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November 2001: Miami Jury Returns Verdict for Crew Member Injured On
Costa Cruise Ship After Mr.Garay injured his knee on the cruise ship, CSCS sent him back to Honduras rather than permit him to be treated by a competent orthopedic surgeon in Miami. Mr. Garay thereafter underwent an outdated, open surgery procedure by a local surgeon in Honduras, rather than receiving a MRI, a modern arthroscopic procedure, and appropriate rehabilitative therapy. The open surgery procedure (called an arthrotomy) unnecessarily injures the knee's ligaments and tendons and leaves a large disfiguring scar. This type of surgery has not been performed in the United States for the past twenty-five years. The lawsuit filed on Mr. Garay's behalf alleged that CSCS failed to provide competent medical treatment to Mr. Garay. Under the Jones Act (46 U.S.C. 688), maritime employers are required by law to provide provide prompt, adequate and complete medical treatment to injured crew members. The jury agreed that the inadequate medical treatment in Honduras caused Mr. Garay permanent injuries, and awarded $176,000 in damages. The jury awarded $101,000 for pain and suffering, $45,00 for lost income, and $30,000 for future medical expenses. Attorneys Paul Hoffman and James Walker tried the case against CSCS.
October 2001: "Wave Dancer" Operated By Miami Lakes Company Sinks In Belize
July 2001: Three Carnival Cruise Line Passengers from the M/S
Elation Drown During Glass Bottom Boat Excursion in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico 59 Lawsuits Filed Against Miami Based Cruise Lines From April Through June Fifty-nine lawsuits were filed in the second quarter of 2001 against Miami based cruise lines by injured passengers and crew employees. See the list
March 2001: 72 Lawsuits Filed Against Miami Based Cruise Lines From January Through March Seventy-three lawsuits were filed in the first quarter of 2001 against Miami based cruise lines by injured passengers and crew employees. See the list Celebrity Cruise Line Ordered to Produce Passenger
Statement of Injury Celebrity argued that that it was entitled to withhold the statement based on the case of Torres-Paulett v. Tradition Mariner, Inc., M/V Tradition, 157 F.R.D. 487 (S.D. CA. 1994), which interpreted Rule 26(b)(3) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Dade County Court, Judge Michael Genden, ruled that the issue was controlled by Rule 1.280(b)(3) of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure which states that: "a party may obtain a copy of a statement concerning the action or its subject matter previously made by that party." The Court further ordered Celebrity Cruises to produce the statement to the passenger before the cruise line was entitled to take his deposition. The case number for the March 28, 2001 order is Dade County Circuit Case No. 00-27166 CA 24. This case illustrates a typical dilemma which passengers face after they are injured on cruise ships. Immediately after an accident is reported, cruise lines begin gathering evidence to be used by their lawyers to defend cases. Passengers are typically pressured into signing accounts of the accident, in some instances even before they are provided with medical treatment. The cruise lines usually do not provide the passenger with a copy of the statement or even a copy of the passenger's own medical records. However, all passengers have an absolute right to copies of their own statements and medical records under Florida law and the procedural rules of the Florida Courts. Carnival Cruise Line Settles Port Charge Lawsuit Appellate Court in Miami Florida Reinstates Lawsuit of
Mentally Handicapped Passenger Sexually Assaulted on Carnival Cruise Ship Carnival moved to dismiss the passenger's lawsuit on the basis that the terms of the passenger ticket require that all claims be filed within one year. (Carnival's ticket has been interpreted by most courts to require that suit must filed within one year of the injury.) The trial court dismissed the claim based on the language of the Carnival ticket, even though a federal statute permits minors and mentally incompetent persons three years in which to file suit in maritime cases. The appellate court ruled that the trial court erred in dismissing the case. Because the passenger was mentally incompetent, she had three years to seek compensation for the sexual battery. Carnival has been successful over the years in inserting language in the "fine print" of the ticket that severely limits the rights of passengers to assert their legal rights when assaulted or injured on cruise ships. For example, Carnival and other cruise lines require that all law suits - no matter where the passenger resides or where the ship sailed - must be filed in Florida. In the case of Shute v. Carnival 499 US 585 (1991), a couple sailed aboard the Tropicale from Los Angeles, California. The ship sailed to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and then returned to Los Angeles. While the ship was in international waters off the Mexican coast, Mrs. Shute was injured when she slipped on a deck mat during a guided tour of the ship's galley. She filed suit in Washington, where she and her husband resided. Carnival was successfully in having the case dismissed because the language in the ticket required that suit be filed in Florida. Read the US Supreme Court's decision in Shute v. Carnival International Commission on Shipping (ICONS) Finds
