Holland America

If You Fall and Get Injured on a Holland America Ship, Who Helps You Up? Holland America Cruise Ship Injury Lawyer Andrew Winston…That’s Who!

“A Signature of Excellence.” That’s the tagline for Holland America Cruise Lines, and at the bottom of their main page you can see that they were selected as one of the world’s most ethical companies in 2013 by Ethisphere.com. One of their ships even rescued stranded tourists in 2012!

However, if you are injured aboard a Holland America ship due to the negligence of the cruise line, it is important that you meet with an experienced maritime lawyer to talk about the incident and learn what your options are. Even if you blame yourself for getting sick or hurt, the cruise line may be liable because they have a duty to care for their passengers and make sure that potentially harmful situations are taken care of to the best of their ability. If someone did not do his or her job properly, you may deserve compensation, and The Law Office of Andrew Winston bring with them over 70 years of combined experience and a willingness to fight against the large cruise lines and even go to trial if necessary – whatever it takes to help you receive the compensation you deserve.

Where Holland America Takes You – and How You Get There

Holland America Cruise Lines offers tours all around the world. These include tours to:

• Alaska and the Yukon
• Europe
• Arabia and Africa
• Asia and the Pacific
• Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific
• South America and Antarctica
• Hawaii and Tahiti
• Mexico
• The Panama Canal
• The Caribbean
• Bermuda
• The Pacific Northwest and the Pacific Coast
• Canada and New England

Additionally, there are Grand Voyages in intimate luxury ships that tour Africa and the Mediterranean, the Pacific and Far East, the Mediterranean and Black Sea, South America and Antarctica, and even all around the world on a single trip.

15 different ships make up the Holland America fleet, and all of them offer amenities such as spacious, elegant staterooms; multiple restaurants and dining experiences; activities like yoga, exercise (in fitness centers), spa treatments, and web browsing (in the internet café); and amazing entertainment that includes B.B. King’s Blues Club and Dancing with the Stars at Sea. Additionally, Holland America ships are renowned for the amazing art collection that each one houses, and now they offer guided tours of every piece. Ships to choose from include:

• MS Amsterdam
• MS Nieuw Amsterdam
• MS Prinsendam
• MS Statendam
• MS Westerdam
• MS Eurodam
• MS Noordam
• MS Rotterdam
• MS Veendam
• MS Zaandam
• MS Maasdam
• MS Oosterdam
• MS Ryndam
• MS Volendam
• MS Zuiderdam

Problems That Have Occurred on Holland America Cruises

Holland America is a cruise line that prides itself on taking care of its customers, and has even has a longstanding policy of making sure that the doctors aboard their vessels are licensed to practice medicine in North America – not something required by most cruise lines. Perhaps this is the reason why Holland America has been praised multiple times in the last few years for quickly and efficiently calling for help to have passengers airlifted to medical facilities on land. Instead of simply misdiagnosing bad problems as something easier that they can handle on the ship and avoid disturbing the cruise, doctors on Holland cruises seem to know when they are out of their league, or when a condition is so serious it justifies evacuation. As horrible as it would be to have to be airlifted from your cruise, it is a far better option than getting the wrong kind of treatment.

Unfortunately, Holland America can still fall prey to many of the same nasty problems that other cruise lines put passengers through.

1. While reports from passengers would seem to indicate that crews are doing the best they can to keep things clean and stem outbreaks, there’s a nasty little fact that no one seems to be reporting about Holland America – over the past 10 years, they have more norovirus outbreaks than any other cruise line in existence.  Recently, both the Veendam and the Volendam have fallen prey to norovirus.

Failed Health Inspections. You don’t often hear about cruise ships actually failing health inspections, but that’s exactly what happened last year to the Veendam, scoring an amazingly low 77. Just to give you an idea of how bad that is, 85 is considered an unsatisfactory score.

How to Handle Your Holland America Accident or Illness

The first thing that you need to know about any injury or illness that you suffer from while on a cruise ship is that the statute of limitations to claim negligence and receive compensation is incredibly short. By contract, the Statute of Limitations to file suit is one (1) year from the date of your accident. What this means for you is that if you believe that there’s even a chance that the problem you experienced while on your cruise was due to the negligence of the crew, it’s vital that you seek legal counsel immediately.

Experienced maritime lawyers like The Law Office of Andrew Winston can quickly look over the facts of your case at a free initial consultation and tell you whether or not you have a valid claim. Many people are afraid to reach out to a lawyer because they are embarrassed about what happened or think that they will  be unable to afford anyone good due to lack of resources. However, with the Law Office of Andrew Winston you get attorneys with a track record of success who will work on a contingency basis – you won’t pay them  a dime until and unless they obtain compensation for you.

Get started on your journey to receive the compensation you deserve by filling out our online case review form or calling us at 954-606-6606 (South Florida), or toll-free at 866-306-9606.