Cruise Ship Passenger Claims
More than 4 million passengers every year, or about 45% of the entire worldwide cruise industry's passengers departs out of Miami, Port Everglades - Fort Lauderdale, Cape Canaveral or Tampa. Several cruise lines are based in Florida, including Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Lines. With the profits of these cruise lines comes the responsibility to provide a safe environment for passengers. This is not always a primary concern for some cruise lines.
Practically all of the large cruise passenger ships calling at American ports are under foreign ownership and foreign flags. To determine whether the law of the United States applies to a foreign flag ship, the courts look to the general law of conflicts applicable to any contract. If the contract is entered into in the United States, the voyage starts in the U.S., and a U.S. citizen is involved, the law of the United States generally applies, even if the flag of the ship is foreign. However, state law may apply, particularly if there is no federal maritime law precedent.
The contractual terms on a passenger ticket are critical and controlling in most circumstances. In consideration of payment, the passenger receives a written contract of passage. This contract has generated many cases relating to the enforceability of its many provisions. The enforceability of the contract terms on the ticket depends on the clarity of the ticket and whether adequate notice was given to the passenger of the fact that the ticket was indeed a contract. The issue of reasonable notice is a question of law for the judge to decide. The judge must determine whether the warning language in the passenger ticket is reasonably communicative and therefore legally binding and enforceable. The language on the cruise ticket must notify the passenger that the terms printed elsewhere on the ticket form a binding contract that has an effect on legal rights. The format of the ticket is critical, including the positioning of the notice to the passenger that the ticket actually contains provisions that affects a passenger's legal rights. It is important to note that neither a cruise passenger's failure, nor inability to read the ticket, nor someone else's actual possession of the cruise ticket voids a contractual limitation contained in the ticket itself. Although many cruise tickets have a line for the passenger to sign, the signature is not necessary for the formation of a binding contract. The passenger's acceptance and use of the ticket implies assent to the contractual provisions on the ticket.
The forum selection clauses (which designates where a lawsuit must be filed) on cruise tickets are enforceable. The cruise passenger has a very heavy burden in trying to set aside a forum selection clause on the grounds of inconvenience.
The most critical contractual limitation on a passenger's cruise ticket is the provision regarding the time to file a lawsuit. Most tickets contain a provision that the holder has one year in which to file a lawsuit. In Florida, negligence claims may be brought within four years; however, the courts have held that the Florida's statute of limitation does not apply to passenger injury claims.
Our Florida maritime injury trial lawyers have experience in litigating all types of injuries on a cruise ship, including:
- Cruise ship groundings
- Hurricane-related accidents
- Slip/Trip and fall accidents
- Swimming pool accidents
- Drownings
- Physical assault by cruise ship employee
- Sexual assault by cruise ship employee
- Physical assault by other passengers
- Sexual assault by other passengers
- Food Poisoning (salmonella, etc.)
- Head injuries
- Spinal injuries
- Medical negligence
- Other serious cruise ship injuries.
A passenger on a cruise liner who has suffered an injury may be able to recover medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages.
If a passenger dies while vacationing on board a cruise line, a wrongful death claim may be filed. However, when an accident occurs more than three nautical miles from a U.S. shore, including in waters of foreign countries, and results in death, the Death On The High Seas Act (DOHSA) applies. Different laws apply to someone who has died while out at sea.
If you or a family member has been injured while on a cruise, or if a family member has died while on a cruise, contact our lawyers today. Legal consultations with our Maritime lawyers are always free and there is never a fee unless your case is successful. Our staff speaks Spanish and Portuguese and is able to provide translations in Greek, Italian, French, Polish, and Russian.
From our main office in Boca Raton and a satellite office in Clewiston, Florida, the Jones Act Seamen attorneys of Howard S. Grossman, P.A. serve injured cruise passengers in Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, Riviera Beach, West Palm Beach, Wellington, Lake Worth, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Loxahatchee, Clewiston, Lantana, Stuart, Fort Pierce, Parkland, Coconut Creek, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Lighthouse Point. Our firm's cruise ship injury trial attorneys serve injured passengers in Hillsboro Beach, Tamarac, North Lauderdale, Oakland Park, Fort Lauderdale, Wilton Manors, Lauderdale Lakes, Lauderhill, Sunrise, Plantation, Weston, Davie, Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, Cooper City, Southwest Ranches, Miramar, Pembroke Park, Dania Beach, Hallandale Beach, St. Lucie, Fort Myers, Orlando, Miami, Miami Lakes, Aventura, Sunny Isles Beach, Hialeah, Coral Gables, Miami Gardens and North Miami.
We routinely represent injured cruise ship passengers who live in New York, California, Ohio, Illinois, Texas, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Maine, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Connecticut, Maryland, Washington, Colorado, Alabama, Virginia, North Carolina, Michigan, Ecuador, Netherlands, Argentina, Venezuela, Canada, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Poland, France, Russia, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Japan, Portugal, England and anywhere in the world.
