Norovirus On Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas Sickens 200 Passengers - Fifth Cruise Ship Sickness Outbreak This Year!
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.
This means around 700 people on these three cruise ships are battling diarrhea and vomiting.
The norovirus outbreak aboard Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas caused delay of the cruise ship's departure from New Orleans According to WDSU.com, 20 of the over 200 affected passengers on the ship were quarantined in the port as a result of their illness.
The delay was around two hours Saturday evening as cleaning crews tried to sanitize the cruise ship. It is impossible to adequately sanitize a ship this large in such a short turn around, assuming the norovirus is not in the cruise ship's food or water.
Yesterday we reported on norovirus outbreaks on the Ruby Princess and Crown Princess.
Last year, there were 14 sickness outbreaks on cruise ships calling on U.S. ports. So far, in the first five weeks of this year, there are already five outbreaks.
With the Costa Concordia disaster and several other overboards, deaths and shipboard rapes, the cruise industry is off to a rough start in 2012.
Were you on the Voyager of the Seas? Please leave a comment below and let us know how the cruise line handled the outbreak.
Photo credit: Kerry Maloney / NOLA.com / Times Picayune
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The "official" reported cases are usually far less than the actual number of cases, we have found.
. . . 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 British cruise ship passenger went overboard.from the Allure of the Seas, which is the world's largest cruise ship cruise ship.
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children are the cruise industry's nasty secret. Cruise lines say that such crimes are "rare." But that's just PR spin. Click on the categories "Rape," "Sexual Assault," and "Sexual Assault of Children" (to the left of my blog). There are more stories than you can stand to read; you will never read them all. And my blog is less than two and one-half years old..jpg)
Was the Cunard employee a youth counselor or a stateroom attendant, the two most likely job positions for crewmembers who prey on innocent children? We have been contacted by former passengers who are frightened by the prospect that a child predator was working for Cunard while they vacationed with their children aboard the Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Elizabeth cruise ships. But Cunard will provide no details regarding when and where the alleged predator worked.
aily occurrence. Can you believe that at the time of the crash the captain was eating dinner and drinking wine with a 25 year old woman, formerly employed on the ship, who I have called the cruise "blonde bimbo?" 
The hard core cruise fanatics and travel agents, who are flipped out by losing ticket sales posed by the ugly spectacle unfolding around them, are frantically trying to convince the public that cruising is the "safest method of mass transportation." The talking points babbled by the cruise shills include the big lie that there have been only 16 dead in the last 100 million passengers on a cruise ship. .jpg)
cruises. Oh how the cruise fans were incensed by the 20/20 cruise ship special. Say what you want, whether the ABC show was over-the-top or right-on-point, excessive alcohol consumption by many passengers is common and encouraged by the cruise lines. There's a direct correlation between lots of cruise booze and sexual crimes, overboards and death. 
We have been informed that an intoxicated passenger sailing aboard the MSC Poesia during the January 9 - 14, 2012 Jam Cruise climbed up to a restricted area on the ship’s pool deck and then jumped off. He was rescued and airlifted from the next port to a hospital. No other details have been released.
Multiple news sources are reporting that a 26-year-old American passenger aboard a Carnival cruise ship fell to his death. 
Detectives in England started the investigation after a parent of one of the abused children tipped the police. So far, the detectives have interviewed several families in England. The crewmember suspected of the crimes lives in Wiltshire, in England.
Last night ABC News aired a cruise ship special on its 20/20 program about the Costa Concordia disaster. Narrated by Chris Cuomo from Italy, the one hour program contains an inside look at this latest cruise ship disaster based on interviews with surviving passengers.
tweeting the first photographs of the beached cruise ship. Other friends on twitter like 
The motto of the $35,000,000,000 a year cruise industry is CLIA's "one industry, one voice." But CLIA apparently does not work on the weekends. When disaster struck the Concordia and over 4,000 passengers and crew feared for their lives, CLIA remained silent.
New York Times, the Washington Post, and U.K.'s Telegraph. I spent the better part of this week speaking with several dozen journalists and shuttling between TV production studios in Miami and Fort Lauderdale for interviews.
