Passenger Rights

A legal journal in Texas is reporting that the first and only lawsuit filed in Galveston County regarding the disabled Carnival Triumph cruise ship has ended with a voluntary dismissal. 

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Kathy Marie Armstrong who was among the 3,000 or so passengers who sailed from Galveston on February 7 2013.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon in Washington DC. attending the hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation titled “Recent Incidents Show Need for Stronger Focus on Consumer Protection.”

I have attended seven Congressional hearings on cruise ship safety issues from December 2005 through March 2012. This is my eight hearing.  

A year ago, following the Costa Concordia disaster, Senator Rockefeller convened a Senate hearing of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation to inquire into the safety and security of cruise ship passengers and environmental practices of the cruise ship industry.  

I attended the hearing where Senator Rockefeller asked appropriately tough questions to the

Carnival SensationNews stations in Orlando are reporting that a 12 year old child was airlifted from a Carnival cruise ship after falling on the ship.  

Port Canaveral authorities state that the child fell on the cruise ship on Wednesday while aboard the Carnival Sensation and was medevaced to Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando this morning in

Costa Concordia LawsuitIn an opinion released yesterday, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed a ruling from a federal district court which held that two lawsuits filed after the Costa Concordia disaster, involving 104 cruise passengers, should remain in state court in Miami.

The cases are Abeid-Saba, et al., v. Carnival Corporation and Scimone, et al. v.

AC 360 Keeping Them Honest - Cruise Ship SafetyAnderson Cooper’s show AC 360 "Keeping Them Honest" aired a special program last night "Who’s Keeping Cruise Passengers Safe?"

The program follows a string of cruise ship mishaps dating back to the Costa Concordia disaster last year up to the fire aboard the Royal Caribbean Grandeur of the Seas last week. 

Where are cruise lines

Injured on a cruise ship and looking to retain an experienced maritime lawyer? Consider Miami lawyer Jim Walker.  

Jim studied maritime case in law school in the early 1980’s and has practiced maritime law for the past thirty years.  For the last fifteen years, Jim has focused his law practice exclusively on representing passengers

Carnival Ecstasy Power OutageThe popular cruise fan site Cruise Critic is reporting that the Carnival Ecstasy’s return to Port Canaveral this morning was delayed due to a brief power failure last evening.  

Cruise Critic states that the Ecstasy lost power for around 12 minutes while sailing back to Port Canaveral at the end of a five-night Bahamas

Multiple news sources are reporting that the Italian prosecutors have agreed to drop all criminal charges against Costa Cruises arising out of the Concordia disaster in exchange for a fine of only one million Euro’s.  

Just one million Euro’s (around $1.31million) for killing 32 people, including children? What a pittance.

I’m sure Carnival-owned Costa is