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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 passenger was reported missing from a Carnival cruise ship yesterday following a three-day cruise from Miami.

Several local and national news outlets reported that twenty-six year old Kevin McGrath, who was apparently traveling with his family, did not disembark from the Carnival Conquest when it arrived back at the Port of Miami early yesterday

 A U.S. Border Protection agent arrested a cruise passenger who sailed on the Scarlet Lady for possession of child pornography on Wednesday at Virgin Voyages’ terminal at the Port of Miami.

Michael Fanning, age 47, of Atlanta was arrested when authorities reportedly discovered multiple videos depicting child pornography on his phone, according to multiple news

Last Friday morning, a cruise ship carrying over 3,000 passengers reported to the local police department in Hilo, Hawaii that it was missing a guest as it sailed toward that port. The police department in Hilo received the call at 8:40 a.m. on Friday, stating that 59 year old Kenneth Schwalbe had not been seen

It has been a month since the public learned that the fire-resistant panels used during the construction of the new Explora I cruise ship, owned by MSC Cruises and operated by Europa Journeys, failed safety certification. The Financial Times (“FT”), which broke the story, reported that a total of around forty-five cruise ships had incorporated

The marine insurers for cruise ships which may have the faulty fire-resistant Paroc panels are demanding transparency that cruise lines / ship owners disclose which vessels contain the faulty panels, according to Lloyd’s List. The London-based news website for the shipping industry recently published two articles, focusing on the potentially dangerous Paroc fire-resistant panels. The

A thirty-year old man reportedly went overboard from the Carnival Elation which was returning to the port in Jacksonville Sunday afternoon from a five day cruise. News reports say that the man’s traveling companion reported him missing from the ship sometime in the “late afternoon” of July 23, 2023. Carnival conducted a search on the

MSC Cruises and Explora Journeys, the owner and operator of the new luxury cruise ship Explorer I, announced the delivery of the ship with great fanfare last week. During the media blitz and hype surrounding the delivery of the new cruise ship on July 20th, both companies carefully avoided any mention of whether the

The Financial Times article published last week titled Luxury Cruise Liner’s Launch Delayed as Dozens of Ships Face Potential Safety Hazard raised the issue that as many as forty-five (45) cruise ships may be equipped with faulty fire-resistant panels manufactured by Paroc. This raises important issue of safety for the guests and crew members on

Yesterday, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeal sent the wrongful death case against Royal Caribbean Cruises by the parents of Chloe Weigand whose grandfather dropped her from an open window on deck 11 of the Freedom of the Seas, back to the trial court. In a comprehensive 21 page order replete with photographs of

Cruise trade organization, Cruise Line International (CLIA), and the parent company of Explora Journeys, MSC Cruises, are rushing to try and minimize the fallout of The Financial Times’ article that the Paroc fire-resistant panels used during the construction of the Explora I failed fire safety certifications. The highly anticipated Explora I was scheduled to be

According to a blockbuster article in the Financial Times titled Luxury Cruise Liner’s Launch Delayed as Dozens of Ships Face Potential Safety Hazard, construction materials used in the building of MSC Cruises’ Explora I reportedly failed their safety certification. Helsinki, Finland-based Paroc (a subsidiary of U.S. Owens Corning), which manufactures the insulated building materials

12.7% of the 838 passengers aboard the Viking Neptune cruise ship are experiencing abdominal cramps, vomiting and diarrhea, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nearly 2% of the crew are also experiencing these symptoms of gastrointestinal illness (GI). Cruise lines are required to report GI cases to the CDC whenever

A cruise ship employee, who describes himself as a music director of Royal Caribbean, was jailed in Australia for obtaining and accessing child abuse photographs and videos. Forty-four year-old Dana Moran reportedly came to the attention of Australian Border Force officers earlier this year when he flew into Brisbane International Airport. Following a baggage search

A small (178 foot) expedition cruise ship sailing in Glacier Bay National Park caught on fire yesterday morning. The engine room fire required the Wilderness Discoverer to evacuate fifty-one guests and sixteen crew members.

UnCruise Adventures, which operates the ship, said there were no injuries from the fire.

The U.S. Coast Guard in Juneau