Following the spectacle of the Costa Concordia disaster, the cruise industry is starting its campaign to convince the public that cruising is safe notwithstanding the terrifying and grotesque images of the stricken ship.-1(1).jpg)
happened. Few people in the media reported on this near disaster. .bmp)
The parent company of Costa is Carnival cruise line which has had more than its fair share of disasters..jpg)
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All of this occurred in the last two years! In May of 2010, I chronicled the series of serious cruise disasters back over the last decade - 
Costa Cruise Lines' Costa Concordia cruise ship has evacuated most of its passengers after a disastrous situation this evening near the island of Giglio in southern Tuscany, Italy. 
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 
Royal Caribbean / Celebrity cruise ships have seen the most overboards over the course of the last 2 years..jpg)
The 
A previous judge who presided over the preliminary hearing, John "Jay" Hurley, expressed concern that Scavone would flee to Brazil if given the opportunity. The Sun-Sentinel quotes the judge saying "People who are from Brazil can go to Brazil, and there's very little chance that they'll be brought back to the United States." The judge called Brazil a "loophole." The judge was referring to the fact that Brazil recently amended its constitution to prohibit the extradition of criminals from Brazil. Judge Hurley ordered that Scavone be fitted with a GPS monitor if he is released from custody while the case is pending.
"It’s not something you like to think about but just like on land, crime too happens on cruise ships, too. This week’s news has been about the George Smith case, a man who disappeared on his honeymoon cruise back in July 2005, aboard Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas. A follow-up “Overboard” will be on NBC’s Dateline this Friday night.
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?
The cruise ship notified the Coast Guard of the incident from the cruise ship at approximately 12:50 a.m. Sunday. We would be interested in learning when the cruise ship left San Juan, as the incident occurred shortly after departure. 
"Wild, out-of-control alcohol-fueled domestic fight - starts at 9PM, escalates to most certainly a felony assault (or worse) by 3AM. All kinds of yelling, screaming, howling. Objects (victim?) thrown against the walls. Finally security responds; victim has blood streaming from her, multiple wounds; others report seeing multiple pools of blood in the room. Around 3:45 AM, Carnival removes the 'guests' and immediately starts the process of cleaning the room up, starting with the blood. 
A 
Portuguese islands (see map), one of the ship’s stops on the cruise. She reported the rape during the cruise the day before the cruise ship was due to return to Durban. 
the cruise ship's captain (how interesting) that the incident did not occur in South African waters. At a hearing last week, Mr. Bhogal’s lawyer cited a provision in the South African Criminal Procedures Act that if the alleged crime occurs in international waters, the South African state courts have no jurisdiction. 
about this latest outbreak 
experienced a sickness outbreak as the cruise reached in Rio de Janeiro. .jpg)
be served by the staff and they were constantly wiping down everything and making announcements about hygiene. We asked if something was going on and we were told no however by that night 3 of the seven people in our party were very sick and once we walked in on an employee in the bathroom vomiting very badly. A casino employee told us that night many of the crew and passengers were very sick. 
maker for the cruise lines). If so, many people protest loudly and angrily that the cruise passenger should bear the extra fuel expenses and other costs incurred by the cruise ship and the Coast Guard searching for the missing passenger. 
countries like the Bahamas in order to avoid U.S. laws and all U.S. income taxes. The cruise industry collects over $35,000,000,000 (billion) a year in income from mostly income-tax-paying-Americans, yet it avoids U.S. corporate income tax by incorporating itself and registering its ship abroad.
The report indicates that the crew doused the fire themselves and no Coast Guard crews were called to the ship.
pressed to work notwithstanding their sicknesses. 
WebMD and a few other medical journals report that there have been promising results from the tests of an experimental vaccine designed to prevent infection and symptoms associated with norovirus.
International Association ("CLIA"), has tried to disassociate itself from this nasty virus. It often writes to newspapers complaining when norovirus is described in such nautical terms..jpg)
Whatever the source of the virus on cruise ships, it is encouraging that there are doctors researching a vaccine against this dreaded sickness. 
