Cruise Ship

We represent clients from cruise ships, both as passengers, and employees working for various cruise ship companies. If you have been injured on a cruise ship, either as a cruise passenger or as an employee working aboard a cruise vessel, we may be able to assist you.

If you work aboard a cruise ship, chances are you are a Jones Act / general maritime law seaman entitled to maritime injury benefits under Federal law. If so, you may have a right to recover for all of your losses, including wage loss, both during the period of disability and future wage loss if you are unable to return to your original employment; for pain and suffering as a result of injury; for costs of retraining; for the wages to the end of your contract, even if you had to leave the vessel before your contract was completed; for all of your medical expenses and treatment needs; for a living expense payable while you are recovering.

Many cruise ship operators are either based in Seattle or have sufficient business ties to Seattle to make filing a claim in the Federal District Court for the Western District of Washington appropriate. In this regard, most cruise ship employees qualify as seamen, with the same entitlements regarding an injury at sea claim against the vessel owner employer as a licensed mariner.

Many working aboard a cruise ship are not fully aware of their rights and claims adjusters dealing with medical matters and arranging for limited amounts of compensation are either unaware of the injured person's rights or, if aware, do not fully communicate the extent of those rights to the injured injured party.

Workers are sometimes misled about their entitlements and are led to believe their rights are limited to State workers compensation programs. A State workers compensation benefit program may not be appropriate and, as a matter of law, may not apply. Nonetheless, because the injured worker is presented with "workers comp" forms, a false sense of security may arise and a false sense that a worker's rights are limited to State workers comp programs benefits.

What you don't know about how the law protects you in case of maritime injury can be expensive. You wouldn't sign on to a contract with an inexperienced skipper. You wouldn’t want to sign on with an inexperienced maritime injury attorney.

Cruise Ship Passenger If you have been injured as a passenger aboard a cruise ship, you may have significant legal rights. You may also be at significant risk for loss of those rights if you do not act. This sometimes can mean having to pursue and file a claim within as little as six months.

Cruise ship operators owe a duty of care to passengers that requires the vessel and its common areas open to use by passengers be kept reasonably safe. In most circumstances, this requires the cruise ship operator to ensure the vessel is safe, including all areas where passengers are likely to go or be found.

Many cruise ship operators also take maximum advantage of the law to limit their liability as much as possible, and to require the most prompt action on the part of an injured passenger in the event of an injury. Commonly, cruise ship operators will include provisions on the back of a cruise ticket requiring a person filing suit do so out of the area, for example, in Florida, and within short periods of time, for example, within six months of injury. Sometimes, the courts will uphold these provisions and, in our experience, some passengers have lost cases because of failure to act promptly.

What you don't know about how the law protects you in case of maritime injury can be expensive. You wouldn't sign on to a contract with an inexperienced skipper. You wouldn’t want to sign on with an inexperienced maritime injury attorney.