California Cruise Ship Injury Law Blog

Regular readers of our blog know that we have written about a wide range of issues that have befallen cruise ship passengers. From shipwide viruses that make life unpleasant to slip-and-fall injuries that lead to serious injuries and death to ships running aground, there is no shortage of things that can go wrong on a cruise ship.

Recently, however, there has been a focus in the media on stories of people falling overboard from cruise ships. In some cases, including those we have discussed here, the people who fall into the water are recovered, if only after some cajoling from their loved ones to get the ship to turn around to try to find them.

A few months ago on this blog, we wrote about a man who had suddenly vanished from a cruise ship somewhere between the Bahamas and St. Thomas. The man's wife notified officials at the time that she thought he had gone overboard, but the ship did not turn around for another three hours. The man's family still has not received answers about what happened to their loved one; officially, he remains missing.

The cruise line, Holland America, issued a statement saying that the majority of people who are reported missing from a cruise ship are actually somewhere on board the ship; therefore, their policy is to search the ship before turning around to look for someone in the water. This delay could have been deadly in this case, though, if the man did indeed fall overboard and was in the water for several hours.

We have written extensively about the recent incidents aboard cruise ships -- many of them operated by Carnival Cruise Lines -- that have led to deplorable conditions for passengers who have bought expensive fares only to have their vacations spoiled. The potential for a cruise ship personal injury also increases greatly when conditions are made difficult and the attention of crew members is diverted.

Most people still have the images of the recent incident aboard the Carnival Triumph fresh in their minds: long lines for food, overflowing toilets and uncertain prospects for rescue. That ship lost power after a fire in the engine room; a similar incident took place on the Carnival Splendor in 2010.

Parents who go with their children on their cruise ship vacations have the best of intentions. Cruise ships geared at families are all the rage, particularly the ones branded with Disney characters. Unfortunately, however, these vessels carry the same types of cruise ship personal injury risks -- as one family discovered recently.

A 4-year-old boy was found unresponsive in a swimming pool on board the Disney Fantasy as the ship waited to depart Port Canaveral, Florida, over the weekend. It was not clear if other family members were nearby at the time or if there was a lifeguard on duty at the pool. As a result of the accident, the ship was delayed leaving port by 45 minutes.