Cruise Ship Lawyers: Injuries, Assaults, and Your Legal Options

Cruise vacations are meant to be relaxing getaways, but accidents and crimes can turn a dream trip into a nightmare. 

If you’ve suffered an injury or assault on a cruise ship, you have legal options. Cruise lines have a responsibility to keep passengers safe, and when they fail to do so, they can be held accountable. 

If You Were Harmed on a Cruise Ship, Here’s What to Do

After a cruise ship incident, follow these steps to protect your rights and strengthen any potential legal claim:

• Seek Medical Attention: Visit the ship’s medical facility for treatment and request a copy of your medical report.
• Report the Incident: Notify cruise ship security or management and ask for a copy of the official report.
• Document Everything: Take photos of the scene, your injuries, and any contributing factors (wet floors, broken railings).
• Gather Witness Information: If others saw what happened, collect their names and contact details.
• Review Your Passenger Ticket Contract: This document outlines deadlines and legal jurisdiction for filing claims.
• Avoid Signing Documents or Giving Statements: The cruise line may try to limit liability, so consult a lawyer before signing anything.
• Contact Morgan & Morgan: A legal expert can help you navigate maritime laws, gather evidence, and fight for compensation.

Common Cruise Ship Injuries and Their Causes

While cruise ships offer numerous amenities and activities, they also pose unique hazards. Common injuries passengers experience include:

Slip and Fall Accidents

Wet decks, improperly maintained staircases, and spilled drinks often lead to slip and fall accidents. These injuries can range from minor bruises to severe fractures or head trauma.

Swimming Pool and Waterslide Accidents

Cruise ships have pools, hot tubs, and waterslides that, if not properly maintained or supervised, can lead to drowning incidents, concussions, or other serious injuries.

Food Poisoning and Illnesses

Outbreaks of foodborne illnesses or norovirus are not uncommon on cruise ships. Unsanitary food handling, contaminated water, or improper hygiene can cause severe gastrointestinal issues.

Excursion-Related Injuries

Many cruises offer off-ship excursions, such as zip-lining, scuba diving, or ATV rides. If these activities are not properly regulated, they can lead to severe injuries.

Fires and Mechanical Failures

Engine room fires and system malfunctions can cause life-threatening situations, sometimes requiring emergency evacuations.

Medical Negligence

Cruise ships have medical facilities, but their onboard doctors and nurses may lack the resources to provide adequate treatment. In cases of misdiagnosis, delayed treatment, or medical errors, passengers can suffer serious harm.

Sexual Assault and Physical Attacks on Cruise Ships

Cruise ships are like floating cities, and while most passengers and crew members are law-abiding, incidents of assault do occur. Sexual assault is one of the most underreported crimes on cruise ships. Crew members, other passengers, or even individuals on offshore excursions can be perpetrators.

Cruise ships have a duty to provide safe transportation to their passengers, and this includes protection against rape and sexual assault aboard the ship. Cruise liners are required to follow certain rules, which are recognized and accepted in both the cruise and security industries, to ensure the safety of their passengers. To help protect passengers against rape or sexual assault aboard a cruise ship, the liner should:

• Monitor activities of crew members and others aboard the ship
• Install security cameras
• Run background checks on applicants
• Employ an adequate security staff-to-passenger ratio
• Light public areas
• When a cruise liner fails to uphold its duty of care to protect passengers from assault and rape, the company may be liable for the victim’s damages.

Signs of Negligence in Cruise Ship Assault Cases

There are several confirmable signs of negligence onboard a cruise ship, including:

• Lack of proper security personnel onboard
• Inadequate background checks for crew members
• Failure to respond appropriately to reports of assault
• Poorly lit areas and inadequate surveillance

If you or a loved one has been a victim of assault on a cruise, it’s important to report the crime immediately and seek legal counsel to explore your options.

Your Legal Options After a Cruise Ship Injury or Assault

Filing a claim against a cruise line can be complex, as these cases often involve international maritime law and specific contract terms. However, an experienced cruise ship lawyer can help navigate these complexities.

Your Passenger Ticket Contract

Your ticket serves as a legal contract, outlining liability waivers, claim deadlines, and required jurisdictions for lawsuits. Many cruise lines require claims to be filed in specific courts, such as those in Miami, Florida.

Proving Negligence

To win a claim, you must prove that the cruise line or its employees acted negligently. This could involve demonstrating that the company failed to:

• Maintain safe conditions
• Train employees properly
• Provide adequate security measures

Filing a Lawsuit

Most cruise injury lawsuits must be filed within a short timeframe, sometimes as little as six months to a year. Delaying action could result in losing your right to seek compensation.

Seeking Compensation

Depending on the severity of your injuries or trauma, you may be eligible for compensation, including:

• Medical expenses (past and future)
• Lost wages
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress

Why You Need a Cruise Ship Lawyer

As mentioned above, cruise ship tickets are also contracts—highlighting the cruise line's scope of liability in terms of the safety and well-being of its passengers. 

The contract may outline various prerequisites that must be met for a lawsuit to be filed. For example, it may require the passenger to warn the cruise line with a written statement of their plan to file a claim. 

This window of opportunity is very narrow and may pass in as little as six months. The contract may also state that the lawsuit be filed within a certain time period, such as one year from the date of the accident.

Cruise lines have recently begun to add clauses into contracts and tickets that limit the location in which a claim can be filed, with many requiring that these claims be filed in Florida. These effectively require that every claim is handled by a Florida firm, regardless of the location from which the cruise departed or the victim's place of residence. These clauses may make it difficult for lawyers inexperienced in cruise ship injury litigation to successfully handle these types of claims.

On top of that, cruise lines often have powerful legal teams defending their interests.

Luckily, there’s Morgan & Morgan—America’s largest personal injury law firm with offices in every state across the country. Our army of over 1,000 trial-ready lawyers can represent personal injury victims in any state, with nationwide resources at our disposal.

At Morgan & Morgan, our attorneys have decades of experience handling personal injury claims and are offering free case evaluations to those who were injured aboard cruise vessels.

If you or a loved one has been injured aboard a cruise ship, do not hesitate to contact us today for a free, no-obligation case review.

Our skilled attorneys experienced in maritime law can help you investigate the incident, collect and preserve evidence, negotiate with cruise lines and insurers, and even represent you in court, if necessary

At Morgan & Morgan, we fight for victims who have suffered due to cruise line negligence. If you or a loved one has been injured or assaulted on a cruise, our team is ready to help you seek the justice you deserve. Contact us today for a free case evaluation.