What Can Go Wrong on a Cruise?

Many injuries that might occur on a cruise are similar to what can happen on land. However, cruise injuries are different not only because they fall under admiralty law but due to the fact because cruise ships come with specific risk factors unique to the environment. Accidents that can and have occurred on cruises include:

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  Slip and falls. Wet decks and tripping hazards in high-traffic areas can cause passengers to fall and injure themselves. The narrow staircases on some cruise ships can also pose a risk, and those who fall may suffer brain trauma, a back or neck injury, spinal cord injury, broken bones, or internal bleeding.

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  Drowning. Going overboard is one way that someone could drown on a cruise, and this happened when cruise ships lacked the technology to locate and rescue someone in the water. However, in recent years, several tragic stories have also occurred about children drowning in unsupervised pools on cruises.

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  Shore excursion accidents. Cruise lines often claim that there are inherent risks to shore excursions and that passengers must assume responsibility for accidents, but there are situations where the cruise line itself may be at fault. Suppose crew members fail to inspect the equipment, follow activity regulations, or warn passengers about the potential risks of cruise-sponsored shore excursions, like ziplining or parasailing. In that case, the cruise line may be liable for any accident.

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  Medical negligence. The medical attention you receive on a cruise ship will not be the same as you receive in a hospital, and some cruise lines don’t even require that their doctors be licensed to practice medicine in the United States. Furthermore, cruise line infirmaries often lack the staff and resources to give all sick or injured passengers the necessary attention. It’s all too easy for a harried ship doctor to misdiagnose a problem, which can lead to severe complications for you.

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  Norovirus. This virus that causes gastrointestinal distress spreads quickly from person to person and can survive outside of a host for three weeks or more, and is increasingly becoming a problem for cruise ships. Norovirus outbreaks in early 2014 infected hundreds of people aboard at least three different vessels, forcing the ships to return to port early after sick passengers overwhelmed the infirmary and made each ship an unsanitary environment.

  When serious accidents or virus outbreaks occur, victims may not get adequate attention onboard the ship and may need to be airlifted to the nearest hospital. This can take time that the injured party does not have.

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  COVID-19. Few places in the world have not been hit hard by the novel coronavirus, and people have been exposed to all sorts of places — from restaurants, gyms, and hospitals to sidewalks and even inside their own homes. However, certain types of places pose more of a threat than others, and cruises have proven to be particularly dangerous.