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Lonnie Kocontes, age 55, was arrested last week on a murder warrant in the death of his ex-wife, Micki Kanesaki, who went overboard from an Italian cruise ship seven years ago.
Kocontes, a lawyer licensed in California, was arrested in Florida where he was living. He was booked into into the Pasco County Jail where
A year ago we mentioned the disappearance of Fariba Amani, age 47, from Vancouver, Canada who was cruising aboard the Bahamas Celebration cruise ship operated by the Celebration Cruise Lines.
Ms. Amani was cruising with her boyfriend, Ramiz Golshani, also from Vancouver, when she disappeared from the cruise ship between Florida and the Bahamas.
The U.S. and international media covered the saga of the stricken poop-filled Triumph cruise ship non-stop last week. CNN led the coverage with its "ceaseless, rigorous reporting" on what some newspapers are characterizing as essentially "inconvenienced cruise passengers without working toilets." CNN enjoyed a 74 percent increase from its recent prime time numbers according
Like any employee, crew members are not immune from being terminated. But termination on a cruise ship is a bit different from being fired at a regular job. It’s like being fired and kicked out of your apartment all at once.
Better known as the "6 AM knock," crew members wake up to the ship’s
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A former Royal Caribbean crew member recently posted a short video explaining, in his view, how the cruise line steals a portion of the tips intended for stateroom attendants. We posted the video in an article Are Crew Members Receiving the Tips You Pay?
Recently this cruise line announced that it was switching to
Want some some zinc, nickel and copper in your Alaskan salmon? Well, now you can.
Today the Republican controlled Alaska Senate voted 14 to 6 to approve a law proposed by Governor Parnell to abolish cruise ship wastewater standards enacted in 2006.
The Anchorage Daily News reports that the new law will allow the cruise
Are there any Rush Limbaugh fans out there?
Today’s blog may be of particular interest to you if you are.
It seems that Rush doesn’t like the criticism voiced against the cruise industry as the Carnival Triumph was towed back to Mobile last week. He does not like the references to the fact that cruise lines
Royal Caribbean announced a new tipping policy.
Passengers will no longer be permitted to pay the "recommended gratuities" directly to the hard working stateroom attendants. Instead, the cruise line will automatically charge tips of $12 a day per person. The tips will be automatically added to the guest’s account on a daily basis.
So who
Go big or stay home, so the saying goes.
This weekend there have been several articles discussing the two lawsuits filed last Friday against Carnival arising out of the Carnival Triumph "cruise from hell." I have thrown in my two cents in television & radio appearances and in a number of local and
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Just when you think that things could not get any worse for Carnival, news is just breaking that authorities are investigating what is being characterized as a "sex attack" on a Carnival cruise ship.
A newspaper in the Bahamas is reporting that a team of of detectives from Nassau to Galveston, Texas yesterday to investigate
Last Friday, the day the Carnival Triumph passengers were finally going home from the "cruise from hell," the first two lawsuits were filed.
The first case mentioned in the press was filed by a Texas lawyer representing a woman from Brazoria County Texas. I printed a copy from the court’s online docket to read this
The U.S. Coast Guard saves the day again.
This time Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans medevacs a 46-year-old man from the Carnival Conquest cruise ship approximately 60 miles south of Southwest Pass, of Louisiana on February, 16, 2013. The cruise passenger was reportedly suffering from symptoms associated with a brain hemorrhage.
Click on the
A newspaper in Australia reports today that a passenger aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship was airlifted to safety after falling and seriously injuring his head while the cruise ship was sailing off the coast of Australia.
The newspaper states that "paramedics aboard the Westpac rescue helicopter stabilised the 37-year-old after he took a tumble
Carnival CEO Micky Arison joined Twitter in 2010. I was curious to see how such a big shot cruise executive would interact with the common man on such a popular social media platform like Twitter.
After the Costa Concordia disaster killed 32 of his cruise guests and crew members, cruise CEO Arison made no public
Last night ABC News aired a one hour special on 20/20 following the Triumph cruise ship fire.
In the video below, you will hear from passengers on the "cruise from hell" talk about their experiences, and see the Carnival marketing and PR people run away from ABC’s cameras.
I answered a few questions, and explained
The long tortuous tow back to Mobile ended last night with smiles of relief on the faces of the over-3,000-passengers as they straggled off the stinking stricken Triumph. It was a happy sight to me. Yes, there were people still upset, understandably so, but the sentiment seems to be that they had all encountered a
Today CNN asked me to write an opinion piece regarding the state of affairs of the cruise industry following the fire aboard the Carnival Triumph. CNN permits only the first 150 words of the article to be published so here you go:
Editor’s note: James M. Walker is a maritime lawyer and cruise safety
At this moment the 210 foot Coast Guard cutter Vigorous is escorting the disabled Carnival Triumph back to the U.S. The Coast Guard performs a remarkable job responding to emergencies such as cruise ship fires and the numerous helicopter medevacs involving ill or injured passengers who need medical treatment back here in the U.S.
But
