours early and Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas left six hours ahead of schedule.
Drinking on Cruises. Its unlimited-booze-packages is a new low..jpg)
The lawsuit alleges that on January 27, 2011, Royal Caribbean issued a press release where it made false and misleading statements that its fourth quarter results for 2010 were better than expected and it anticipated certain positive developments regarding its operations, expenses, costs, ratios and net income for 2010. .jpg)
$4,100,000 in illicit proceeds. 
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We just settled a case we filed on behalf of a Jamaican crewmember who sustained a wrist injury while working as a cleaner aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. She is now able to support her two boys back in Ocho Rios (photo left). 
day minimum and up to 16 hours on embarkation day, they are instructed not to report more than 10 to 11 hours of work on their times sheets.
This weekend saw seven Cubans "rafters" trying to escape Cuba and come to the U.S. for a better life. But they were stopped by a cruise ship, the Oasis of the Seas, and taken aboard and then handed over to the U.S. Coast Guard. Rather than celebrating the 4th of July in Little Havana in Miami, these rafters are back in Castro's Cuba. .png)
The case at issue involves allegations that Royal Caribbean and its medical staff failed to timely and properly respond to a medical emergency involving a young woman, Preetha Amaran, who collapsed while exercising on a treadmill on the Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Seas cruise ship. Ms. Amaran is represented by Miami lawyer Phil Gerson, who alleges that Ms. Amaran, who aspired to be a doctor herself, suffered permanent brain damage due to the negligence of the cruise line and Steiner Transocean Limited which operated the spa on the ship. .jpg)
In following up on this story, we found that Royal Caribbean staff captain Bjørn Eidissen, who is now at the center of this story, reported that four months after the poison gas incident, the Monarch of the Seas dumped "tons" of sediment, chemicals and bacteria while the cruise ship was approaching a dry dock in January of 2006. 
In our article .jpg)
Security Department fully supported and assisted Mexican officials in their investigation of this isolated and uncharacteristic crime for Cozumel.".jpg)
The press in Mexico is raising questions about the criminal charges leveled against Nelson Pérez Torres, who is jailed and awaiting trial for the murder of Royal Caribbean crewmember, Monika Markiewicz.
Falmouth was named after the birthplace of Sir William Trelawny in Falmouth, Cornwall, Britain. In the late 1700's, Jamaica was the world’s leading sugar producer. At the turn of the 1800's, one hundred sugar plantations in Trelawny parish provided sugar and rum for export to Britain. Falmouth has a notorious past because it was a center for the slave trade from Africa. Based on its rum, sugar and slave business, it became one the wealthiest ports in the "New World." .jpg)
palm trees desperately in need of irrigation. 
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The ship doctor thereafter refused to take her medical condition seriously, and did not take an x-ray or order a MRI at a port of call. After seven weeks of continuous work, her medical condition deteriorated badly. She collapsed and had to be taken from the cruise ship on a stretcher with a IV morphine drip to manage her pain.
the cabin and took pornographic photos of the drunken girl, according to the article.
about it in the newspapers."
their honeymoon...' and he said he was thinking... 'It's gonna be so hard for her when they bring the lifeboats down and she stays with me'. I was thinking, 'It's gonna be so hard for him when I get on that lifeboat. But it all worked out.'.jpg)
its sprinkler system." 
certain financial goals for the corporation.
also reportedly paid extra to have a crew member available to assist him because he was traveling alone. 
A reader of Cruise Law News informs us that a crew member from a Celebrity Cruises ship disappeared at sea. 
The Indian newspapers report that Mr. Surwade left India for work on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship in June of last year. On February 20th of this year, a representative from the local hiring agency in India came to Mr. Surwade's home in Bara Bungalow, Thane (north of Mumbai) and told his family that he was "missing." The hiring agency gave the family a telephone number and e-mail address of Dr. Fabio Acevedo, a supervisor in the medical crew department of the cruise line.
indicating that it was a passenger who committed suicide. .jpg)
January 1, 2010: .jpg)
After leaving the bar to head back to the cruise ship, the young woman was viciously attacked and sustained physical injuries. Looking for help, Jane Doe was then sexually assaulted by a second man (pretending to be a good samaritan) who raped her. She treated in a local hospital in Nassau and then eventually flew home to Canada to recover.