Today the 
The newspaper reports that that two unidentified employees witnessed the argument and the woman falling into the water. Although ordered not to talk, they provided eyewitness detail.
the floor of the cabin, his wife Heather had to witness the spectacle of the medical personnel trying to decipher the instructions for the automatic defibrillator as precious minutes ticked away on her husband's life. 
Multiple news sources are reporting that a Federal Judge sentenced a Pittsburgh-area man to nearly five years in federal prison for traveling to Florida in order to take a cruise so he could molest a young boy.
The 
A 
But a local newspaper in Brazil, 
Celebrity Cruises advertises parasailing "400 feet over St. Thomas" 
The 
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..jpg)
Multiple news sources are reporting that a fire broke out aboard a Moscow based river cruise ship, the Sergey Abramov, and engulfed the vessel. .jpg)
shipping ministry remarked that Disney is "more interested in getting the ship back to sea than in investigating the case of the missing member of their crew.".jpg)
There is also the issue of a pair of flip-flops, found on a deck on the morning at issue. Instead of securing them as evidence and conducting forensic testing to determine whether there was any connection to Ms. Coriam, Disney instead placed them in her cabin when her parents got on board. .bmp)
into the cruise ship's drinking water. 
The Post states that "Bradford discovered a black residue on tanks, told Norwegian Cruise Line about it, and was axed." Mr. Bradford remains muzzled for speaking out about the danger, but the Sunday Times apparently is not bound by the injunction. .jpg)
A cruise passenger witnessed the couple on a deck when Wang pushed Yang's head backwards towards the railing. He rushed to notify the cruise staff but returned to find the couple gone but blood covering the deck.
The police reported that the incident occurred 25 minutes after the vessel left the Falmouth cruise shipping pier about 6:00 pm..jpg)
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The (3).jpg)
The disturbing incident raises serious questions regarding not only the safety and security of the passengers and crew on foreign flagged ships but whether there are acceptable systems in place to conduct objective and aggressive investigations into such incidents..jpg)
For other articles about crime in Mexico:
While the P & O Cruises Ventura cruise ship sailed from Southampton to the Caribbean, a passenger went overboard..jpg)
Our firm and our co-counsel Jonathan Aronson spent a few days this week in Jamaica. .jpg)
The cruise ship was heading toward Cartagena, Columbia while some 2,000 passengers enjoyed their dinners and the entertainment during the evening of Mr. Faliva's disappearance. What happened to this outgoing young man?
and go home. 
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The 
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The 
In this case, crewmember Rooy Eduardo Deceno Velásquez, a 32 year old cruise ship restaurant worker from Trujillano, Peru, left a message on CNN's iReport. He is crying for help, stating that the crew has been deceived and about to be abandoned in Gibraltar without pay. The message is in Spanish and is translated roughly as follows:
Cruise Law News received comments from unidentified individuals who claim to be crewmembers (see below) or family member of the crew who dispute that there are any problems on the ship..jpg)
The first issue, perhaps, is how can a country like Bermuda which did not bother to send an investigator to the Star Princess to arrest the assailant crewmember after raping a young woman on the Bermuda flagged cruise ship be an appropriate forum for the victim to seek justice?
On Friday, the Eleventh Circuit decided the case of 
The incident occurred Friday evening.
The blog I wrote 
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.
Archer, a cruise fan and columnist who writes for the Telegraph Travel. Her puff piece article 
they had any knowledge about the passenger.
She reported the incident to her supervisors and was examined and treated in the ship infirmary. Police in the next port of call in Israel interviewed her, and the assailant crew member was eventually terminated and sent home. Like most cruise ship sexual assault allegations, the assailant crew member was not arrested and there was no criminal prosecution..jpg)
After conducting an extensive analysis of the Royal Caribbean / Celebrity fleet, these experts concluded that sexual misconduct occurred "frequently" during cruises. They attributed this problem to the fact that most crew members were not afraid of being arrested, much less convicted. Dr. Krohne reported that the worst thing that could happen to a crew member who committed a crime on a Royal Caribbean or Celebrity cruise ship was to be sent on a one way flight home.
