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Jim Walker

Everything the cruise lines don’t want you to know” is the motto of Cruise Law News, authored by Jim Walker.

Jim is the founding partner of Walker & O’Neill, a Miami-based maritime law firm that has represented more than 2,500 clients, including survivors who testified before Congress on cruise ship safety.

A Tennessee man was finally arrested after he assaulted a teenager on the Carnival Mardi Gras on November 22, 2025. The man, Orlando R. Hughes, 43, was first arrested in Tennessee by Mt. Juliet Police on May 14, 2026 as “a fugitive from justice,” and then booked in Brevard County, Florida on May 24, a

A man died after going overboard from the Carnival Liberty while the ship was sailing from Celebration Key to Nassau, as reported first by WDSU.

A Carnival spokesperson said that the man climbed over his stateroom balcony and jumped overboard into the water. This is an unusually direct statement from Carnival, which typically uses more

Agents from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stormed the Disney Magic after it docked in San Diego late last month, detaining 10 crew members, most of whom were led from the Disney cruise ship with their hands zip-tied behind their backs.

Images of Disney crew members being led into unmarked CBP vans have been widely

A cruise ship failed a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) health inspection for the first time in 2026. The CDC gave the Norwegian Dawn an unsatisfactory score of 84 on March 29, 2026, documenting extensive health violations on the ship.

The violations include flies in buffet areas, mold in ice machines, refrigeration failures

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the Caribbean Princess has a norovirus outbreak on its current 13-day Caribbean voyage originating from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The CDC states that 102 passengers and 13 crew members are sick with the virus.

The total number of sick passengers and crew members may increase as

An Iowa woman accused of assaulting a teenager surrendered to local authorities in Miami on May 4, a month and a half after the alleged crime. The woman, Jennifer Frost, 44, reportedly punched and broke a teenager’s nose on March 19 while on the Carnival Sunshine.

According to the arrest report, Frost approached the

The woman who fell to her death on the Carnival Firenze has been identified as 24-year-old Brianna Miller. The tragedy occurred around 2:00 a.m. local time on April 27, less than 24 hours after the ship departed on a 4-day cruise from Long Beach, California.

The Carnival Firenze was near Catalina Island, off the coast

Three passengers who traveled aboard the cruise ship Hondius are dead, while two crew members and one passenger are sick from a hantavirus outbreak, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Hondius is currently stranded outside Praia, Cape Verde, off the coast of West Africa, where it has been since the early hours of

A crew member went overboard from the Norwegian Breakaway late Saturday night on April 25, according to local boston news. The incident occurred off the coast of Wellfleet, Massachusetts while the ship was returning to Boston from a 7-day cruise to Bermuda.

The Norwegian Breakaway changed course at 11:55 p.m. local time to begin

The Department of Transportation (DOT) reported 43 crimes across all cruise lines in Q1 of 2026 (January 1 – March 31, 2026). Royal Caribbean led all cruise lines in reported crimes for the second straight quarter.

The DOT publishes the cruise crime data by the quarter they were reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) pursuant to

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at Port Everglades deported four cruise ship crew members, according to Crew Center. Following what the CBP claims was “routine screening,” the cell phones of four crew members allegedly contained child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) which the crew members admitted possessing.

CBP officials released the photo above

Norwegian Cruise Line has reached a $2 million settlement with 12 states after attorneys general said the company used deceptive COVID-era sales tactics to keep consumers booking cruises.

Continue Reading Norwegian Cruise Line Reaches $2 Million Settlement With 12 States Over Deceptive COVID Sales Tactics

A 67-year-old Tasmanian woman drowned while snorkeling the Tangalooma Wrecks at Moreton Island, Australia on Friday, April 17. The woman, who has not been publicly identified, was a passenger aboard the Carnival Splendor, which offers snorkeling excursions to the Tangalooma Wrecks.

The Incident

A witness told Courier Mail, “The current at the wrecks

An elderly passenger went overboard from the Carnival Splendor while the ship was off the coast of Brisbane, Australia in the early hours of April 18, 2026. The subsequent search and rescue operation led by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) was unsuccessful and the man is presumably dead.

Carnival Splendor Search and Rescue Operation