Photo of Jim Walker

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.

The Department of Justice finally published the number of crimes alleged on cruise ships for 2023 after failing to do so all of last year. We reported several times last year on the failure to reveal the number of crimes, particularly sexual assaults which continue to be the most prevalent crimes on cruise ships.

DOT

Passenger Goes Overboard from MSC Preziosa After Departure from Santos

A passenger went overboard from the MSC Prezoria early today after the cruise ship left the port of Santos headed to New Year’s Eve festivities in Rio de Janeiro with thousands of passengers and artists, according to several publications in Brazil.

Few factual details

Passenger Overboard from Vision of the Seas Near Charleston

A forty-one year old man went overboard from Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas last night according to multiple sources. It appears that the first information about the incident was posted yesterday evening (December 23rd) on Twitter (X). At 8:15 p.m., one Clark Kent posted:

FBI Arrest of Youth Counselor Following Abuse Allegations

The Miami New Times reports today that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested a 35 year-old cruise ship youth counselor employed by Celebrity Cruises for sexually abusing a 6-year-old girl in the youth center of the Celebrity Silhouette during a cruise to the Caribbean a week

Crew Member Lost at Sea From MSC Seascape

On November 15, 2023, we wrote about a thirty year-old crew member on the MSC Seascape who went overboard over two weeks ago while employed on the MSC cruise ship after sailing from Miami on a Caribbean cruise. The United States Coast Guard deployed two rescue vessels

Another Passenger Disappears from Carnival Glory

Another cruise guest has somehow disappeared from a Carnival Cruise Line ship during a Caribbean cruise. Twenty-eight year old Tyler Barnett of Houma, Louisiana was last seen on the Carnival Glory cruise ship around 11:40 p.m. Sunday night. Carnival performed an onboard search around 7:00 a.m. on Monday morning

Carnival Magic Discharges Scrubber Sludge in Grand Turk

Last night, the Carnival Magic dumped a large amount of toxic emissions residue collected from the vessel’s so called “Advanced Air Quality System” into the water in Grand Turk as it was preparing to continue on its cruise in the Caribbean. Several passengers aboard the Carnival cruise

Crew Member Goes Overboard from AIDAPerla in English Channel

A crew member employed on the AIDA operated and Carnival Corporation owned AIDAPerla cruise ship went overboard last night / early this morning as the ship was heading from Hamburg, Germany into the English Channel on a cruise to the Caribbean.

A German cruise passenger provided

Gastrointestinal Outbreak Reported on Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that 73 (66 passengers and 7 crew members) on Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady cruise ship reported being ill during the cruise that ended in Miami on Friday, with complaints of abdominal cramps, vomiting and diarrhea.

This year, there

Hungarian Court Sentences Viking Sigyn Captain for Deadly Danube Collision

Today, a court in Hungary sentenced the captain (master) of the Viking Sigyn river cruise ship to five years and six months in jail for his negligence in causing the sinking of a Hungarian sightseeing boat, the Hableany (“Mermaid”), on the Danube River during the

Carnival Cruise Passenger Indicted for Sexual Abuse on Carnival Legend

A twenty-one year old college student was arrested last week after a grand jury indicted him on charges of assaulting a woman onboard the Carnival Legend earlier this year. The Department of Justice published a press release indicating that Jalen Kelly was indicted last week

Passenger Missing After Carnival Conquest Returns to Miami

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