Posts by Hickey Law Firm

While the major cruise lines have all announced that they will return to service in August or later, many smaller cruise lines are planning to return to cruising sooner. Some regional cruise companies, especially in the South, are planning to return as soon as June. And at least one international cruise company is planning to…

O’Malley v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., 2018 WL 4323792 (S.D. Fla. Sept. 10, 2018):  The Court denied the cruise line’s motion for summary judgment.  The Court held RCCL knew about the danger posed by ping-pong balls falling down to the floor of a roller rink, RCCL failed to address the danger, and failed to warn…

It is no surprise that in the months of March and April, the cruise industry suffered from a wave of cancelations much larger than anything ever before seen. The ramifications of the situation continue, as cruise companies continue to process the refunds, many of which are up to two months overdue. But while there is…

Though cruise lines are currently under a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) no-sail order until July 24, many are speculating about how the future of cruising will look. Bloomberg is one of the lastest news outlets to try its hand at predicting the future of cruising and included both smaller and larger cruise lines in…

As cruise line executives plan a return to cruising, they face an uphill battle with respect to keeping their passengers safe. Cruise ships were already the sites of frequent illness outbreaks before the coronavirus pandemic, particularly outbreaks involving norovirus. Now industry executives will have to ensure that the vessels remain free of all virus outbreaks,…

Though cruise industry executives insist that there is strong demand among the public for a return to cruising, cruise companies are nevertheless currently unable to fully capitalize on the demand. Under a no-sail order by the Centers for Disease Control until July 24, the major cruise lines have all announced that they will cancel sailings…

Aponte v. Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines Ltd., 739 Fed. Appx 531 (S.D. Fla. June 22, 2018): RCCL allowed a puddle of soap to remain on the floor of a common passenger restroom. RCCL’s puddle caused the Plaintiff to slip and fall and sustain severe and permanent injuries.  Motion for Summary Judgment reversed by the 11th Circuit…

A New York couple is suing a cruise line, claiming that the company negligently exposed them to coronavirus. FoxNews.com reports that Long Island, New York residents Fred and Marlene Kantrow boarded the Celebrity Eclipse cruise ship on February 29 and sailed aboard the ship for approximately a month, returning on March 30. Upon returning home…

Williams v. Carnival Corporation, 2020 WL 837177 (S.D. Fla. Feb. 20, 2020): Carnival allowed a large puddle of water to accumulate on the open deck.  Carnival’s puddle caused the Plaintiff to slip and fall and sustain severe and permanent injuries.  Carnival filed a motion for summary judgment.  The Court denied Carnival’s motion for summary judgment. …

What a difference a couple of weeks make. On the heels of one of the worst periods in company history, in which the company’s leadership seriously doubted that it would be able to survive financially, Norwegian Cruise Lines is not plotting a full comeback.  Though NCL has not announced exactly when it will return to…

Cruising is set to get more exciting, and perhaps a lot more dangerous, as a cruise line is in the process of testing a roller coaster on land, with the intention of installing it on a cruise ship in the future.  FoxBusiness.com reports that Dream Cruises is testing its so-called Space Cruiser Coaster, which the…

Tens of thousands of cruise ship crew members around the world continue to be stuck aboard cruise vessels, some of them having been on the ships for up to 8 weeks. In their frustration, many have reached out to local news stations in order to express their discontent with being essentially trapped aboard the ships and…

Cruise companies are actively planning to return to the seas, but their official return dates are something of a moving target. A combination of governmental regulations, health concerns, and port closures have prevented the cruise lines from nailing down specific guaranteed sailing dates. But despite the uncertainty, cruise companies are nevertheless planning to return to…

Cruise lines often seek to defeat passenger negligence claims by filing motions for summary judgment. These motions ask the court to rule in favor of the Defendant without a trial and throw the Plaintiff’s case out.  A recent order by United States District Court Judge, Cecilia Altonaga, explains how a cruise line Defendant’s motion for…

To the surprise of many, future cruise bookings seem not to have not been harmed by the fact that the worldwide coronavirus pandemic has hit cruise ships especially hard. At a time when there are still tens of thousands of cruise ship crew members stranded on cruise vessels across the globe, thousands of prospective passengers…

The number of stranded cruise ship crew members continues to diminish, with the reported tally dropping from 100,000 to a reported 70,000 in recent weeks. Many of the crew members are understandably desperate to leave their respective ships and repatriate to their home countries. But in the meantime, published reports indicate that many are having…

Cruise companies are slowly repatriating a massive number of crew members who remain stuck aboard over a hundred vessels throughout the world. The conditions aboard the ships have been understandably dismal as the workers slowly lose hope of going home anytime soon. While most crew members are biding their time and hoping to go home…

Since the start of the year, cruise company stocks have lost well over half their value since. The companies continue to struggle to get back to actually cruising, the primary way that they earn revenue. And meanwhile, they continue to burn through cash as they maintain their fleets and the estimated 100,000 crew members that…

Perhaps one of the groups most lost in the nation’s coronavirus analysis is cruise ship workers. Many of them U.S. citizens, reports indicate that up to 100,000 crew members are stranded aboard cruise ships across the world. The ships face numerous challenges to disembarking the workers, from stringent CDC guidelines to closed cruise ship ports.…