June 2011

Today we began advertising in Jamaica, as I mentioned in an earlier blog.  The ad below will begin appearing in some of the newspapers in Jamaica, and a variation will appear on some of the billboards in Jamaica.

I have been a lawyer for 28 years.  I have never advertised on television, radio, newspapers or billboards.  We have relied on our reputation

The BDA Sun newspaper in Bermuda is reporting that a 52 year-old cruise passenger died during a diving excursion in Bermuda.

Donna Zapata cruised with her husband on Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas to BermudaShe went on what is described as a "helmet diving" excursion with Hartley’s Bell Diving.  The newspaper explains that this involves "shallow

A number of newspapers in the U.K. are reporting that 2,000 elderly British cruise ship passengers were forced to endure seven hours of immigration checks when their cruise ship docked at the port of  Los Angeles. 

The U.K.’s Telegraph and the  Mail Online have rather sensationalized accounts of how things went wrong once when passengers aboard the luxury P&O cruise

Cruise Ship - Whale Strike - Speed LimitThe Mercury News in San Jose California reports that four environmental groups filed a petition with the federal government today seeking to force cruise ships and other large vessels to slow down in waters between San Francisco and Los Angeles in order to reduce the chances of whale strikes.

A San Francisco environmental group, Pacific Environment

The Australian newspaper reports that the Federal government in Australia is ignoring certain cruise safety recommendations proposed by Australian Coroner Jacqueline Milledge following an inquest into the death of P & O Cruises passenger Dianne Brimble.

Ms. Brimble’s death and the dreadful state of affairs which existed in the P & O Cruises fleet were some of the first issues I

This past week has been an exciting period of time for the lawyers at Cruise Law.

Jamaica:

Jonathan Aronson and I returned from visiting clients in Jamaica.  There are a number of injured crew members who the cruise lines have dumped back in their home country after they were injured working the long hours demanded

The Telegraph newspaper in the U.K. has an interesting story containing a passenger’s account of events aboard the Independence of the Seas following the explosion at the port in Gibraltar.  Some of the accounts:

“People thought it was a bomb and started screaming. Parents jumped in the pool to grab their children, while others dashed

The Virgin Islands Daily News reports today on the death of a young girl killed during a cruise stop in St. Thomas.  We represent the parents of the deceased girl, Liz Marie Peréz Chaparro, a victim of the saddest, most senseless and avoidable tragedies we have ever seen in 28 years of practicing law.  Here is the article today:  

"ST. THOMAS –

Writing this article, I’m reminded of Seth Meyers’s joke at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner – addressing the Senate: “I don’t think you read bills anyways.  I think you guys vote on bills the same way the rest of us agree to updated terms and conditions on iTunes.”

Let’s be honest. Most of us don’t

A local Charleston South Carolina television station (WCIV  ABC-4) is reporting that the Southern Environmental Law Center in Charleston is preparing to file a lawsuit against Carnival Cruise Lines to make the cruise line subject to city and state regulations.

The lawsuit is the latest development in the debate about the suitability of cruise ships in this quaint old southern

Last week I was away from my computer traveling in Jamaica to visit crewmembers while the story broke about the U.K.’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency detaining the MSC Cruises’ Opera cruise ship for safety violations.   

The incident was the type of event which I would normally and quickly write about.  But by the time I returned to Miami the cruise