The Federal Maritime Commission just issued the folowing update regarding Cruise West cancelations and refund options:
The United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) has announced on its website that consumers should be aware that partial or full reimbursement of lost payments and/or deposits for Cruise West products made prior to September 11, 2010, may be protected under the
Throughout the last decade, Royal Caribbean’s reputation would embarrass most executives. Compared to other cruise lines, the cruise line was served with the most lawsuits, paid the highest settlements, and incurred the highest defense attorney fees.
In 2008, Royal Caribbean tried to reign in its out-of-control risk management department by what can only be described as cut throat measures. It terminated its vice president of risk management, an associate general
BBC News is reporting that a cruise line waiter hanged himself after being accused of stealing money from the tip box on the cruise ship.
The article indicates that an Indian waiter, Sumith Gawas, from Goa, allegedly killed himself in his cabin on the P&O Cruise ship Arcadia while it was docked in Southampton earlier this summer. Fellow crew
OnlinePoker.net reports that a 51 year old passenger aboard the SuperStar Aquarius lost HK$5 million ($650,000) playing baccarat. He then leaped to his death from the top floor of the 13-deck cruise ship.
The article identifies the passenger as “Xu” and states that he gambled at the baccarat table until it closed at 8 a.m.
In July, President Obama signed the Cruise Vessel Security & Safety Act. On the President’s right side in the Oval Office was Sacramento resident and my friend, Laurie Dishman. On his left side, Laurie’s Congresswoman, Doris Matsui.
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The new cruise law involves a remarkable story about the bravery of Laurie Dishman. Laurie went on a Royal Caribbean cruise in February 2006 to celebrate her 35th birthday and
Working on cruise ships can be tough. Long hours, no days off, cramped crew cabins, and demanding guests. This much stress can place a frown on anyone’s face. But remember, it’s part of your job to always "Deliver the Wow!" So when you feel blue and are afraid that your supervisor may fire you for not acting happy, there is now a solution –
Florida Today has a nice article about a topic that most passengers don’t know much about – cafes and "calling stations" which cater to crew members and are operated by former crew members.
"Cruise Crews Find Love, and Everything Else, at ‘Matt-Mart" by reporter Keilani Best focuses on former crew member Zvonimir Matkovic who used to work
Lawsuits have been filed following the sinking of a "Duck Boat" cruise vessel on Delaware River in Philadelphia in July.
On July 7, a 250 foot barge pushed by a tugboat ran over and sank a disabled "Ride the Ducks" amphibious tour boat with 35 passengers and 2 crew members aboard.
The tugboat either did not hear or ignored multiple warnings that
Cruise West has announced that it will cease most of its operations tomorrow September 18th. The statement of the company can be read here.
The Federal Maritime Comission has provided us with the following statement regarding the cancellations of cruises by Cruise West:
Update: According to Cruise West, the September 22 Danube cruise will
The Telegraph newspaper in the U.K. has a amazing article today by Richard Snailham about the Discovery cruise ship, operated by Discover the World cruise line, confronting a Somali speedboat as the ship sailed from Mombasa towards the Seychelles Islands.
The good news is that the pirates decided not to try and board the cruise ship. Mr. Snailham 
attributes this happy ending to "rolls of
Just when you think you have heard everything . . . along comes a story like this.
Dianna Hilliard, an attorney in Missouri with 25 years of experience handling drunk driving cases, explains that if you are a passenger with a DWI / DUI conviction you may have a problem entering Canada during your cruise. In a blog entitled "On a
On September 7th, Canada Border Services Agency officers nabbed crew member Edward Brillantes Mangubat after they searched his laptop computer and found sexually explicit movies featuring children.
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Mangubat worked as a stagehand on Cunard’s cruise ship Queen Mary 2. The Chronicle Herald reports that he had worked on cruise ships for seven years.
Today, Mangubat pleaded guilty and was sentenced to
Today, legal marketing expert Paula Black featured me on her blog Law Marketing Results: A Big Congratulations – talking about Cruise Law News (CLN)’s one year anniversary.
Today, my blog CLN is ranked as the no. 1 blog regarding maritime law and no. 1 blog regarding personal injury law pursuant to the AVVO / Alexa ranking
The AP is reporting that a final settlement has been reached between Royal Caribbean and the wife and family of George Smith IV. Royal Caribbean has paid the families and their counsel $1,310,000. The cruise line has also turned over copies of certain investigation materials to the families.
The settlement arises out of an incident on July 5, 2005, when
Earlier this year, I first learned of Avvo’s "Top Legal Blogs" while reading a solo blogger lamenting that his law blog fell out of Avvo’s top 10 law blog list. I was intrigued by the rankings and began to read the top blogs to try and figure out why they were so popular.
Some of the
I used to be a cruise line defense lawyer.
In 1996, I tried my last defense case, for Dolphin Cruise Lines. The cruise line was sued by a crew member who slipped and fell on a wet floor of a photography room on the S/S Oceanbreeze. He underwent back surgery and returned to his
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The cruise industry has an image problem. Royal Caribbean is the main reason.
This year began with Royal Caribbean’s business-as-usual approach to ferrying passengers back and forth to its "private destination" in Labadee (actually sovereign Haitian land leased from Baby Doc Duvalier). While Haitians tried to dig out of the rubble and bury their dead following the devastating earthquake, Royal
A excursion bus carrying cruise passengers plunged into a ravine in northern Morocco (Castillejos) today and killed nine Portuguese tourists. 14 cruise passengers were injured.
44 passengers were aboard the bus when it crashed during foggy and rainy weather. Some news sources are indicating the bus driver may have been speeding.
AFP reports that the passengers were from
