Long Island Injuries Aboard a Cruise Ship Lawyer

Types of Accidents and Injuries Common on Cruises

Cruise ship vacations are all-inclusive – you eat, sleep and play onboard, often for multiple days at sea before visiting a port and having the opportunity to get off of the ship. Therefore, cruise operations are complex and far-reaching, with crews providing everything from food and beverage services, to cabin services, entertainment and activities, retail shopping, laundry, ship operations and more.

There’s a lot going on aboard a cruise ship – and a lot that can go wrong. Accidents can happen during parties or activities, or during cruise-line-sponsored shore excursions. Accidents can result in individual injuries or problems that adversely affect everyone onboard. People can be hurt at the cruise ship terminal before the cruise even starts or as their vacation is ending.

An accident claim against a cruise line company may be based on accidents such as:

• Slip-and-fall accidents. It’s easy to slip and fall on a ship deck wet by sea water or rain, or because a spill has not be cleaned up in a timely manner, such as in a buffet line or at a bar or restaurant. Passengers may also trip and fall on a cruise ship because of debris, luggage or equipment left in walkways, or because of unmarked hazards, among many other causes.
• Falling overboard. Particularly on smaller ships, passengers can also fall overboard and drown or suffer other injuries, like hypothermia or impact injuries from the fall itself.
• Swimming pool accidents. Adults and children out for a good time can be hurt in accidents in swimming pools and similar water features, like wave pools, water slides and surf pools, which require more skill to use.
• Sports and recreation accidents. Cruise ships offer fitness centers, basketball courts, climbing walls and other recreation centers where participants can be injured if they are not properly instructed and supervised, or if equipment malfunctions.
• Illness. Disease carried onto a cruise ship or food-borne illnesses that develop because of negligence in sanitation or food handling can cause any number of passengers to become sick. Because of the close confines onboard, illnesses can easily spread. A cruise ship infirmary and its medical staff may be unable to cope with serious or widespread illness.
• Catastrophic accidents. Collisions, groundings and sinkings are the stuff of cruise ship passenger nightmares, and they are rare but do happen. More likely but potentially just as devastating are large fires or mechanical failures that cripple a ship at sea.
• Assault. When people are joined together, disagreements can lead to assault and more base emotions can lead to sexual assault and rape. Cruise ships should ensure that cabins and rooms are secure and that other measures are taken to keep passengers safe, including properly screening staff and crew.

The laws pertaining to cruise ship accidents are complex, and vary according to factors such as location of the ship, the ship’s country of registration and what port the cruise originated from. In addition, cruise ship passengers make certain liability agreements as part of booking a cruise. If you have been badly injured in a cruise ship accident, you are likely to need an experienced cruise line negligence attorney to assist you with a claim for the compensation you are due.

Call our New York Cruise Ship Injury Lawyers

The cruise ship accident lawyers of Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe, LLP have extensive experience with state and federal laws, and international treaties that affect claims of cruise line negligence leading to passenger injuries. We have assisted hundreds of cruise ship passengers in the New York area with claims against cruise lines big and small.

Call our Long Island law firm at 866-878-6774 or email us for an immediate response. Our cruise ship injury attorneys can provide a free legal consultation, including meeting you at your home or hospital room.