This week the United States Coast Guard rescued two cruise passengers – one ill young man from the NCL Gem cruise ship sailing off the coast of North Carolina and a second young woman from the Explorer cruise ship who was suffering from an appendicitis attack near Key West Florida.
When we report on these type of rescues
This weekend, the Freeport News reported on the saga of a well respected Bahamian family who purchased a cruise through a travel agent for 39 family members to sail with Carnival Cruise Lines on the Carnival Freedom cruise ship.
Written by reporter Yasmin Popescu, the newspaper article reports on what it described as a family
A third class action lawsuit has been filed against Royal Caribbean Cruises seeking class action certification for what is alleged to be fraudulent conduct by the cruise line and executives Richard Fain, Brian Rice, and Henry Pujol.
The law suit was filed by the law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check in Pennsylvania.
We reported on the first two
The Juneau Empire published an interesting article this morning about how the cruise industry routinely ignores a U.S. law requiring the use of U.S. longshore workers to perform certain duties, such as operating tender boats and handling cargo and luggage.
The newspaper reports that the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) plans to picket today over the practice of the cruise lines which refuse to utilize
Hurricane Irene has been the big story this week as the cruise lines juggled itineraries to keep their cruise ships out of Irene’s path.
The Right Way, and Wrong Way, to Abandon Families in a Foreign Port as a Monster Storm Approaches
Carnival and Royal Caribbean received a lot of press for leaving hundreds of passengers in
Business Week reports that the Cruise Lines International Association ("CLIA") spent $453,444 lobbying the federal government in the second quarter this year.
CLIA is the cruise industry’s trade organization which promotes the interests of the cruise industry.
It lobbied Congress, the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, and the U.S. Coast Guard on issues such as vessel
Two stock fraud lawsuits recently filed against Royal Caribbean Cruises have placed the cruise line’s corporate ethics under the microscope.
In the case of Todd Roth v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd, Richard D. Fain, Brian J. Rice, and Henry L. Pujol, United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, Case No. 22783 – MSC, a stockholder alleges that
Things are suppose to slow down in the summer, but there are no signs of that yet.
Royal Caribbean recenty tried to muzzle a Miami lawyer who issued a press release about a cruise line case scheduled for trial in November. Gagging lawyers from talking to the pubic requires introducing substantial evidence establishing that the parties will not receive a
Forbes is reporting that the Cruise Lines International Association ("CLIA"), the trade trade group which promotes the interests of the cruise industry, spent $490,650 in the first quarter this year, lobbying the U.S. government.
The cruise industry lobbied Congress, the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs & Board Protection, State Department, Homeland Security Department, Transportation Department, Justice Department on
A 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
Today the Move On organization published an article entitled "Pay Your Taxes? These Ten Companies Didn’t." The article points out that while most of us U.S. taxpayers struggle to pay our fair share of taxes, there are certain corporations which have tax avoidance down to an art.
The list is complied by Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent from the state
One of the little know facts about the cruise industry is that it pays virtually no U.S. taxes.
The cruise lines take advantage of an obscure provision in the U.S. tax code which permits shipping companies to evade taxes by incorporating overseas and flying the flags of foreign countries. That’s why Carnival is incorporated in
In 2008, a scandal broke out in the Miami legal community. Royal Caribbean Cruises discovered that one of its employees in its risk management department had been bribed by a local law firm – the Wingate Law Firm – to divulge the settlement authority authorized by the cruise line’ s underwriters to settle crew member cases.
The bribery allegations involved a
Today the Senate will debate amending the Death On The High Seas Act (DOHSA) to permit the families of the oil workers killed in the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion to recover compensation for their emotional damages for losing their husbands and fathers. The House of Representatives previously voted to amend DOHSA.
We have discussed the inequities in this archaic law which has been
The popular on line cruise community CruiseCritic.com recently ran an article "Top 10 Reasons To Cruise." By the time I read reason number 3 – "Cruise Ships are Family Friendly" – I was repulsed enough that I felt compelled to explain why the Cruise Critic article was dangerously inaccurate.
Cruise Critic published the photo (below) of the
A fascinating article appeared in USA Today’s Cruise Blog by Gene Sloan – "Titans of the Cruise Industry See Their Net Worth Soar."
This is an amazing article reporting on the Forbes 400 richest people in the U.S., which includes Carnival fat cat billionaires Mickey Arison, Royal Caribbean’s Pritzker family, and entrepreneur Leon
Today Business Week published an article "Cruise Trade Group Spends $400K on 4Q Lobbying" which is re-printed, unedited, as follows:
"Cruise Lines International Association spent almost $400,000 in the fourth quarter to lobby on security and environmental issues along with other matters, according to a recent disclosure report.
The trade group that represents
The so-called "Alaska Cruise Association" (more properly called the Miami Cruise Association) has been caught exaggerating the effects of Alaska’s $50 per person "head tax."
The Juneau Empire reports in an article by Pat Forgey entitled "Attack On A Tax" that the cruise industry is misleading the public. Cruise lines claim that cruise prices have dropped as low as $300, and the $50 tax is driving passengers away