The law in question is the Merchant Marine Act of 1920. This is a U.S. Federal statute which regulates maritime commerce in U.S. waters and between U.S. ports. Section 27, known as the Jones Act, deals with the concept of "cabotage" (coastal shipping). The law requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flag ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by U.S. citizens. 
from the Sundancer cruise ship operated by Admiral Cruises of Miami. Her husband, Scott Roston (photo right), claimed that high winds blew her overboard as she ran on the jogging track on an upper deck. But evidence introduced at his criminal trial indicated that the winds were just 4 - 5 mph.
Multiple news sources are reporting that a passenger threw his 7 year old son overboard from the Pavillion Queen, which is being referred to as either a cruise ship or sight seeing boat.
they searched the cabin on the Celebrity Summit in Dockyard on August 17 after receiving an unidentified "tip-off.".jpg)
The blog states that a 13-year-old girl was taking a cruise to Mexico in March with her friend and her friend’s mother. She met Bloodsworth on March 6th near the elevators onboard the Carnival Elation cruise ship and agreed to meet him on the top deck after dinner. She later agreed to go with Bloodsworth to get a jacket from his cabin, where the sexual abuse occurred..jpg)
In the last week there have been a number of articles about certain cruise lines enacting new policies to restrict smoking on their cruise ships.
Cruise passengers Richard Liffridge (photo above left) and his wife Vicky were asleep peacefully in their cabin. The plastic partitions between the balconies below them were easily combustible. The Princess cruise ship had no fire suppression systems on the balconies of the cruise ship. The fire quickly spread across hundreds of other cabin balconies and then erupted into the cruise ship cabins.
rincess acted quickly to replace the highly combustible balcony wall partitions and furniture on the balconies, and to install fire detectors and fire suppression systems which had never been installed on any cruise ship before. 
Unfortunately, many cruise lines, including Carnival (which is the parent company of Princess Cruises) and NCL have not replaced the easily combustible balcony partitions and installed fire suppression systems on the balconies..jpg)
Photo Credit: 
Numerous news sources are reporting that a cruise ship carrying 173 passengers and crew sank in Russia's Volga river today. 
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. 
In October 2009, a cruise passenger was busted for pot when a Bermudan 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 pled guilty to importing drugs into Bermuda, which is difficult to understand because the joints were discovered in the passenger's luggage inside his cabin on the cruise ship.
Hawaii News Now is reporting today that an environmental group in Hawaii has located an illegal dumping site.
A rescue boat was deployed from the NCL cruise ship. The passenger was rescued and returned back to the cruise ship.
I interact with on a routine basis disagree with me 100% of the time it seems. But I know that my message is getting out there. I would like to think that if one parent realizes that its not safe to leave your kids unsupervised on a cruise ship, then my last 5,500 tweets have been a worthwhile exercise. 
opportunity to write a guest blog - unedited - to tell the other side of the story. (2).jpg)
there are somehow no CCTV images of her going overboard.
The Australian article today points out that it has been six months since NSW Coroner Jacqueline Milledge concluded an inquest into Ms. Brimble's death aboard the P&O cruise ship, the Pacific Sky nine years ago, and issued cruise safety recommendations to the Federal Government. 
drafting these contracts use standard form, kitchen sink, same ole’ same legalese that appears in all of the contracts we encounter in day-to-day life. We assume we’ll be protected by the law.
services taking place off the Vessel for a profit, it does not undertake to supervise or control such independent contractors or their employees, nor maintain their conveyances or facilities, and makes no representation, whether express or implied, regarding their suitability or safety.”
“Carrier may also change accommodations, alter or cancel any activities of, deny service of alcohol to, confine to a stateroom or quarantine, search the stateroom, property or baggage of any Passenger, change a Passenger's RCT Land Tour, disembark or refuse to embark the Passenger and/or any Passenger responsible for any minor Passenger, or restrain any Passenger at any time, without liability, at the risk and expense of the Passenger, when in the sole opinion of Carrier or Captain . . .”
