There has been a lot of news lately about cruise ship disasters, like ship fires, groundings and sinkings. But the most likely danger that a passenger, woman or child, faces during a cruise is rape.
Cruise ships are essentially floating cities. Increasingly larger floating cities at that. Like any city, a cruise ship has crime.
Yesterday I read a press release by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA) touting a "Cruise Industry Safety Tool Kit."
The kit is designed by CLIA to "educate and reassure" prospective cruise clients about safety at sea.
The materials contain brochures which can be customized with the travel agency’s name on the front
Travel Agent Central published an interesting article today mentioning that a nationwide strike in Italy is scheduled for today by the Italian Public Transport Workers.
The article was written by one of the employees of Travel agent Central who is cruising on Carnival’s new cruise ship, the Carnival Breeze, which sailed into Venice this
Twenty years ago I was a defense lawyer defending the cruise lines. It seems like a different life way back then. Something that I did as a foolish kid.
One of my clients was Majesty Cruise Lines. It’s flag ship (and only ship) was the Royal Majesty. I thought it was a huge ship
Walker & O’Neill maritime lawyers in Miami handle cases exclusively cases against cruise lines.
Our firm has handled many high profile cases involving cruise ship fires, sexual assaults against women and children, and disappearances of passengers and crew around the world. We routinely represent passengers across the United States in serious injury cases, against Carnival
Travel Agent Central reports a hour ago about what appears to be a small fire which broke out aboard Carnival’s new cruise ship, the Carnival Breeze.
The publication states that shortly 2 PM (ship time), crew members from the "Alpha" fire team were summoned via the ship’s public address system to a forward portion
Walker & O’Neill recently settled a claim against Royal Caribbean Cruises on behalf of a seriously injured former crewmember, originally from St. Vincent in the West Indies.
The crewmember was employed as a stateroom attendant for a number of years. Stateroom attendants, also referred to as cabin attendants or cabin cleaners, are required to work
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One of the purposes of the new Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Law is to educate the public regarding the sexual assaults and other crimes which occur on cruise ships.
But as we reported in our article Cruise Lines, FBI & Coast Guard Caught Altering Cruise Crime Law, the FBI and Coast Guard – acting
Last night I attended a pre-game party for the Miami Heat – Oklahoma City Thunder basketball game at a friend’s house. One of the families was excitedly talking about leaving on Wednesday for a cruise to Italy. Other families began comparing cruise stories to Italy. I don’t talk "cruise law" during social events. I just
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A newspaper in Canada published a couple of interesting articles this weekend about a story that won’t go away – the disappearance of passengers and crewmembers from cruise ships.
The Star newspaper published Families Search for Cruise Ship Passengers Lost at Sea which discusses the circumstances surrounding the disappearances of Canadian citizen Fariba Amani who vanished
Newspapers in Germany are reporting that a fire erupted yesterday aboard the MS Gerard Schmitter river cruise ship while it was sailing from Amsterdam to Strasborg, France.
The cruise ship was approaching Krefeld, Germany when the fire broke out and produced heavy smoke. Fortunately, the cruise ship was preparing to berth at a dock in
Yesterday a U.S. cruise passenger drown in Grand Bahama during a cruise visit. The Eleutheran News reports that the passenger was age 61 and was from Pennsylvania. She was snorkeling with a family member and other cruise guests. The name of the cruise line and cruise ship was not released.
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A 20 year old Brazilian man pled guilty this week to two counts of lewd and lascivious battery in the rape of a 15 year old girl on the last night day of a Royal Caribbean cruise.
Broward Circuit Judge Matthew Destry sentenced Luiz Scavone to one year in jail and declared him a sexual
NBC Bay Area reports that Congress is pointing the finger at the the FBI and the U.S. Coast Guard for watering down a cruise crime law on behalf of the cruise lines to make it easier for the cruise industry to withhold statistics about crime at sea from the American public.
The Cruise Vessel Safety
Crimes against women in ports of call is a topic which I write about on a regular basis on Cruise Law News. Cruise lines have a legal duty to warn about the danger of crimes in the ports of call that they sail to on a regular basis. Cruise lines sell an idyllic image of
WSVN News 7 in Miami reports tonight that Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas cruise ship sent a lifeboat to pick up five Cuban refugees who were floating in a raft after escaping Cuba.
A cruise passenger sent Channel 7 a video of the "rescue" operation. A cruise passenger was quoted saying "I was kinda
When I created Cruise Law News back in September 2009, my goal was to raise awareness of safety issues on cruise ships. I wanted my articles to be interesting and, perhaps, provocative in order to spark debate about the cruise industry with the goal of making cruising safer for both passengers and crew.
Back then
The Arizona Central newspaper published a blockbuster article this morning, Law Withholds Cruise Safety Information, which reveals how the cruise industry avoids reporting crimes.
In 2010, Congress passed a federal law which requires cruise lines to report missing passengers, murders, sexual assaults, and other crimes on cruise ships. Over the years there has been great debate
