During a 7-night cruise, a female passenger planned a boating excursion as many do. However, this cruise excursion injury turned devastating as she suffered a grave injury that ended her dancing career. Now, she is left with a horrible injury and a cruise line that won’t help.
Common Reasons Why Shore Excursion Injuries Happen
Most shore excursions are fun and accident-free. However, this doesn’t mean that since most passengers return safely that these tours are safe. In fact, shore excursion accidents can be deadly, since activities expose passengers to activities not done before. Plus, safety briefings are brief due to shortened time restraints of excursions. Furthermore, tour operators may not be following rules, regulations or laws. They may not be maintaining equipment and vehicles properly. Plus, vehicles and equipment in foreign countries don’t typically have the proper safety features standard in America. Reports indicate that vehicles may be missing brake lights, seat belts or proper tire pressure. Missing these basic items could cause an accident. In addition, driver error, unsafe operation, and inexperienced employees sometimes employed only for the season could lead to accidents.
Carnival Cruise Excursion Injury
A dancer booked a week-long Caribbean cruise for her 50th birthday and silver wedding anniversary. After the cruise, the happy couple planned to go to Las Vegas for 5 days where both would dance at a Jive festival. However, before the festival, the couple thought a boat ride excursion in St. Martin would be fun.
After docking, they were taken to their “White Knuckle Boat Ride”. The ride involves 360 degree turns in the middle of the ocean. However, during the ride, the boat flung the dancer out of her seat. First, she banged her head against the skipper. Instead of going easier, the skipper made the dancer switch seats with her husband. Now, she was on the outside of the boat. On the next spin even though she was tightly clutching the bar in front of her, the force lifted her out of her seat. This is when she banged her elbow against the metal-sided boat.
Back onboard, the medic told her that her elbow wasn’t broken. Yet, when she returned home qualified doctors gave her an x-ray and diagnosed her with a non-displaced fracture. Now, due to the shore excursion injury and misdiagnosed injury, the dancer cannot dance again.
Cruise Lines Are Liable
Cruise lines have a responsibility to warn their passengers about any known dangers in a port. If the cruise line fails to provide a warning and personal injuries occur, you may be able to hold the cruise line accountable for damages. Most of the time, they will attempt to blame you, the victim. Cruise line officials will try to claim that the waiver of liability you signed or the excursion ticket releases them from liability. They may also claim that the contractor in charge of the shore excursion works independently from the cruise line. They will argue that the contractor, therefore, does not have legal ties with the company.
However, they have an obligation to warn cruise ship passengers of known dangers. Often, an excursion ticket or contract contains clauses saying the cruise line isn’t liable. Yet, they can be held liable in certain circumstances. Courts, generally do not like to enforce such clauses and an experienced complex litigation attorney can stand up for your rights to explain to a court why a particular clause is unenforceable. This paves the way to success in your lawsuit. Therefore, your lawsuit may include the excursion company and the cruise line for neglect.
Don’t Wait to Get Help After an Injury
If you, your child, or your relative suffered a cruise excursion injury, it is important to seek medical attention as soon as possible. Once you disembark, your next step should be to get experienced legal help from a knowledgeable attorney.
At The Michael Brady Lynch Firm, our lawyers have decades of experience helping injured people get justice and full compensation for injuries caused negligence. Given that lawsuits against cruise ships are in a venue favorable to the cruise lines, it is incredibly important to have an experienced attorney with ample resources to prosecute your claim. The Michel Brady Lynch Firm regularly takes on the largest corporations in the world with a track record of proven success and results. Contact The Michael Brady Lynch Firm today, and our attorneys will review your case for free and help you protect your rights. For your complimentary consultation, call our office now.