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
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
A fellow Miami lawyer filed a lawsuit against Norwegian Cruise Lines ("NCL") on behalf of a passenger who alleges that she was raped while aboard the Norwegian Sun cruise ship.
The alleged incident occurred in April when the passenger was participating in an NCL organized "pub crawl."
NCL employees took her and other guests around the ship stopping briefly to drink at various
A post by a cruiser on a CruiseCritic forum yesterday indicates that a cruise passenger visiting Bermuda was assaulted and battered in an attempted robbery last week.
One June 14th, a passenger from the NCL Dawn cruise ship was walking back to the ship around 4:00 p.m. from Snorkel Beach on what is described as a "relatively
Earlier this week, we reported that the case against the Mexican man charged with killing Royal Caribbean crew member, Monika Markiewicz, was falling apart. A key prosecution witness testified at a hearing that police pressured him into making a false statement implicating Nelson Pérez Torres as the murderer.
In our article Is Alleged Murderer of
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The press in Mexico is raising questions about the criminal charges leveled against Nelson Pérez Torres, who is jailed and awaiting trial for the murder of Royal Caribbean crewmember, Monika Markiewicz.
Ms. Markiewizc was an accomplished musician employed as a violinist aboard Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas. In February, she disembarked in Cozumel from
One of the proposals recommended by the International Cruise Victims (ICV) organization is having "sea marshals" on cruise ships in order to protect passengers and respond to shipboard crimes.
Since 9-11 the Federal government has placed "air marshals" on airplanes. The ICV has attempted to ensure that cruise ships have the same level of security by supporting legislation in California
The lawsuit we filed this week of behalf of our clients for the death of their daughter, Liz Marie Perez Chaparro, has been covered in the Miami New Times and USA Today this week. The article, written by Tim Elfrink, for the Miami New Times is entitled "Couple Sues Carnival Cruise Lines After Teenage Daughter Killed in Virgin Islands Gang
Reuters is reporting that an American tourist died in Naples yesterday, after thieves assaulted him while trying to steal his Rolex watch a week ago.
The article states that Oscar Antonio Mendoza, age 66, and his wife cruised to Naples on May 18th. After he disembarked the unidentified cruise ship to tour the city with his wife, two men approached him on
"Naked Law" by AVVO recently published an interesting article "What Happens to Cruise Ship Criminals?"
The article poses the following scenario:
"A group of young women take a seven-day cruise to the Caribbean, a trip they’ve been planning for months. The second night on board, they have a couple of drinks in one
In January last year, we reported on the death of Camilla Peixoto Bandeira, age 28, aboard the MSC Musica cruise ship. Her boyfriend, Bruno Souza Bicalho, allegedly found Ms. Bandeira deceased in their cabin, claiming that she committed suicide by hanging herself with a sheet from an overhead pipe.
Today, a newspaper in Brazil reports that the
This week I traveled from Miami to California to attend a hearing at the state capital building in Sacramento. California Assemblyman Roger Hernández (D – West Covina) had introduced legislation that will permit the State of California to prosecute criminals on cruise ships which call on California ports.
This is an important bill. In all states except Florida, only the
California Assemblyman Roger Hernández (D – West Covina) has introduced legislation that will protect the rights of cruise ship passengers when a crime is committed against them during cruises. If passed into law, Assembly Bill 1060 will permit the State of California to prosecute criminals on cruise ships during cruises which start and end in California ports.
Cruise passengers have faced difficulty obtaining
Yesterday a jury in the U.S. Virgin Islands convicted a 22 year old man in St. Thomas of killing a young Carnival cruise ship passenger last July.
The jury convicted Steve Tyson (photo left) of two counts of murder related to the July 12, 2010 shootout near the popular Coki Beach tourist attraction.
14 year old Liz Marie Perez Chaparro of
A newspaper in the U.K. reports that a cruise ship captain pled guilty last October to sex crimes against a 14 year old girl. The Spalding Guardian newspaper identifies the sex criminal as Captain Peter Russell, who entered the girl’s cabin, apparently when her parents were not present, and performed an unidentified sex act on her.
Today the Royal Gazette newspaper in Bermuda is reporting on the beginning of a criminal trial in Bermuda where a 40 year old crew member is accused of raping a female crew member on a cruise ship flagged in the Bermuda.
The newspaper reports that the case involves a crew member who is accused of raping a
Today, we received the following statement from Senor Frog’s in Nassau, about our articles "Cruising To The Bahamas – Is It Safe?" and "Cruise Passenger Beaten and Raped in Nassau – Are Royal Caribbean and Senor Frog’s to Blame?
"We, at Senor Frogs, are deeply saddened, concerned and disturbed by this news.
Senor
This past week, the news has been filled with stories of cruise lines canceling calls to ports around the world because of concerns for their passengers’ safety.
Carnival, Disney and Holland America Lines announced that they would no longer sail to Mazatlan because of violence in this Mexican city. Carnival called the decision a "precautionary measure," noting
