Yesterday I bought a Blackberry PlayBook. Small and compact and new to the market, the PlayBook is supposed to compete with the iPad 2. Its screen is only 3 and 1/2 by 6 inches. It has everything on it. I can blog, prepare legal pleadings, and email outside of the office. The PlayBook also has a camera
Disappearance of George Smith – Larry King Live & the “Missing Groom Mystery”
The media’s interest into the "missing groom" story was unparalleled in the history of the cruise industry. Royal Caribbean had been able to dodge bad press about the disappearance of passengers and women and children sexually assaulted on its fleet of cruise ships for decades.
But the case of George Smith was different. Every network was covering the
And the Cruise Industry Wonders Why It Has An Image Problem . . . (continued)
Last year I published a series of articles about how cruise lines mishandle customer complaints and ruin their reputations in the process.
Part I of "And the Cruise Industry Wonders Why It Has An Image Problem" series focused on the ways that Carnival and Royal Caribbean managed to botch customer problems and tarnish their images.
Part II took a
Disappearance of George Smith – Royal Caribbean Captain Says Its Just an Accident Involving a Bloody Nose
Two days after George Smith went overboard from the Brilliance of the Seas, the cruise ship’s captain prepared a casualty report concluding that Mr. Smith accidentally fell off of the railing. The official report did not mention any of the suspicious noises in the Smith’s cabin heard by other passengers or that other young men (later accused of raping a passenger
Disappearance of George Smith – The International Cruise Victims Organization Is Born!
In December 2005, Congress convened its first hearing on the issue of the safety of U.S. passengers on foreign flagged cruise ships. The hearing came about primarily due to the efforts of several families who had lost loved ones from cruise ships on the high seas, under suspicious circumstances.
George Smith’s family was instrumental in bringing a great
M/V Clipper Adventurer Sues Canada After Running Aground in Northwest Passage
CBC News in Canada is reporting that the owners of the M/V Clipper Adventurer, which ran aground last summer in the Nothwest Passage, is suing the Canadian government.
Adventurer Owner Ltd. of Nassau, Bahamas, is seeking at least $15 million from Canada, including $12 million in repair and salvage costs for damage to the vessel’s hull, $2.6 million for loss
Disappearance of George Smith – Six Years Later – Royal Caribbean Blocks Dr. Henry Lee’s Dummy Experiment
One of the tests which Dr. Henry Lee wanted to perform during his inspection of the Brilliance of the Seas cruise ship was dropping a life size mannequin from the rail of the balcony.
A metal awning is located several floors below the balcony. It is around 12 feet wide and ran the length of the cruise ship
Disappearance of George Smith – Six Years Later – Dr Henry Lee Boards the Brilliance of the Seas
After months of silence, the Hagel and Smith families were losing their patience with Royal Caribbean. By Thanksgiving it had been almost five months since George’s death. The cruise line had released no information about the circumstances surrounding George Smith’s disappearance.
As soon as Jennifer Hagel retained our firm to represent her, we retained forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee.
Disappearance of George Smith – Six Years Later – A Frantic Call Back to Connecticut
Royal Caribbean did not permit Jennifer Hagel back into her cabin after blood was discovered on the awning below the cabin. No one on the ship explained to Jennifer that she had been found unconscious on the floor near a stairwell early in the morning, or that her husband’s blood was covering the awning.
Eventually, the cruise
Disappearance of George Smith – Six Years Later – Media Frenzy Follows Case of “Missing Honeymooner”
Following Mr. Smith’s disappearance, the Master of the Brilliance of the Seas quickly concluded that his disappearance was simply an “accident.”
Royal Caribbean never told the families that there was blood on the awning below the cabin (which the cruise line quickly cleaned off with high pressure hoses) or that four men had entered Mr. Smith’s
Disappearance of George Smith – Six Years Later – Trouble as the Cruise Ship Sails to Kusadasi
George Smith and Jennifer Hagel married in late June 2005 in Newport Rhode Island. Their honeymoon was a cruise in the Mediterranean Sea aboard Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas, which departed from Barcelona to ports in Italy, Greece and Kusadasi Turkey.
Little did George and Jennifer know that these would be their final days together.
In the early morning hours
Key West to Dredge Channel to Accomodate Oasis of the Seas?
.jpg)
While the city of Charleston South Carolina is resisting the expansion of the cruise industry into its city, the southernmost city of the U.S. may be heading in the other direction. Key West appears to be poised to accommodate bigger and more cruise ships, including the new mega ships the Allure and Oasis of the Seas.
The KeyNoter newspaper
Cruise Ship Sinks in Volga River in Russia – Up to 100 Feared Dead
Numerous news sources are reporting that a cruise ship carrying 173 passengers and crew sank in Russia’s Volga river today.
The sinking involved the Bulgaria cruise ship, which had 140 passengers and 33 crewmembers aboard.
To date, there have been reports of two confirmed dead bodies recovered and 96 people unaccounted for after the Bulgaria sank at 1358 local time (0858 GMT)
Disappearance of George Smith IV – Six Years Later
This past week marked six years since George Allen Smith IV disappeared from Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas.
Mr. Smith’s disappearance, and the manner in which Royal Caribbean chose to handle the incident, brought much needed attention to the cruise industry. The events which followed Mr. Smith’s death led to five Congressional hearings into
Philippines to Adopt International Cruise Victim Legislation to Protect Passengers and Crew
A newspaper in the Philippines reports that legislation has been introduced in the Philippines to protect passengers and crew of cruise ships from sexual and physical assaults while at sea.
Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from Pampanga sponsored a bill which requires passenger and cargo ships to adhere to specific requirements to protect of passengers and crewmembers.
The legislation is patterned after the 2010 Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Law
Cruise Law News RoundUp – July 6, 2011
Things are suppose to slow down in the summer, but there are no signs of that yet.
Royal Caribbean recenty tried to muzzle a Miami lawyer who issued a press release about a cruise line case scheduled for trial in November. Gagging lawyers from talking to the pubic requires introducing substantial evidence establishing that the parties will not receive a
Where Were You When Casey Anthony Was Acquitted?
I have avoided watching anything to do with the sad case of Caylee Anthony over the past two years.
The image of the big brown eyed pretty little child, missing but then found skeletonized in a swampy dump, juxtaposed against the photos of her smiling mother dirty dancing at clubs have been broadcast, it seems, like 25 million times on cable news
Fishing Tour Boat “The Erik” Capsizes in Mexican Waters
ABC News is reporting that a chartered fishing boat with 44 tourists aboard capsized and sank off Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. A 115 foot long vessel called "The Erik" was reportedly struck by a storm and then capsized early yesterday 87 miles south of San Filipe, Mexico, in the Sea of Cortez
There are conflicting reports regarding the number of survivors. The