Injuries at Sea

Our Michigan cruise ship injury lawyers handle a variety of cases for cruise ship passengers injured at sea. Injuries at sea can happen in a variety of ways. Although cruise lines try everything to make their passengers forget that they are at sea, the sea, and the weather can still make for a rough trip and lead to injuries and even death.

Quite often cruise lines decide not to provide common sense warnings to passengers regarding high seas and rough shipboard conditions. These can lead to the passenger falling and fracturing bones, traumatic brain injuries, and other serious medical conditions due to falling on a slippery or windy deck (access to which should have been restricted or marked as being susceptible to winds or rough seas).

Passengers can even get injured in their own cabin, when weather is disregarded and the crew decides to make a scheduled port (where often times the cruise lines make additional monies on the shore excursions). The ships used by the majority of cruise lines, while usually quite seaworthy and outfitted with stabilizers, are still subject to the weather and sea and passengers can be seriously injured in falls, whether on deck, in a public place when floors are not mopped or cleaned up after spills, in their cabin or even in their shower.

Food poisoning is another all-to-frequent concern for passengers on cruise ships. With ships getting larger, there is more opportunity for a virus to have an outbreak which could affect great numbers of people. Cruise line operators and crew members need to be cognizant of their duties to passengers in light of recent studies which confirm the serious risks that food poisoning can have on the young and the elderly. While much of the time a victim of food poisoning recovers within three to five days, recovery can take longer in the very young, elderly or persons with compromised immune systems (for example, those with diabetes) and can even inflict greater injuries as it interferes with other body systems.

Each year more and more passengers are affected by viral contamination aboard cruise ships. Every week it seems there is another outbreak of the Norovirus, often called the Norwalk Virus, aboard cruise ships - and passengers, especially the elderly or those whose immune systems may be compromised often face long term health issues. Symptoms of the Norovirus can include nausea, vomiting (possibly projectile) diarrhea, abdominal cramps, headache, low-grade fever, muscle aches and fatigue. In extreme cases it can lead to death.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) requires that cruise ships bound for the United States report any passengers who may have a communicable disease, including the Norovirus. When an injury happens at sea the passenger will also try to seek medical attention from the ship doctor.

You should know that cruise lines frequently contract with outside, third party companies and physicians to provide medical services aboard their ships. The cruise lines attempt to minimize their own liability by using outside physicians with little or no oversight, supervision and training. These physicians, the first line of defense when you are injured, are sometimes responsible for failing to timely or properly diagnose and treat serious medical conditions. Our firm handles these types of cases, hybrids between travel injury law and medical malpractice and can provide a consultation using both our experienced travel injury law and medical malpractice attorneys.

Our firm handles cases against a number of cruise lines, including:

American Cruise Lines
Azamara Cruises
Carnival Cruise Lines
Celebrity Cruises
Costa Cruises
Crystal Cruises
Cunard Line
Disney Cruise Line
Holland America Line
Hurtigruten
Majestic America Line
MSC Cruises
Norwegian Cruise Line
Oceania Cruises
Orient Lines
Pearl Seas Cruises
Princess Cruises
Regent Seven Seas Cruises
Royal Caribbean International
Seabourn Cruise Line
SeaDream Yacht Club
Silversea Cruises
Uniworld Grand River Cruises
Windstar Cruises

If you were injured on a cruise ship vacation, you should contact our firm immediately.

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We represent Michigan personal injury clients in Detroit, Southfield, Pontiac, Troy, Warren, Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Lansing, East Lansing, Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Bloomfield Hills, West Bloomfield, Farmington Hills, Rochester, Auburn Hills, Clarkston, Birmingham, Ferndale, Flint, Novi, Pontiac, Troy, Utica, Saginaw, Sterling Heights, Waterford, Wayne, Dearborn, Westland, Canton, Monroe, Ann Arbor, Mount Clemens, Livonia, Grayling, Grosse Pointe, St. Clair Shores, Brighton, Adrian, Allen Park, Clinton, Hamtramck, Northville, Garden City, Southgate, Harrison, Holland, Inkster, Allen Park, Belleville, Jackson, Madison Heights, Mount Pleasant, Oak Park, Okemos, Plymouth, Redford, Roseville, Romulus, Royal Oak, Taylor, Wyandotte, Wyoming, Traverse City, Ypsilanti, Bad Axe, Northern Michigan, as well as residents of Wayne County, Kent County, Oakland County, Macomb County, Washtenaw County, Genesee County, Huron County, St. Clair County, Monroe County, Ingham County, Saginaw County, Livingston County, Lenawee County and all other Michigan counties.

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