He reported today on the fact that the detention of the MSC Opera was no small matter. In fact, the UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency informed USA Today that there were multiple issues that together "led to the conclusion of a major non-conformity."
focus of my articles is not about the bad things that happen on cruise ships - but the extraordinary steps that the cruise industry takes to cover them up..jpg)
Several news sources are reporting that an oil tank exploded at the port in Gibraltar today..jpg)
Since 9-11 the Federal government has placed "air marshals" on airplanes. The ICV has attempted to ensure that cruise ships have the same level of security by supporting legislation in California requiring "sea marshals" on all cruise ships entering and departing cruise ports in that state. 
the cruise ships reach port. They remain on the bridge, where they keep watch as the cruise ships sail out of the Port of Los Angeles. They return to port once the vessels reach 3 miles offshore..jpg)
passengers into Venice a year. 
I took a few photos (above and right) which have been in an old photo album for the last three decades.
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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.
and turned the vessel around in an attempt to rescue the crewmember.
The problem with this hypothetical scenario is that it is not hypothetical at all. We have represented passengers who have been raped by bartenders, cabin attendants and even security guards on cruise ships..jpg)
utensils, ice machines and drinking fountains, failed to quarantine infected passengers and crewmembers and failed to warn Mr. Gavigan about the virus. 
the cabin and took pornographic photos of the drunken girl, according to the article.
Open water passenger transfers are potentially dangerous exercises. You will recall that a rescue vessel recently dropped an elderly passenger into freezing water while trying to transfer her ashore. A recent investigation found that the crew used 
News sources are reporting that a 65 year old passenger is missing from a cruise ship which ported in San Diego on Tuesday. 
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.(1).jpg)
of an effective closed circuit television (CCTV) apparatus to monitor who enter or exit (voluntarily or involuntarily) the ships. Or, the cruise ships have adequate CCTV and security systems in place, but they are simply not being honest with the families about what happened to their loved ones..bmp)
Did he end his own life? That seems far fetched. He was looking forward to his silver wedding anniversary in June and dearly loved his three children by all accounts..bmp)
Yesterday Cruise Critic U.K. posted an artice on its blog asking the question ".bmp)
Sharm al-Shaykh is a city situated on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, on the coastal strip along the Red Sea.
It has been almost a month and Rebecca's family continue to seek answers about her disappearance.
News followed up on this article the same day with .jpg)
The alarm was raised when she failed to show for duty at 09.00hrs. The crew searched the ship but could not find her; Rebecca has since been listed 'Missing at sea.'
First impressions are everything. The first Mexican cruise line has already earned a dubious reputation. 
The other major newspaper in Bermuda, the .jpg)
the pot is for the passenger's personal use and the pot never leaves the cruise ship. And the newspapers in Bermuda love reporting about such minor offenses. 
also reportedly paid extra to have a crew member available to assist him because he was traveling alone. 
from the cruise ship to a rescue vessel. The two vessels drifted apart several feet as the transfer was taking place, causing the rescue crew to drop the stretcher into the icy sea. .gif)
footage to sit and review, electronic telephone and link-lock data to analyze, polygraphs to administer, and detective work to perform. It is not possible to interview witnesses and inspect the premises with a competent forensic team in such short order.
Project in Santa Monica:
the cruise line notified the U.S. Coast Guard. 
world.
The BMA has a deplorable record responding to serious injuries, deaths or crimes involving passengers passengers and crew members on cruise ships flying the Bahamian flag. Often no real investigation is performed. Often the "investigation" will consist of a representative or two from the BMA appearing at the next port of call, sometimes working with the cruise line's defense lawyers or risk management team. No BMA report concluding malfeasance of the cruise line in a passenger or crew death will ever see the light of day.
investigation to be privileged "work product," conducted for the purpose of defending them from potential law suits. Disney usually hires some of the top maritime defense firms here in Miami to defend their legal interests. .jpg)
disappearances to the authorities and the crew member's family. Uncertainly, confusion and a lack of closure are the usual outcomes. Certainly there must be a better way to investigate disappearances from cruise ships than this. The families of loved ones lost at sea deserve better. .jpg)
Cruise expert Ross Klein's 
This particular cruise had a passenger vomit in a public area during boarding, as well as 7 other incidents where passengers vomited in public. The Centers for Disease Control ("CDC") investigators concluded that some sick passengers may have been infected by the vomit (through aerosolized vomit or by touching contaminated surfaces) or they were infected by person-to-person contact, particularly by an ill cabin mate. 
