Understanding Your Rights as a Cruise Ship Injury Victim

A trip on a cruise ship is a fond, cherished memory for most travelers. For a few, though, it can result in a less pleasant experience. Sometimes, passengers suffer some harm or injury from an unexpected accident. An injury on a cruise ship can cause you to have costly medical bills and lost income if you are unable to work. You and your family members may be facing financial difficulties as a result.

How will you pay for your living expenses and medical bills, particularly if you can’t work? Understanding your rights as a cruise ship injury victim is crucial to dealing with these issues. The experienced and dependable legal team at Vucci Law Group can help you understand these rights.

Importance of Knowing Your Legal Rights on a Cruise

If you suffer injuries on a cruise ship, you must know your rights as they relate to recovering compensation. You are entitled to economic damages, which are those losses that are easily verifiable since they contain some objective basis of proof. You are also entitled to non-economic damages, which are harder to measure because they are subjective.

If you sustain injuries as a passenger on a cruise ship, the law entitles you to recover compensatory (economic damages) damages for:

Medical expenses, including doctor bills, hospital bills, and prescription medications
Lost wages if you are unable to work
Impairment of future earning capacity if your injuries cause long-term disability

If you suffer physical injuries, you are also entitled to recover compensatory (non-economic) damages for:

Disability
Disfigurement
Emotional distress
Loss of enjoyment of life
Pain and suffering

Federal law allows cruise ships to waive liability for emotional distress, mental suffering, or other psychological injuries unless they arise from physical injuries.

How to Determine Liability in a Cruise Ship Injury Case

In cruise ship cases, courts determine liability based on the failure to meet a duty of care imposed by law. The law of negligence applies in this situation. If the cruise line's failure to meet their duty of care directly caused your injuries, the cruise line may be negligent.

As a result, you have the right to pursue compensation for your injuries and other losses related to your accident. Examples of cruise ship negligence are failing to follow required safety policies and procedures or failing to maintain the ship in a reasonably safe condition.

Statute of Limitations for Filing a Cruise Ship Injury Claim

The law gives you a limited time to initiate legal action for compensation. Cruise lines typically insert provisions in their ticket agreements that state the time to bring a claim for injuries. Federal law says the minimum amount of time they can give you to file is one year. Most cruise lines opt for the minimum, giving you one year to file your case in a civil court and six months to give notice of your claim. Thus, time is of the essence when filing a cruise ship injury case.

If you suffered an injury on any of these cruise lines (and others), your ticket requires that you file your cruise injury claim within one year.

Carnival Cruise Lines
Celebrity Cruise Lines
Costa Cruise Line
Cunard Cruises
Disney Cruise Line
Holland America Line
MSC Cruises
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL)
Princess Cruise Line
Regent-Seven Seas Cruises
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCL)
Silver Sea Cruises

How to Gather Evidence for a Cruise Ship Injury Claim

After suffering a cruise ship injury, you must gather evidence that supports the cruise line and its employees causing your injuries. You should return to the scene to collect any physical evidence or photos of the scene. Don’t rely on crewmembers to help you, even if they have good intentions. After all, you may have to file a lawsuit against their employer.

Seek medical attention for your injuries and get copies of any relevant medical documentation. Take pictures of any visible bodily injuries. It will provide evidence of your injuries if you file a claim later.

Talk to any eyewitnesses who were present at the time of the incident. Ask each witness to give you a statement about the incident. Get the witnesses' contact information in case you need them later when you file your compensation case. Take notes of your witness interviews and anything relevant to the injury.

Contact the Legal Team at Louis A. Vucci P.A. Today

If you have suffered an injury or illness aboard a cruise ship, contact Vucci Law Group to learn more about how we can help you seek compensation for your injuries. Our experienced team of cruise ship injury lawyers has the skill and expertise to handle your cruise line-related injury or illness claim. Contact us online or call [phone-number linked="true"] to schedule a free consultation.

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Types of Claim

There are many things for which a passenger may make a claim, some of which include:

Slip and Fall Accidents

Water Slide / Wave Pool Accidents

Swimming Pool Accidents

Contaminated Food

Norovirus Outbreaks

Fires

Falling Overboard

Physical Assault

Jack

Firstly, I want to say a massive thank you to everybody at the Vucci Office! In particular - Karl, Millie and Raul . I was visiting from England and they couldn’t have made me feel more welcome; They worked perfectly as a team to make me feel assured and made a hard time much easier.

Louis Vucci was recommended to me by a friend from my previous career and after using him, I can safely say I have no regrets.Louis was consistently honest with me which I greatly appreciated. He spent an endless amount of time on my case and his passion was so genuine - I couldn’t have asked for anything more. I couldn’t recommend them anymore.
Once again, thank you!

Albert L.

I was injured on a cruise ship – I slipped and fell and injured my shoulder. I was not sure about the process and needed help. I had no idea about the difficulty in dealing with a cruise line. My attorney, Louis Vucci, handled my claim from beginning to end and guided me throughout. He and his staff were courteous and attentive and obtained a great result on my behalf.

Betty A.

I had to have hip repair surgery because of a slip and fall on a cruise ship. Louis was very kind and professional. This was my first experience working with an attorney. He never tired of all my questions and answered truthfully and respectfully. He honestly understood my concerns and addressed every single one. I could not have asked for a better attorney. He and those in his office were wonderful. He settled my case in a timely manner and I was very happy with the outcome.

Andrew Somer

I worked with Louis and The Vucci Law Group from an incident I had aboard a cruise ship. Louis was very candid, honest and sympathetic to my situation. He was thorough and worked on my behalf with the cruise line, insurance and medical companies. He kept me fully updated and informed every step of the way. He made this very challenging time a little easier to handle. Highly recommended.

Denise Grosdanof

My son broke his arm while participating in the onboard child care program. I approached other lawyers who turned down my case. I was about to give up and I decided to try one last time. I found Louis and I could not be happier that I did. Not only did he sympathize with my case he was well versed on legal responsibility the ship has to ensure safety of children while in their care. He responds to inquiries and emails immediately and takes you through the steps to file a claim. We were extremely happy with the outcome! I highly recommend working with Louis, he is knowledgeable friendly and easy to approach. The whole process was painless.

K. K.

I broke my C4 vertebrae after suffering a fall on a Flow Rider excursion sold by Carnival Cruise Line. I was very fortunate to have Louis Vucci represent me in my personal injury lawsuit. Louis was extremely professional, knowledgeable and tenacious. He did an excellent job of asserting my claim against all responsible parties (including the Flow Rider operator in Grand Turk), anticipating and addressing their defenses, and securing a very favorable settlement. Along the way, Louis always kept me informed about the status of my case and minimized any inconvenience to me, which I very much appreciate since I live in New Jersey. Thank you Louis for your good counsel and determination to obtain a fair and just resolution.

Ryan Bockiaro

Louis is down-to-earth and will go out of his way to help you

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