April 2011

California Assemblyman Roger Hernández (D – West Covina) has introduced legislation that will protect the rights of cruise ship passengers when a crime is committed against them during cruises.  If passed into law, Assembly Bill 1060 will permit the State of California to prosecute criminals on cruise ships during cruises which start and end in California ports.  

Cruise passengers have faced difficulty obtaining

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

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

The cruise ship took the crew member off the

In the past two months, two citizens from the United Kingdom have disappeared during cruises.  Disney crewmember Rebecca Coriam went missing from Disney’s Wonder in March while the cruise ship was sailing from California to Mexico.  This month, U.K. passenger John Halford vanished from the Spirit cruise ship operated by Thomson Cruise Lines while the ship was approaching Egypt. 

Disappearances from

Carnival Sues BP for Pollution?This article in the Sun-Sentinel describes how Carnival Cruise Lines has filed a lawsuit against BP, Transocean and Halliburton over the Gulf oil spill.  They claim the spill got their ships dirty, added to cleaning expenses, drove passengers away and cost them revenue.

There’s something insidiously ironic about one of the cruise lines biggest polluters suing

The cruise community has been closely following the sad story of 73 year old grandmother, Janet Richardson, who was dropped into the frigid Artic Sea two weeks ago during a botched transfer between the Ocean Countess cruise ship and an awaiting rescue vessel. 

She died this past weekend.

We have posted stories on this sad incident and photographs of the

Panama Flag of ConvenienceA reader of Cruise Law News (CLN) brought an excellent opinion piece from the New York Times regarding the shipping industry’s use of "flags of convenience" to my attention.  Entitled "Flying the Flag, Fleeing the State" and written by Rose George, the article explains how unscrupulous ship owners evade responsibility for environmental damage, exploitative labor and unsafe work conditions, and criminal

Sad news.  Cruise passenger Janet Richardson, who was dropped from off of a stretcher while rescue staff tried to transfer her from the Ocean Countess cruise ship to a rescue vessel, died in the hospital in the U.K.

Ms. Richardson suffered from some medical problems and apparently was experiencing internal bleeding when a decision was made to take her to

Yesterday was a rather strange day.  I received  a couple of calls and emails asking for information about a cruise ship fire which ruined the honeymoon of Tina Fey. 

Tina Fey?  The comic, I asked?  You mean the Saturday Night Live star with the great impressions of Sarah Palin?  The star of NBC’s 30 Rock??  On her honeymoon on

SkyNews has an interesting update on the situation involving  cruise passenger Janet Richardson who was dropped from off of a stretcher while trying to transfer from the Ocean countess cruise ship to a rescue vessel into -3 Celsius waters off the coast of Norway (there is a reason why I live in South Florida).  Regrettably, Ms.

A local newspaper in the U.K. is reporting that a 63 year old passenger is missing from a cruise ship in the Red Sea. 

The MK News in Milton Keyes is reporting this morning that John Halford, age 63, from Greenleys in Milton Keynes, left the airport in Luton on Thursday March 31st for a cruise aboard the Thomson Cruise Line.

Today, a number of newspapers in the U.K. published articles about an incident we reported on April 6th – Cruise Passenger Dropped into Freezing Waters During Botched Rescue – involving a seriously ill British passenger from the Ocean Countess cruise ship who was inadvertently dumped into freezing waters off of the coast of Norway by the crew of a rescue

Steve Tyler - Murder St. Thomas - Cruise - Liz Marie Perez ChaparroYesterday a jury in the U.S. Virgin Islands convicted a 22 year old man in St. Thomas of killing a young Carnival cruise ship passenger last July. 

The jury convicted Steve Tyson (photo left) of two counts of murder related to the July 12, 2010 shootout near the popular Coki Beach tourist attraction.

14 year old Liz Marie Perez Chaparro of

This afternoon BBC Radio (Radio Merseyside) interviewed maritime lawyer Jim Walker in Miami regarding the disappearance of Disney youth activities worker Rebecca Coriam from the Disney Wonder cruise ship.

Rebecca was reported missing when she failed to report to work aboard the cruise ship on March 22, 2011.  You can listen to the BBC Radio interview here

After kicking disabled cruise passenger Jim Keskeny off in a Caribbean island alone, Celebrity Cruises responded to Mr. Keskeny’s request for reimbursement of his cruise fare and travel expenses home with a "bombastic and bullying" letter threatening him with legal fees and costs, according to his Mr. Keskeny’s Michigan lawyer Richard Bernstein.

The cruise line threats

The parents of missing Disney Cruises youth counselor, Rebecca Coriam, recently launched a website Rebecca-Coriam.com seeking answers to the disappearance of their daughter from Disney’s Wonder cruise ship.  The family’s website states:

"Rebecca was last seen just before dawn on the 22nd March 2011, where she worked on the Disney Wonder Cruise liner as a youth activities worker.

Ocean Star Cruises - Ocean Star Pacific Cruise Ship - MexicoFirst impressions are everything.  The first Mexican cruise line has already earned a dubious reputation.    

The Secretary of Tourism, Gloria Guevara Manzo, said that the cruises are key to the expansion to tourism in Mexico. 

Mexico is off to a rough start. 

Ocean Star Cruises had just its second cruise this week.  Cruceros Ocean Star had a disastrous start.  A  generator fire knocked

In a proxy filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Royal Caribbean Cruises disclosed that its 2010 compensation paid to CEO Richard Fain (photo left) increased almost 60% to $8,600,000.  Royal Caribbean increased the compensation paid to the company’s four other named executives from 18.5% to almost 50%.  The largest compensation increase of the four executives  went to Adam Goldstein (photo right), the president of