"Slave Ships" Still Sailing
The commission's chairman, Peter Morris, pictured at right above, reported that "for many thousands of seafarers today, life at sea is modern slavery and their workplace is a slave ship." The commission was appointed in October 1999 to conduct an independent, worldwide inquiry into sub-standard shipping. Funded by governments, maritime agencies, unions and the maritime industry, the commission held hearings in eight countries, consulted 400 people and took 125 submissions. The commission's report criticized the cruise ship industry - particularly US lines which have 60 per cent of the world's cruise ships. The report found staff were lowly paid, badly treated, and overworked. Mr. Morris warned passengers to be vigilant and to check the background of a shipping company when choosing a US cruise ship holiday. The report concluded that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) failed to monitor and police its own industry, and was hamstrung by member countries that refused to crack down on substandard shipping. Read the Article in Australia's the Age.com Go to the Home Page of International Commission on Shipping
February 2001: French Cruise Ship Runs Aground in the Caribbean -
U.S. Coast Guard Investigates
January 2001: Jury Finds Carnival Negligent for Design and
Maintenance of Cruise Ship Royal Caribbean Reports Record Profits for the Year
2000 Has Norwegian Cruise Lines Ever Heard of Helen Keller? U.S. Justice Department Sues NCL Alleging Bias Against the Blind
The suit was based on two separate incidents involving blind individuals who wanted to cruise on NCL's ships. The first incident involved a resident from Denver, Colorado who attempted to board the Norwegian Sky in Houston in August 1999. The cruise line refused to permit him to board the ship because he was blind. The cruise line told him that he might injure himself because he was traveling alone. The second incident involved a blind couple who placed a deposit for an Alaska cruise honeymoon on the Norwegian Wind in June 2000. After the couple placed their deposit, NCL demanded that they sign forms acknowledging that they were a "special risk" and waiving any future legal claims against the line. The couple lost their deposit after they objected to the forms. The Miami Herald quoted the U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil rights as stating that " . . . these incidents are blatant examples of discrimination against people who are blind, furthered by policies based on outdated stereotypes about people with vision impairments . . . we need to recognize that people who are blind are competent to live independently, to travel independently and to be effective employees and participants in our communities.'' This suit is the second major suit in the last year under the ADA against cruise line for discriminating against disabled passengers. In June, a federal appeals court allowed a young woman from Jacksonville, Florida who uses a wheelchair to pursue a lawsuit under the ADA against a Miami based cruise line. Passenger Sues Royal Caribbean for Sexual Assault
During Mexican Cruise The International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL)
and Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Announce Joint Initiative to
Improve Cruise Line Image 2000 - Record Year - Millions of
Passengers, Billions in Profits
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A chartered dive boat carrying twenty diving
enthusiasts and a crew of eight sank at a commercial dock in Big Creek Belize, south of
Belize City, following high waves from Hurricane Iris. The dive boat is reported to
be owned by a Miami Lakes company, Peter Hughes Diving, which organized the diving
expedition. The diving trip involved a Virginia based group of divers who were members of
the Richmond Dive Club. The M/V Wave Dancer, formerly named the Super Squirrel II and
registered in Belize, was a 120 foot aluminum mono hull vessel. The Wave Dancer was one of
several dive boats operated by the Peter Hughes organization, which includes the Sea
Dancer, Sun Dancer, Star Dancer, Sky Dancer, Wind Dancer and Antares Dancer. 
The Miami Herald and the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
report that the Justice Department filed suit against Norwegian Cruise Line
("NCL") in U.S. District Court in Miami. The U.S. Government charged
that NCL violated the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"). The suit alleges
that NCL discriminated against blind people who had booked cruises but were not permitted
to board NCL's cruise ships as passengers. 
