As we suspected, the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA) is working behind the scenes to derail efforts to amend the Death On The High Seas Act (DOHSA).
Yesterday we obtained a copy of a letter (below) sent by CLIA to Congressional representatives in Florida. CLIA is trying to rally opposition against H.R. 5503 which will permit widows and children recover compensation for their grief and
For those of you who read Cruise Law News know that I report regularly on the numerous norovirus cases which plague the cruise industry. I am rather fascinated by the cruise lines’ PR departments which always blame norovirus outbreaks on the passengers for bringing the virus aboard, rather than contaminated food and water which infect the passengers.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Royal Caribbean is threatening the tiny town of Rockland, Maine after it decided to increase its cruise ship fee to $6 per passenger. Royal Caribbean wants the fee to stay at $1.
The AP is reporting that Rockland (population 7,000) increased its head tax to help reasonsbly compensate the community for the substantial costs imposed on town’s infrastructure by cruise
Last week was another rough week for Royal Caribbean.
First there were repeated outbreaks of the nasty norovirus aboard the Jewel of the Seas which sickened hundreds of unsuspecting passengers. Then there was the embarrassment of a Royal Caribbean employee with a criminal record stealing private information from Royal Caribbean computers regarding Royal Caribbean customers so her career-criminal-of-a-husband could break into their
In the last several months, many cruise passengers contacted our office who have been seriously injured on the FlowRiders on Royal Caribbean cruise ships. Some passenger are injured when they fall. Others are injured after they fall and then the water current drives them over the ridge into the back wall breaking their ankles.
The
A reader of our blog informs us that Royal Caribbean’s Jewel of the Seas continues to infect cruise passengers with norovirus.
The reader referred us to the Harwich and Manningtree Standard and Daily Gazette newspapers in Norwich U.K. which report that Royal Caribbean passengers continue to be struck by a highly-contagious virus for the second time in a month. The cruise line again
The Diaz and Lopez families in Miami have found their lives upside down after they purchased a cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Majesty of the Seas.
The story begins with Maidal Diaz calling the 1 – 800 number on the cruise line’s web page. She selects a cruise for her family and completes the on line booking information which requires her to disclose her family’s address, telephone number
We have blogged regularly about the danger of children being sexually abused on cruises, particularly aboard Royal Caribbean cruise ships. In our experience, if your child is going to be sexually abused during a cruise – the chances are likely it will occur on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.
Here’s the latest example.
Last December, Sherwood Stevenson
A jury reached a verdict yesterday in the amount of $1,700,000 against cruise giant, Royal Caribbean Cruises, here in Miami. The crew member is a musician who slipped on stage and suffered an injured shoulder which required surgery and ended his music career.
The Miami Herald reports on the case this morning, explaing that the defense lawyers for
The Los Angeles Business Journal reports today that Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas and NCL’s Norwegian Star are pulling out of Los Angeles because of the increasing violence in Mexico.
Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas, which had been sailing on 7 day cruises to Mexico, will leave L.A. in January 2011, and will eventually
Last November, Princess Cruises invited a number of cruise fans and travel writers on an all expenses paid cruise where they were encouraged to tweet wonderful things about cruising with Princess. The group used the hashtag "#FollowMeAtSea."
When a large billion dollar corporation provides "reporters" with a free cruise, and plies them with champagne and free i-pods, free publicity is the result. You know
The death of eleven oil rig workers on the Deepwater Horizon has sparked a debate in Congress about repealing the antiquated and inequitable statute, the Death On The High Seas Act (DOHSA). This old law dating back to 1920 does not permit surviving wives and children compensation for their grief and bereavement when they lose a loved
Gordon Jones has been in the news lately. Have you heard of him?
Probably not.
But you all have heard of the companies that killed him: Oil giant BP, and Transocean – the operator of the foreign flagged drilling rig, Deepwater Horizon.
Gordon was just 28 years old when he died on April 20th. He left a pregnant wife and child behind. His Facebook
The LA Times has an interesting article this morning revealing how drilling companies skirt U.S. laws by registering their oil rigs in countries like the Marshall Islands, described by the Times as a "tiny, impoverished nation in the Pacific Ocean."
Drilling rigs are considered to be "vessels" under maritime law. This permits their owners and operators to register them wherever
Mother Jones published an interesting article this morning by Stephanie Mencimer, "Will the Cruise Industry Do BP’s Dirty Work?" about how the cruise line lobbyists may join forces with BP to help the oil company dodge liability for the eleven workers killed on the Transocean drilling rig.
You see the drilling rig is considered to be a
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The Palm Beach Post reports today that the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office arrested a Royal Caribbean "vacation planer" who broke into cruise passenger’s homes with her husband while the families were away on Royal Caribbean cruise vacations.
Bethsaida Sandoval, described by the newspaper as a 38-year-old vacation planner for Royal Caribbean cruise lines, used her work database to find her victims’
Last night, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a safety bill for cruise passengers which will require cruise ships to reports crimes on the high seas to the FBI and the U.S. Coast Guard.
The bill will require the cruise industry to comply with a number of security provisions including specific rail heights, peep holes, warning devices, and cabin security measures. The requirment that cruise
USA Today reports that Star Clippers is returning to Antigua. This is less than five months after it dropped Antigua as a port of call following the murder of passenger Nina Elisabeth Nilssen.
We have written many articles about crime in Antigua and Ms. Nilssen’s untimely death.
The newspaper quotes Star Clippers’ president Jack Chatham saying:
"Star Clippers has
