A rather ordinary couple of weeks in the world of cruising: 1,000 passengers or so sick with diarrhea and vomiting caused by gastrointestinal outbreaks on five cruise ships, 16 brawling passengers kicked off a cruise, a crewmember (a child activities supervisor no less) arrested on charges of molesting a child, a cruise passenger acquitted of
Carnival Cruise Line
Carnival Cruise Passengers Sentenced to Six Years in Jail for Conspiracy to Smuggle Pot into Bermuda
The Royal Gazette newspaper reports that a judge in Bermuda sentenced two U.S. cruise passengers to six years in jail each after trying to smuggle pot into Bermuda.
Bermuda Judge Carlisle Greaves sentenced the two female Carnival cruise passengers from Georgia, Alloah Releford, age 24, and Latoya Powell, age 27, for attempting to smuggle in 2.7kg of cannabis resin into the country.
The two…
Costa Concordia Survivors Face February 12th Deadline!
There is a lot of talk in the media about so-called "class action" lawsuits, arising out of the Costa Concordia cruise disaster, seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation and other far fetched claims. Most of these exaggerated claims are being made by lawyers who have absolutely no experience handling maritime claims.
What is not being…
Search for Cruise Victims Ends, Carnival CEO Arison Makes Appearance – at Miami Heat Basketball Game
Italy announced that it is ending recovery efforts to locate the missing passengers and crew of the Costa Concordia due to the dangerous conditions which surround the stricken cruise ship.The following passengers remain missing, either trapped in
…
Carnival Cruise Passenger Falls to His Death on the Fantasy
Multiple news sources are reporting that a 26-year-old American passenger aboard a Carnival cruise ship fell to his death.
The incident occurred on the Carnival Fantasy cruise ship. The man apparently fell from the upper levels all the way down to the lobby level of the cruise ship
The cruise ship docked in Nassau, Bahamas last night. Its departure today was delayed…
Are Lawyers Taking Costa Cruise Survivors Into Dangerous Legal Waters?
As rescue and recovery attempts continue to try and locate the bodies of passengers missing from the Costa Concordia disaster, law firms in the United States are moving forward to file class action lawsuits against Costa Cruises and its parent company, Carnival Corporation, in Miami, Florida.
One of the firms advertising for such cases and taking a high…
Costa Cruise Disaster: Spotlight Shifts to Carnival – Where’s Micky?
It was only a matter of time before the public would realize that the crash of the Costa Concordia involved far more than just the actions of a reckless cruise ship captain. Costa’s quick smack down of Captain Schettino (photo left) was not an impulsive outburst by the Costa CEO Pier Luigi Foschi. It was undoubtedly a decision carefully thought out…
“The Situation Is Under Control, Go Back To Your Cabin” and Other Lies From The Costa Concordia Disaster
When I first learned of the unfolding Costa Concordia cruise disaster ten days ago, I remember reading a statement attributed to the cruise line stating that the evacuation was proceeding "orderly" and the passengers were "not at risk."
Initially there were no reports of deaths or injuries, but I knew that something was terribly wrong. Elderly…
Cruise Crisis Management FAIL – How Carnival is Ruining its Reputation Following the Costa Concordia Disaster
A cruise line’s reputation in a time of crisis is often formed not by the circumstances which caused the crisis but by the company’s attitude, appearance, and action afterwords.
I call this the "three A’s" of cruise line crisis management: attitude, appearance & action.
When disaster strikes and passengers are injured or killed during a vacation cruise, the U.S. public…
Did a Cunard Child Predator Molest Children Aboard the QM2 & Queen Elizabeth Cruise Ships?
The Mail Online in the U.K. reports tonight that a crewmember who worked aboard two of the world’s most luxurious cruise ships is being investigated by police on suspicions that he sexually assaulted children during the cruises.
The newspaper reports that the Cunard crew member who allegedly carried out his indecent conduct worked for Cunard for over five years on Cunard’s flagship, the…
ABC’s 20/20 Covers Costa Concordia Disaster (Part 1)
Last night a cruise ship special aired on ABC’s 20/20 about the Costa Concordia disaster.
Narrated by Chris Cuomo from Italy, the one hour program contains interviews with surviving passengers. The 52 year old captain, Francesco Schettino, is seen dining with a 25 year old blond former crew member as the disaster unfolds. ABC shows…
Costa Concordia Cruise Disaster Reveals Cruise Industry Has No Credible Voice
Late last Friday, I received a tweet from one of my 9,000 friends on Twitter informing me that a cruise ship had run aground off the coast of Italy. Not much was known about what happened. No one in the media was initially reporting on the incident.
I stayed up all Friday night and Saturday morning watching the increasingly frantic twitter…
Crime Scene on Splendor Cruise Ship? Carnival Won’t Say
Professor Ross Klein’s website CruiseJunkie contains disturbing comments from a cruise passenger aboard the Carnival Splendor cruise ship who reports that on December 15th during a sailing to the Mexican Riviera a gruesome physical altercation took place in cabin 1306.
Here are the comments:
"Wild, out-of-control alcohol-fueled domestic fight – starts at 9PM, escalates to most certainly a felony assault (or worse)…
Carnival Crewmember Travel Coordinator Arrested For Fraud and Grand Theft
A fifty-one year old employee of Carnival Cruise Lines has been arrested for organized fraud and theft.
Miami resident Serafin Sanchez was arrested and booked on two criminal counts, described as organized theft of more than $50,000 and first degree fraud in excess of $100,000.
According to the arrest warrant, Mr. Sanchez is a shore-side employee of Carnival…
Your Tax Dollars At Sea – Who Pays When Things Go Wrong on Cruises?
This week the United States Coast Guard rescued two cruise passengers – one ill young man from the NCL Gem cruise ship sailing off the coast of North Carolina and a second young woman from the Explorer cruise ship who was suffering from an appendicitis attack near Key West Florida.
When we report on these type of rescues…
Update on Alleged Sexual Assault of Child Aboard the Carnival Liberty Cruise Ship
This week we have been contacted by a number of readers who want to know the status of the criminal proceeding against a Carnival crewmember who is accused of sexually abusing a 14 year old girl aboard a Carnival cruise ship.
The incident occurred last month and you can read our initial account of the incident here.
The…
Carnival Murder Case Reveals Out of Control Cruise Booze
Yesterday there were multiple news accounts of the sentencing of Carnival cruise passenger, Robert McGill, to life in jail for the brutal murder of his wife aboard the Elation cruise ship.
The crime occurred after McGill reportedly drank a half bottle of Mezcal and seven or eight beers while ashore in Cabo San Lucas. The Southwest…
Court Rejects Mezcal-Scorpion Defense, Sentences Cruise Passenger to Life for Killing Wife Aboard Cruise Ship
A life sentence in jail was imposed today on a cruise passenger by a Federal District Judge for a murder on a cruise ship which occurred two years ago.
In July 2009, Robert and Shirley McGill cruised to Cabo San Lucas aboard the Carnival Elation cruise ship to celebrate Mr. McGill’s 55th birthday and his wife’s retirement.
But following…