A federal grand jury indicted a Florida man arrested for participating in and encouraging the gang rape of a 15 year old girl on a Carnival cruise ship last month. The grand jury indicted Casey Dickerson on sexual abuse charges Wednesday for engaging in the rape of a girl in a cabin on the Carnival Sensation
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.
Italian Experts Criticize Costa Too for Concordia Disaster
Experts selected by the Italian magistrate presiding over the investigation into the Concordia disaster have criticized the Costa cruise line in addition to the Concordia cruise ship’s reckless captain.
Notwithstanding the cruise industry’s media campaign to portray the incident as solely the result of Captain Schettino’s renegade conduct, the Italian experts included criticisms of…
Does Carnival Warn Passengers of the Danger of Sexual Assault in the Cayman Islands?
A couple of days ago I wrote a blog about the police in the Cayman Islands making an arrest of a local man who allegedly sexually assaulted a cruise passenger who was visiting the island.
The newspaper article that my blog was based on was very vague and mentioned only that the alleged rape occurred…
Founder and CEO of International Cruise Victims Discusses Cruise Line Cover-Ups
Former insurance company president, Ken Carver, discusses the disappearance of his daughter, Merrian Carver, from the Celebrity Cruises ship, the Mercury, and the lies and cover-up by the cruise line which followed.
Ken is the founder and the CEO of the International Cruise Victims (ICV) which he formed in 2006 with a few…
Should Carnival Be Liable When Drunken Passengers Go Overboard From The Fun Ships?
Today I was struck by the juxtaposition of two headlines – “Carnival Cruise’s All You Can Drink Alcohol Package Expands” and Passenger “Claims Carnival Cruise Lines Left Her Drunk Husband to Die After He Fell Overboard.”
I have been critical of Carnival’s new all-you-can-drink cruise booze package which is similar to…
Police in Cayman Islands Investigating Sexual Assault of Cruise Ship Passenger
A newspaper in the Cayman Islands is reporting that the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service is investigating a reported sexual attack on a female cruise ship passenger.
The incident happened on Friday July 27, 2012 according to the local police in the Cayman Islands. The newspaper account is very vague. The newspaper states only that…
Will Costa Concordia Passengers Be Able to Sue Costa and Carnival in the U.S.?
The Associated Press just published an article about the hundreds of passengers and crew members who have filed suit against Costa and Carnival here in the U.S. following the Costa Concordia disaster.
A number of newspapers are running the story, as well as TIME magazine which carried the article "Passengers Suing Carnival Cruises for Millions…
Lights, Camera, Action! Behind the Scenes of a Cruise Law Interview
One of the things about being a maritime lawyer in Miami is that when a cruise ship catches on fire or sinks, the networks will come calling for you to appear on TV.
The cruise lines usually run and hide until the drama is over. But the Miami based maritime lawyers will appear on…
Coast Guard Medevacs Carnival Paradise Cruise Passenger
The U.S. Coast Guard reports that it medevaced a 50 year old passenger from the Carnival cruise ship Paradise approximately 30 miles west of Venice, Florida last night.
The Coast Guard station in St. Petersburg Florida received a request at 10:30 p.m., from the Carnival Paradise for a medical evacuation of a man who was suffering…
Will Jamaica’s Cruise Ship Woes Be Solved By A Margaritaville?
Jamaica’s Gleaner newspaper reports that the average amount of money spent by a cruise ship passenger in Jamaica has dropped to just $71.
The hardest hit Jamaican port has been Falmouth where Royal Caribbean convinced the county of Jamaica to spend over $160,000,000 so far to develop the port (at great destruction to…
FBI Cruise Ship Crime Cover-Up Continues
Journalist Robert Anglen has an article today in the Arizona Republic entitled "Stats Don’t Fully Account For All Cruise-Ship Crime." The article was also published in USA TODAY and discusses the false and misleading cruise ship crimes statistics in the FBI database which mentions only 2 cruise ship crimes for the second quarter…
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals: Cruise Lines Have Duty to Warn of Danger of Crime in Ports of Call
Twenty-seven years ago, a state appellate court in Florida held that a cruise line owes its passengers a duty to warn of known dangers beyond the point of debarkation in places where passengers are invited or reasonably expected to visit. Carlisle v. Ulysses Line Ltd., S.A.,475 So. 2d 248, 251 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1985).
The Carlisle…
Port of Miami Cruise Webcam
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Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire
Recently released "black box" recordings from the Costa Concordia reveal that Captain Schettino deliberately misled his passengers, the Italian Coast Guard and even his wife about the true conditions of the doomed cruise ship.
Immediately after the collision at 9:45 PM, Schettino is heard saying: "Madonna what have I done?"
He then calls the engine…
Master & Commander, or Not? U.S. Coast Guard Rescues Actor Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe is one of my favorite actors. He was fantastic in the movie "Master & Commander" where he played the brave, swashbuckling British Captain Jack Aubrey set during the Napoleonic Wars over 200 years ago.
He brilliantly commanded the H.M.S. Surprise, a British frigate, in all types of hellish weather in an effort to…
Sun Princess Loses Power
A reader of Professor Ross Klein’s website Cruise Junkie states that the Sun Princess cruise ship lost power for a few hours last week.
The Princess Cruises ship was apparently at the end of a 104 day "world cruise," from Sydney Australia and back.
The Incident allegedly occurred around 4:30 in the morning of Tuesday…
Coast Guard Medevacs Crew Member From Cruise Ship, 290 Miles at Sea!
Just another day (or night) for the Coast Guard.
When a crew member from the Celebrity Summit cruise ship began experiencing severe abdominal cramping, a Coast Guard station in Elizabeth City, North Carolina launched a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter as well as a HC-130 Hercules aircraft to assist in the medevac. The helicopter had to lower one…
Coast Guard Busy Making Long Distance Medevacs of Ill Cruise Ship Patients
The U.S. Coast Guard has been busy rescuing ill people from cruise ships in the past few days. Last week Coast Guard helicopters flew over 1,000 miles round trip to save lives.
Last week started off with the Coast Guard medevacing a 40 year old male crew member from a Celebrity cruise ship approximately…