Flies. Dirty and malfunctioning ice machines, refrigerators & dishwashers. More flies. Dust, dirt, food residue, and debris. Flies and more flies. Flies where food is prepared. Flies where food is stored. Ugh. These unsanitary problems are part of a ridiculously long list that the U.S. Centers for Disease documented during a surprise inspection last month aboard
Cruise Lawyers – You Can Love ‘Em or Hate ‘Em, But You Need Them.
Yesterday I mentioned our blog’s three year anniversary. I was pleased to receive some positive comments back from our readers, particularly on our facebook page. Here is one comment that I received via email from a travel agent which I thought was nice:
"Congratulations on three very successful, provocative, educational and to say the
Cruise Law News Celebrates Three Year Anniversary!
This month marks the three year anniversary of my blog, Cruise Law News ("CLN").
I started this blog in September 2009 with the goal of writing about "everything the cruise lines don’t want you to know." There has been a lot to write about.
Shipboard rapes. Molestation of children. Mistreatment of foreign crew members. Overboard
New CLIA Lifeboat Training Policy Insufficient to Prepare for the Next Cruise Disaster
The cruise industry trade organization, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), announced with great fanfare a new lifeboat training policy. This is a result of what CLIA is calling the cruise industry’s "operational safety review" after the Costa Concordia disaster.
Every six months, the CLIA cruise ships will conduct lifeboat drills. The lifeboats will be lowered
Passenger Seriously Burned in Cruise Ship Bar
Newspapers in the U.K. and Australia are covering a horrific story involving a 28 year old man who was reportedly sailing on an Amsterdam "booze cruise" when he awoke in the ship’s bar on fire.
Cruise passenger James Bailey had what he describes as a "few drinks" and fell asleep in the cruise ship’s bar
Fuel Pump Explosion & Power Outage on HAL’s Statendam
Cruise List broke a story today about a power outage which occurred on Holland America Line’s Statendam cruise ship last Thursday.
The Cruise List blog explains that last Thursday evening his proprietary application which searches for cruise information on Twitter picked up a tweet about a “fuel pump explosion” that caused a “two hour Power Outage
Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas: “Profits Over Passenger Safety?”
Today the Barbados Free Press takes a look at the failure of the captain of the world’s largest cruise ship to timely notify the U.S. Coast Guard that a passenger had been spotted going overboard.
Notwithstanding an eyewitness account, the cruise ship intentionally did not follow its own man overboard protocols and delayed 2 hours
Finally, Good News for Cruise Industry?
This morning two news articles caught my eye. The first one from an Australian newspaper – "Cruising Boom: 20 Million Take to the Sea" – and the second one from one of my favorite newspapers, the LA Times – "Cruise Industry Rebounding from Ship Accident, Woes in Europe."
These headlines seem
Norovirus Outbreak on Celebrity Solstice?
We received complaints from cruise passengers that there was a gastrointestinal outbreak on the Celebrity Solstice at the end of August. One cruise passenger contacted us and stated:
"Our Celebrity Solstice cruise out of Barcelona on 8/27/12 had a huge outbreak of the norovirus. People were sick at the end of the cruise, however
Crew Member Goes Overboard From Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas
Already reeling from the publicity of its delayed reporting of a 21 year old passenger who went overboard from the Allure of the Seas, Royal Caribbean is now facing the scrutiny of the international press regarding the disappearance of a crew member from the Serenade of the Seas yesterday.
Several newspapers in Italy and
Allure of the Seas Overboard: Royal Caribbean Struggling to Justify Late Notification to Coast Guard
With the Coast Guard ending its delayed search and the 21 year old woman still missing at sea, Royal Caribbean is struggling to justify the two hour delay it caused in reporting the latest person overboard from the Allure of the Seas. Its excuse is a whopper – it claims that it first had
Norwegian Star – Explorer of the Seas Collision Caught on Video!
A passenger aboard Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas video-taped the collision with the NCL Norwegian Star last week (September 14, 2012) in port in Bermuda. The NCL ship was hit by high winds (75 MPH) which caused the Star to break away from its mooring lines and strike the stern of the Royal Caribbean ship.
Why Didn’t Royal Caribbean Immediately Notify the Coast Guard that a Passenger Went Overboard from Allure of the Seas?
Yesterday the first media source which reported that a cruise passenger went overboard from Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas was Cruise Critic. Notwithstanding its name, Cruise Critic is not remotely a critic of the cruise industry. It’s one of the cruise lines greatest fans and supporters. It will publish cruise line PR statements
Passenger Missing From The Allure of the Seas Cruise Ship
Last night a young woman from Bartlett, Tennessee disappeared from the world’s largest cruise ship, the Allure of the Seas.
According to experts who track cruise ship disappearances, she was the 186th person to go overboard from a cruise ship in the last ten years.
At the time of the overboard last night, the
Gunmen Rob Jewelry Store While Costa Pacifica In Port In Greece
The popular crew member website, Crew Center, posted an interesting article today entitled "Masked Gunmen with AK47 Robed Jewelry Store while Costa Pacifica was in the Port."
The article explains that an armed robbery of a jewelry store occurred in the port city of Katakolon, Greece while the Costa Pacifica was docked in
Bermuda’s Kangaroo Courts Back in Action
Bermuda Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner was again busy fining cruise tourists last week.
According to the Bermuda Sun, Magistrate Warner fined a Norwegian Star passenger on his honeymoon $800 after the local police used a sniffer canine to locate a few marijuana cigarettes (6 grams) in the passenger’s cabin while he and his newlywed
Costa CEO to Oversee Carnival Corporation Growth in Asia
The cruise blog Noticias de Cruceros published an interesting article today about the former president and CEO of Costa Crociere, Pier Luigi Foschi.
It seems that Mr. Luigi, who supposedly "retired" last July following the Concordia disaster, has been selected by the Carnival Corporation as the president and CEO of a new business new unit
Mideast Violence Is Reminder of Vulnerability of U.S. Based Cruise Ships
The disturbing trend of violence against the U.S. in places like Libya and Egypt is causing the cruise lines to scramble to swap out ports of call in North Africa for ports in Italy and Malta.
HAL’s Ryndam skipped a port Tunisia yesterday and instead visited Sardinia, Italy. Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas will avoid