A reader of Cruise Law News informs us that a crew member from a Celebrity Cruises ship disappeared at sea. 
A reader of Cruise Law News alerted us that the Carnival Miracle lost a crew member overboard late in the night on March 14th or in the early hours of March 15th. The cruise ship was sailing between Curacao and Aruba..jpg)
The newspaper reports that a hyper-injunction was obtained at the High Court in 2006 which prevented an individual from "saying that paint used in water tanks on passenger ships could break down and release potentially toxic chemicals." 
maritime source Lloyd's List's report on the problem of drug smuggling on cruise ships. In an article entitled "
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This is a story which we covered last May:.jpg)
The Royal Gazette newspaper in Bermuda reported on the emotional statement Mr. Stewart made at the hearing:
Multiple news sources are reporting that another small cruise ship to Antarctica has run aground. 
In the last couple of weeks we have reported on a Royal Caribbean drug ring smuggling large quantities of heroin and cocaine on the Enchantment of the Seas cruise ship into Baltimore from the Caribbean islands. The cruise line's spin? Drug running is rare. Our take - its business as usual. .bmp)
Kelnile Bushay, another Royal Caribbean crew member arrested during the investigation, stated that passengers would take the drugs on and off the cruise ship, "with crew members stashing the drugs around the ship while the vessel was traveling between destinations." (1).jpg)
In his opening statement, Fowler expressed surprise as to why Rolls Royce would allow this matter to go to trial. When the case was over, the judge and jury echoed Fowler’s initial concerns. The judge said the jurors asked her why the case ever went to trial. “The first question they had was why didn’t these people settle when they have to work together,” she said. U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz said she saw the trial possibly as a “bellweather for lawsuits” filed by other cruise lines that found fault with Rolls-Royce’s pod system.
Federal and local agents with K-9 dogs raided the MSC Poesia earlier this week looking to arrest passengers with drugs..jpg)
This is a story which has not been reported in the mainstream press, yet. It is highly unlikely that the young man jumped as speculated by the media in Belize. Was he over-served alcohol, which would reflect negligence by the cruise line? Was there evidence of foul play, again not likely but to be considered. 
Hernandez was arrested after he apparently abandoned his computer which was subsequently purchased at an estate sale. The computer reportedly contained 450 photographs and about 250 video files of child pornography portraying a total of 44 different victims. The computer contained information which permitted the FBI to trace the pornography back to the crew member. 
disappearance of cruise passenger Jennifer Ellis-Seitz, age 36. Ms. Ellis-Seitz went overboard from Norwegian Cruise Line's Pearl on Christmas Day in 2008. 
A 
Although MSC Cruises released a statement that it will wait for an official report, the cruise line is already blaming the passenger. 
RCCL has pulled this stunt time and time again, quickly issuing misleading statements in the hope that the media will quote its carefully crafted misinformation and then the story will quickly blow over.
Captain Hollywood To The Rescue
was the media star for Royal Caribbean following the last high profile incident involving the Brilliance of the Seas..jpg)
Getting 
experiencing. Today USA Today's popular cruise blog, Cruise Log, carries the headline "
these companies are.
The news today is filled with stories about a cruise ship which "rescues" rafters adrift in the Atlantic.
explanation for the power failure was provided by the Captain or the cruise line.
Sisters Lisa Mills, 51, and Jane Anderson, 55, and their mother Ethel Mills, 79, were traveling aboard the 400-bed Sea Princess to celebrate Lisa’s 50th birthday when they all became severely ill with headaches, sinus pain and sickness.
The 
All sorts of dangerous incidents happen on ocean liners. But beginning next year, portions of a new federal law will give the FBI authority over crimes that occur on ships that have docked at U.S. ports.
This is the second death of a crew member aboard the Oasis of the Seas this year. In May, 45 year old 
WSVN -7 NEWS (Miami) is reporting that a cruise ship returned to South Florida after a tragedy at sea.
manufacturers and designers of the Splendor's engine system..jpg)
executives pledged to return to the island - "
Line's Eurodam cruise ship can attend lectures and talks on espionage, spies, intelligence, and counterterrorism by speakers who are "intelligence experts, leaders, officers, operatives, analysts, authors and historians, many of whom served in the US Intelligence Community." Well, a "National Security Reporter" for the Toronto Star, Michelle Shephard, sailed on the cruise this week. 
