8 Reasons to be Careful on a Cruise
An article was published this week on MSN.com titled “11 Reasons You Should Never, Ever Take A Cruise”. Cruises can obviously be a lot of fun visiting exotic islands and locations, with an endless supply of food and drink. In fact, more than 12 million people each year take a cruise that leaves from a United States port. But a few of the points in the article are worth considering before taking a cruise.
Some of the reasons listed for not taking a cruise were:
- Dangerous Fellow Passengers
- Unhealthy Eating and Drinking
- Food Poisoning and Norovirus
- Mechanical Difficulties and their Consequences
- Unqualified Doctors
- Bed Bugs
A couple more items should be added to the list:
- Your Ticket Contract and the Limitations that are contained in it
- Dangerous Cruise Ship Workers
If you research cruise ship accidents and lawsuits over the last ten years, you will find that every one of the items on the list have led to lawsuits and claims being made against a cruise ship company. From cruise ship assaults, to ship wide outbreaks of viruses, ships being stranded in the middle of the ocean with no power or plumbing, and general cruise ship accidents like being injured due to a dangerous condition on the ship, when 5000 passengers and 3000 cruise ship workers get together for 7 days aboard a ship in the middle of the ocean, dangerous situations are bound to occur.
And the sad part of the equation is that your ticket contract, the document that allows you to board the ship, contains many limitations that prohibit you from even making a claim unless you do it where the cruise ship company requires, when they require it, and under their rules. Most cruise ship companies require your claim or lawsuit to be brought in a specific location, usually Miami, and only in Federal Court. This is just one of the limitations in your cruise ship ticket.
Your ticket contract also requires that a lawsuit or claim for a cruise accident be brought within one year of the accident happening. This requirement is known as the cruise ship statute of limitations, and is drastically different from any other accident or injury claim usually brought in the United States. Most U.S. states allow for a period of 3-5 years for a person to make an accident or injury claim, or file an accident or injury lawsuit. Yet for a cruise ship accident or injury, you have only one year to actually file the lawsuit. And, you must provide all the details of your accident to the cruise ship company within 6 months of the date of the accident.
A cruise ship vacation should be viewed like any other vacation to a location you have never been to: stay alert, be careful, and if you find yourself injured the victim of a crime aboard a cruise ship, consult with an experienced cruise ship accident/injury claim lawyer as soon as possible.