Get Compensation for Injuries from a Cruise Ship Accident
With hundreds of thousands of families and individuals aboard cruise ships each year, eager for relaxation and retreat, the ships throughout the cruise line industry often fall lax in essential safety and security measures. With compromises in safety made to provide a more breathtaking ambiance, many passengers are injured unnecessarily.
The attorneys of the Law Offices of Charles D. Naylor have devoted more than 100 years combined experience to the protection of these injured passengers’ rights. We are among the national leaders in the area of maritime personal injury, and we are prepared to help you with any cruise ship injury or incident you may be facing.
With more and more passengers cruising each year, cruise ships are becoming more crowded and congested, causing accidents, injuries and illnesses. Many injuries involve:
• Slip-and-fall incidents
• Tripping hazards and injuries
• Falls
• Head trauma or catastrophic injury
• Wrongful death
• Infectious disease and Norovirus
• Injury resulting from fire
As a passenger, you are protected by U.S. Maritime Law. You have the right to bring action and seek restitution for the pain you suffered.
When a passenger on a cruise ship is injured, the law that applies to an injury claim will most likely be the General Maritime Law of the United States.
A Cruise Ship Injury Attorney with expertise in the General Maritime Law can help you receive compensation from injuries received on cruise.
It is important, however, to have an attorney who intrinsically knows maritime law. Our veteran team of maritime personal injury lawyers has devoted its entire practice to this area and the protection of individuals’ rights.
Under U.S. Maritime Law, a cruise line can be held liable for damages if it negligently causes injury to a passenger, no matter where in the world the injury occurs.
Negligence can involve something dramatic, such as the listing event on the Crown Princess several years ago when a navigational error nearly caused the ship to capsize, injuring hundreds of passengers.
Negligence was a litigated topic for survivors and family members of passengers aboard the Costa Concordia, the Carnival-owned cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of Italy in January 2012.
But usually the negligence is of a more ordinary sort. For example, a deck that becomes unusually slippery when wet or a poorly marked is slipping or falling hazard. And unfortunately, this sort of negligence is all too common on cruise ships.
The major cruise lines based in the U.S. include Princess Cruise Lines, Crystal Cruises, Cunard Line, Royal Caribbean, and Carnival Cruise Lines.
U.S. Maritime Law protects you on these ships, no matter where in the world the injury occurs. And foreign passengers enjoy the same rights as a U.S. citizens. But there are important limits on your rights that you need to be aware of, and an experienced cruise ship accident lawyer can guide you regarding your rights.
Time Limitation
One of the most important of these limitations is that cruise lines are allowed to shorten the time you have to make a claim, and limit the place where you can file suit. Almost all the cruise lines require an injured passenger to give them written notice of the claim within 6 months and to file suit within one year of the date of the injury.
Venue Limitation
The second, the passage ticket will limit the place where you can file suit. Most of the major cruise lines specify either Los Angeles or Miami, but some lines specify other cities.
The time and place limits on filing suit must be stated in plain language in your passage ticket so you must check your passage ticket to see what limitations apply to you. If you still have questions, and experienced maritime personal injury attorney will know what limitations apply for any of the major cruise lines.
Contact a Los Angeles Cruise Ship Injury Attorney Today
You have rights under maritime law that can protect you, but you also have obligations with which you must comply. Our mission is to help you understand both.
We understand the many laws and statutes that are at play in your situation. We are available to represent your interests in the venue required by your passage contract. While our attorneys are licensed only in California and Louisiana, cases in other states will be handled in association with attorneys licensed in those states.
Have you been injured or suffered an illness while on a cruise? Call our Los Angeles cruise ship accident lawyers for a free and confidential case review at 888-440-5829, or complete our confidential case review form located on this page and we’ll follow up with you directly.