Now that the disabled Carnival Splendor is back in a U.S. port, some lawyers are advertising that the passengers should consider filing a lawsuit. One cruise site, offering "cruise insider expert advice," is shilling for a Miami lawyer: "Now is the time to join the November 7, 2010 passengers in a joint effort for compensation. Contact us if you were on this cruise."
Carnival has handled this fire knowing that its response will be scrutinized in the court of public opinion. Its CEO traveled from Miami to San Diego and held a press conference where he apologized and offered a full refund, reimbursement of travel expenses and a free future cruise. 
ships had suffered previous fires as well. In 2006, a large fire broke out on the Star Princess operated by a subsidiary of Carnival, Princess Cruises, in the middle of the night resulting in a death and multiple injuries. Last year, a fire in the engine room disabled the Royal Princess operated by Princess Cruises, which had to be towed back to an Egyptian port.
Spam, Pop Tarts and canned crabmeat flown in by helicopter. Friends and families of stranded passengers are concerned because communication with their loved ones has been severely limited. It’s expected that the Splendor will arrive in port in San Diego late Thursday. Critics say there are serious safety lapses throughout the cruise industry and this accident was waiting to happen. What’s being done to protect passengers?"
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be. Left powerless by an engine fire shortly after embarking on a seven-day cruise to the Mexican Riviera, the Splendor is expected to be towed into port in San Diego late Thursday. If the ship cannot make sufficient speed under tow, it is possible it will be taken to Ensenada, company officials said.
The Carnival Splendor experienced its problems relatively close to several major ports, making rescue possible in only a few days.
as quickly as possible," said Cahill of Carnival Cruise Lines. Carnival Corp., which also includes such lines as Princess Cruises and Holland America and has 98 ships worldwide, reported revenues of $13.2 billion in 2009.
The .jpg)
Mr. Klinghoffer, age 69, was from New York City and was vacationing with his wife, Marilyn, and their friends when four heavily armed terrorists hijacked the Achille Lauro cruise ship, after it left Port Said, Egypt. Although Mr. Klinghoffer was disabled and in a wheelchair, the terrorists shot him in the chest and head, and then forced two crew members to dump him and the wheelchair he was confined to over the side of the cruise ship. .jpg)
Mrs. Klinghoffer and the estate of Leon Klinghoffer (daughters Lisa and Ilsa were the administrators) filed suit in the Southern District of New York against the owner / operator / charterer of the Achille Lauro, travel agencies, various other defendants and, eventually, the PLO. Other passengers who were aboard the Achille Lauro during the hijacking also filed suit. .bmp)
The lawsuits lasted over 10 years, at great emotional and financial expense of the Klinghoffer family. .jpg)
BBC News reports that a passenger is missing from the Fred Olsen 1,350 passenger cruise ship Balmoral, which is due to return to Dover tomorrow after a 21-day Adriatic cruise.
Diego Bay. The sick passenger and a member of the cruise ship's medical staff were taken by the Coast Guard to the San Diego Harbor Police dock. The patient was then taken by ambulance to Scripps Mercy Hospital. The nature of the passenger's medical problem and her current condition were not discussed. .jpg)
, to over three years and to pay about $4,360 in restitution. .jpg)
of the cruise ship where the adult assaulted her. 
closed circuit television (CCTV) camera. But it didn't show what happened to our client. The cruise line claimed that there were no videos of our client's "alleged" accident as they put it. 
The police handcuffed her husband took him to the marine department's regional crime unit, in Sai Wan Ho. 
attributes this happy ending to "rolls of razor wire all over the stern rail (and) bundles of logs to be released to fall on any craft attaching itself to our hull . . ."
My response in 
The newspaper indicates that 26-year-old crew member Nyoman Putra, an Indonesian working as an assistant room steward on the Carnival Glory, allegedly had child pornography on a laptop computer..jpg)
Perverts, Child Predators and Cruise Ships (Carnival crewmember caught with child pornography in Halifax!!)
security guards? Or will they continue to try and save money with only 2 or 3 inexperienced "guards" trying to protect 2,000 or 3,000 passengers?"