"CRIME: The Bahamas has a high crime rate . . . the U.S. Embassy has received reports of assaults, including sexual assaults, in diverse areas such as in casinos, outside hotels, or on cruise ships. In several incidents the victim had reportedly been drugged." 
New Providence Island, according to the Guardian) and the nation's status as a gathering spot for drug traffickers.".jpg)
arriving in his native St. Vincent: His family lived two hours from the airport and didn't have a car; he had no idea how he'd get home. McDonald would arrive on the island on a Sunday morning. No doctor would see him for at least another day. .jpg)
pools. If they're lucky, they tend bar or wait tables. Others clean rooms and fluff pillows.
sink where he could dump and scour. Halfway to his destination, McDonald slipped. He felt nothing as the scalding liquid drained down inside the rubber boot on his right leg, but jolts of adrenalin shot through the numbness as the oil cooked his leg and the top of his foot..jpg)
about a week before performing skin graft surgery on the badly burned foot..jpg)
lawyer to regain his legal status. "It doesn't look good because of the paper I signed," he says.
Carnival settled such a case with Rivkind client Francisco Romero in August. "We had a case where a Carnival worker needed cataract surgery. He was using a Miami ophthalmologist, and the cruise line said, "No, no, we want to send him home to Honduras,'" Rivkind recounts. "The ophthalmologist in Honduras had just had a baby, and her husband was studying to be an ophthalmologist, so she just let him do the surgery." Fifty-year-old Romero, a long-time Carnival employee, lost his eye in 2000, and filed suit in June 2001. Carnival fought the suit for more than two years. "It's not enough they let this happen, when they could easily have gotten him a good surgeon in the U.S., but then they fought us tooth and nail when he tried to get compensation," Rivkind says. The settlement included a nondisclosure clause, so he can't reveal the amount Carnival paid Romero.
member is in transit and in the process they arrive in Miami to change planes and they do not make the flight, we have an obligation as a company to let INS know that a crew member has jumped ship, essentially."
without her back to South Florida. On Saturday, her body was found floating face down in the water off of Cozumel with wounds to her head. The police in Mexico arrested a 24 year old employee from a local bar in Cozumel, 
uncharacteristic" for .jpg)
"tossed around like a ragdoll and was seriously hurt" during the violent storm which rocked the Brilliance of the Seas. Three days later the passenger lapsed into a coma and subsequently died. Doctors apparently diagnosed a "brain hemorrhage" as the cause of death. But Royal Caribbean chose not only to refute the allegations but to release confidential medical information about its guest in an attempt to sully the waters. Anyone at the cruise line hear of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) which protects patient's medical records? .jpg)
involving 
The Royal Gazette newspaper in Bermuda reported on the emotional statement Mr. Stewart made at the hearing:
We received a comment to our article from a cruiser: "I've been on 13 Atlantis cruises. Friends of mine on ship are reporting one death by falling, multiple people removed at first port for drugs and a several minutes long announcement by the captain about drugs. Amazed RCCL puts up with this."
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Nelson Perez Torres, age 24, reportedly confessed to striking Royal Caribbean crew member Monika Markiewicz in the head with a rock and then throwing her into the ocean, according to the chief prosecutor of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo where Cozumel is located..bmp)
They claim that he had never been in trouble before and he had worked at a bar near the cruise pier for the past eight years. They claim that because they are a humble family of little means, their son was railroaded into a confession. Friends and family members picketed at the pier with signs saying Mr. Torres is innocent. 
The state prosecutor in Quintana Roo, where both Cancun and Cozumel are located, apparently released two different names for the woman neither of which were released by the AP. The prosecutor also released information regarding the dead woman's medical history and autopsy findings. A patient apparently has no medical privacy rights in Mexico.
This morning USA Today's CruiseLog picked up on the story in an article ".jpg)
Accountability Act ("HIPAA") which prohibits medical providers (including cruise doctors) from releasing any information about patients to anyone (including newspaper reporters to say the least!) unless there has been HIPAA-compliant medical releases executed.