Cruise Passengers Injuries

It is projected that more than 25 million people will board a cruise in the year 2019 worldwide, and over 14 million of them will board a cruise ship in a U.S. Port. Revenue of the cruise ship industry worldwide sits at $40 billion.

Beyond the magnitude of the cruise industry, the most profitable cruise lines are based in South Florida. As a result, almost all cruise lines require that when a passenger is injured on a cruise ship, a lawsuit for injury must be brought in Federal Court in the Southern District of Florida. Being based in Miami, Leesfield & Partners represents many passengers who were involved in an incident each year.

Cruise Lines have the duty to provide a safe environment under the circumstances and based on this general maritime principle, there are many types of injury claims that passengers bring forth: falls resulting in fractures and surgeries, on-board activities gone wrong, criminal assaults, sexual assaults, medical malpractice by ship doctor, and passenger disappearance. At any given time, our firm has several dozen cruise cases open against all of the “big” cruise lines.

If a passenger sustains a serious injury on a cruise line, there are several important key steps to take in order to help maximizing the chance of a successful claim:

1. Do not move from where the incident occurred;
2. Report your claim of injury to a crew member immediately;
3. Have a person in your party take photos or videos of the area of concern as soon as possible;
4. Demand that the responding crewmember take photos of the area of concern prior to cleaning up the area;
5. If your condition requires medical attention by the ship doctor, request a copy of your medical records, as well as any X-Rays that may have been taken;
6. Forward a written request to the security officers on board to see, or to preserve, the surveillance video footage of the incident;
7. Upon your return home, follow-up with your doctor without delay;
8. Contact a cruise line injury as soon as possible due to the short statute of limitations against cruise lines.

On the last point, passengers must understand that there is a shortened statute of limitations in injury claims against a cruise line. In Florida, in most cases, the typical statute of limitations for personal injury is 2 years. However, almost all cruise ticket contract provide that a notice of claim must be provided to the cruise line within 6 months of the incident, and a lawsuit must be filed no later than 1 year after the incident. This procedural requirement forces injured passengers to reach out to a cruise injury lawyer as soon as they get home.

Whether a man falling on a pool deck, a child getting injured due to a crew member’s lack of supervision, a woman being raped by a crew member who had access to her stateroom through the crew member universal key; a group of individuals beating up an innocent passenger, a young adult fracturing a leg while playing basketball on a wet basketball court, a person sustaining an injury while taking part in the many activities available on the ship, a passenger mysteriously disappearing from the ship, or the improper medical diagnosis contributing to the aggravation of a known medical condition, Leesfield & Partners has extensive experience with cases involving passenger injuries. Our trial attorneys will aggressively pursue the maximum compensation provided by law. For a complete list of the firm's representative results, go to our Verdicts and Settlements section.

To contact one of our experienced trial lawyers call our Miami law office today at 800-836-6400 or click here for a free and full case evaluation.