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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.

We have been contacted by a number of passengers from Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas about a frightening experience when the cruise ship suddenly listed around four a.m. on February 28th.  All of those individuals who contacted us simply wanted an explanation regarding what happened, and they were frustrated regarding the lack of factual

BVI Platinum News reports that cruise excursion bus driver Roland Allen is in trouble with the Tortola police again.

Roland Allen - Tortola - Cruise Excursion - Bus DriverMr. Allen – known in the community as "Crash Dummy" – was the driver of the green excursion bus which crashed on "Windy Hill Road" on February 24, 2010  while transporting cruise passengers from a Princess Cruises’ cruise

BVI News and BVI Platinum News continue their excellent coverage of the tragic and deadly crash of the  Princess Cruises’ excursion bus in Tortola, British Virgin Islands (BVI) with an article entitled "It could Have Been Worse."

PR Nightmare

The BVI Tourist Board is trying to manage the public relations nightmare of the death and multiple injuries of

Cruise Line International Association - CLIA - Lobbying Today Business Week published an article "Cruise Trade Group Spends $400K on 4Q Lobbying" which is re-printed, unedited, as follows:

"Cruise Lines International Association spent almost $400,000 in the fourth quarter to lobby on security and environmental issues along with other matters, according to a recent disclosure report.

The trade group that represents

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that Celebrity Cruises’ Mercury cruise ship has returned to Charleston, South Carolina with 182 ill passengers. 

According to its web page "Investigation Update on the Mercury,"  t’he CDC reports 182 of 1749 passengers (10.41%) are ill with diarrhea and vomiting, and 14 of the 850 crew (1.65%) are sick.

With

A story in the BVI Platinum’s newspaper indicates that the cruise excursion bus driver Roland Allen, nick-named "Crash Dummy," had been convicted of driving offenses – including reckless driving – before the ill-fated Princess Cruises excursion bus crash. 

We suspected this, as we raised this issue in a prior article "How Did Princess Cruises Excursion Bus Driver "Crash Dummy"

When cruise passengers are injured during cruises and require legal representation, the chances are that they will require a lawyer in South Florida.  Most cruise lines are based in either Miami or Fort Lauderdale.  These cruise lines include "forum selection" clauses in the passenger tickets which require that the passenger’s lawsuit must be filed in Florida.  

So if the accident occurs on a cruise