Your Cruise Vacation May Be Much More Adventurous Than You Anticipated: Major Cruise Lines Admit Faults with Cruise Safety

Throughout the past 16 months, case after case concerning cruise ship safety has been brought to public attention.  Finally, lawmakers in the U.S. House and Senate recently announced legislation that would require information about reported crimes to be made available to the public.  To appease the courts and the public, the three largest cruise lines, all based in Miami, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Carnival Corp. and Norwegian Cruise Line, have voluntarily agreed to publish these reports.

The reports will include categories required by the 2010 Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act, concerning sexual assault, theft greater than $10,000, tampering with the vessel, assault with serious injuries, kidnapping, missing U.S. nationals, and suspicious death or homicide.  The crime reports are a major step forward for the credibility of cruise lines and will allow the public to make educated decisions when choosing their vacation vessel.

Personal injury attorney John Leighton has a passion for representing individuals who have been seriously injured due to the negligence of others, and has had a front row view of many of the cruise catastrophes that have occurred.  Mr. Leighton has won several cases regarding negligence on cruises, including one in which a passenger was struck when a mishandled mooring line snapped and crashed through a window, causing injuries that the cruise line denied. He has also obtained recoveries for passengers who have been injured in falls, sexual assaults and shore excursions gone awry.  His experience in representing seriously injured vacationers has resulted in his being named a Top 100 Florida SuperLawyer for several years in a row.

The hope is that the new changes, brought about as a result of continued litigation against the major cruise lines, will result in a safer cruise environment.  People vacationing forget that these are floating cities run by corporations with one motive: profit.  They hire foreign nationals for which they do not need to comply with American labor standards and cut corners whenever they can.  As a result tragedy sometimes occurs.

You can read more regarding this new legislation here – http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/24/3519723/in-senate-grilling-cruise-leaders.html.