No matter how safely the cruise line believes it operates, the water remains a dangerous place, subject to hazards that do not exist on land. Cruise ship claims are governed by laws designed to protect the ship owners from the legitimate claims of passengers, including limiting the time within which to file suit, and mandating that your claim be filed in a specific, often remote court.

 

The vessel may also file a Limitation of Liability lawsuit, to attempt to limit its liability to the value of the vessel after the accident.  (In the Titanic, a famous limitation of liability case, the ship owner sought to limit its liability to the value of the remaining lifeboats). We have handled many different types of cruise ship accidents, including collisions, “tender” injuries, trips/slips and falls, drownings, and in the subject case, food poisoning, which was the result of a common foodborne pathogen.

 

Due to the confined and concentrated spaces on cruise ships, food poisoning claims are relatively common. The cruise line employed its customary tactic of offering $500 off the price of the next cruise. Through our investigation we learned that many passengers became ill on this voyage. We converted the case to a class action, which resulted in our client receiving nearly 100 times what the cruise line originally offered. In addition, we were able to pay to every affected passenger, even though they never hired us, or even filed a claim, $500 for each day that they were ill.