Several news have reported the incident; however, no one disclosed the name of the cruise ship or cruise line. The passenger was taken to a hospital in Australia..jpg)
The newspaper reports that the Clipper Adventurer, operated by Adventure Canada and carrying around 200 passengers and crew, ran aground Friday evening in "three meters of water." The location of the grounding is about 55 nautical miles from Coppermine, Nunavut, near the border with the Northwest Territories
the rescue of the passengers aboard the Ocean Nova. 
Update August 29, 2010:
illegal for such ships to discharge oily bilge water, "gray water" from sinks and showers and other hazardous waste. But a key provision that also banned sewage releases could not legally take effect until the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave permission under the federal Clean Water Act. The Bush administration did not act on California's request to enforce the state law.
forcing cruise ships to follow stringent sewage treatment rules before disposing of waste those states..png)
Norwegian Cruise Lines have prepared "forum selection clauses" which include Federal District Court in Miami as the location where the passenger is required to file suit. The United States Supreme Court has upheld the right of cruise lines to use "forum selection clauses," even though the passenger lives far away in California or New York and travel to Miami provides an economic hardship.
elderly woman; she was financially unable to bring a lawsuit in Paris; she was a California resident with medical limitations, due in part to her injury, that prevent her from traveling to Paris; she would not be entitled to Medicare benefits if she became ill in France during her case; and Paris is a remote, alien forum chosen merely as a means of discouraging passengers from bringing legitimate claims.
The article quotes the vice president of the cruise line's marketing, Glenn Ryerson, stating that "It's only a crime if the FBI deems it to be one. At this point its only an alleged rape." .jpg)
cadetship to become a navigational officer. After she reported being raped, her lifeless body was found floating in the water off the coast of Croatia. It is unknown whether someone pushed her overboard or she committed suicide.
The newspaper indicates that she was raped by a fellow South African, a fitness instructor, and sent home after reporting the incident. 
cruise line now calls its "Global Security Department." The question is whether Mr. Bald and his new team of ex-FBI agents are genuinely trying to protect the passengers and crew and help build a case against the rapists which have targeted Royal Caribbean passengers and crew members. 
The week started with the travel site Tnooz picking up our article .jpg)
norovirus on board, following the usual ill-fated last minute "additional sanitizing."
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. 
Today, the House of Representatives passed a bill - H.R. 5503 (also known as the SPILL Act) - which will amend the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA). H.R. 5503 will permit the widows and children of the oil rig workers killed in the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster to be compensated for their grief, mental anguish and suffering due to the deaths of their husbands and fathers. .jpg)
U.S. House Judiciary Committee. .jpg)
Today, the bad guys - BP, Transocean and the cruise lines - lost. The good guys won..jpg)
One of the dangers of cruising is the cruise ship catching on fire. Most families who go on a cruise don't like to think about it. .jpg)
During the ensuing investigation, the captain of the Tropicale testified that he was concerned that the engine room would explode. He kept information about the raging fire from passengers because he worried they might panic and jump overboard, according to the St. Pete Times article "
was paying attention to the cruise line. Everyone was listening to Pastor Surratt tweeting away on the cruise ship in the Mediterranean. Fortunately no passengers were injured.
"Siblings Take on Cruise Line after Father’s Death" 
Awakened by fire alarms shortly after 3 a.m., Liffridge and Vicky struggled out of their stateroom and into a hallway, but failed to reach fresh air. Vicky was one of 13 people later treated for smoke inhalation.
“He was at the peak of his life,” Henry said.
While the cruise line made sure the Star Princess’ passengers got a rebate for the incomplete cruise and a discount on their next excursion, the Liffridge family had to pay to have their father’s remains returned to the United States, Hudson said..jpg)
“No amount of money will replace our loss,” she added. “The main thing for us is that another family does not have to go through this like we did.” .jpg)
risks of a cruise fire which killed her father: 
Jim Walker practices admiralty and maritime personal injury law. He has been involved in maritime litigation since 1983. Based in
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