How to File a Claim Against Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL) is the world’s largest international cruise line. In 2018, RCCL announced the 228,081-ton Symphony of the Seas cruise ship. When 6,680 vacationers are dancing, drinking, and living freely out in the ocean; the chances of injury increase dramatically. With more than 20 innovative ships in service, two exclusive island destinations for passengers, and daring new features such as RipCord by iFLY (the first at-sea skydiving experience), RCCL has a lot to offer passengers – including many opportunities for injuries.
When you board a cruise ship, you are not expecting to suffer an injury. Yet even on vacation, harmful accidents can occur. Cruise ships have a duty to help prevent passengers from undue hardship and suffering from the time they first disembark to their return to port.
If you suffered an injury from an accident on a RCCL ship, SteinLaw can help you determine the strength of your case and process your claim.
Common Cruise Ship Accidents
While many vacationers are soaking up the sun, gambling at the casino, or waiting to zipline above the deck, unexpected injuries can occur, causing long-term pain and possibly creating significant life changes.
Not only is it important to know your rights, but every passenger should know the most common causes of Royal Caribbean Cruise Line injuries:
- Slip and fall accidents – These types of accidents are the most common on cruise ships. Wet floors in the dining rooms or outside deck, luggage left in cabin hallways, and wet or defective stairs are a few causes of slip and fall accidents. In the most extreme cases, passengers often either fall from significant height or into a pole.
- Food poisoning – Although RCCL provides a healthy environment for its passengers, food poisoning spreads quickly in an enclosed space like a cruise ship.
- Technical problems – Elevators and escalators malfunctions can result in possible serious injuries and deaths.
- Swimming pool accidents – Slip and falls are common near the slippery deck where children spend most their time splashing. Other accidents include drowning when a life guard is absent from cruise excursions or injuries from defective swimming pool steps.
- Falling overboard – Unfortunately, there have been previous cases where passengers have fallen overboard due to not properly installed stair handrails during turbulence.
- Assault – Sad to say, but passengers are in danger of being assaulted or sexual assaulted by crew members and other passengers, resulting in physical injuries and log-term trauma.
Common Injuries from Cruise Line Accidents
Injuries vary from mild to severe while on a cruise ship. This is mainly because the lack of proper medical facilities and assistance out at sea. Depending on the size of the cruise ship, RCCL only has one to three doctors and three to five nurses, and depending on the severity of the injury that may not be enough medical assistance for one passenger.
Common injuries include:
- Neck, back, and shoulder injuries
- Brain injuries
- Spinal Injuries
- Fractured or broken bones
- Severe cuts and burns
- Amputations
- Bacterial illnesses from food poisoning
- Emotional trauma
- Death
When the worst happens, here’s how to file a claim against RCCL.
Maritime Laws and Filing Restrictions
Bringing a lawsuit against Royal Caribbean cruise line for onboard injuries requires a different process than other personal injury claims. Cruise ship injuries involve elements of maritime law, a distinct body of law that governs offenses and activities on water vessels. There are also different filing deadlines and liability concerns you must consider. Here are three things to know about filing a claim against RCCL:
- Maritime laws require plaintiffs to prove fault. A common carrier owes the highest degree of care to its passengers. However, unlike typical strict liability cases, passengers must prove negligence or intent to harm to bring a claim against a carrier. This involves having evidence of the cruise line’s failure to exercise due care, resulting in injury.
- Your cruise ticket is a legal contract. When you purchase your RCCL ticket and board the ship, you agree to a legally binding contract that bars you from pursuing injury claims against the cruise line. Your ticket will outline specific exceptions to the rule (typically negligence claims or intent to harm) as well as important information such as when and where to file.
- You must file your lawsuit at the cruise line’s headquarters. Despite being highly inconvenient for passengers who live out of state or even in a different country, cruise ship liability waivers state that injured passengers must file claims in the state of the company’s headquarters. Most courts will uphold this clause as reasonable.
Filing a claim against a large cruise ship company like RCCL requires a firm understanding of these rules and many others. It is often in an injured passenger’s best interest to work with an attorney for these personal injury cases. An Cruise ship accident attorney can investigate your accident, help you determine the defendant(s), and gather any evidence relevant to your case.
Where to File Your Claim: RCCL Headquarters
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line has its headquarters and legal team in the Port of Miami – just a few blocks away from the United States District Courthouse where injured parties must file all RCCL claims. Keep in mind there is a strict statute of limitations for filing cruise line claims. The Royal Caribbean passenger cruise ticket states you must give the headquarters a notice within six months for any injury or death.
If you are not from Miami, this can create traveling issues for you during litigation. Entrusting your case to Miami cruise injury attorneys can give you an in-state advocate, and a connection to your case from far away. The team at SteinLaw can file an RCCL passenger or employee injury claim on your behalf, and keep you updated about your case when you are in your home state.
Determining Negligence
To win a claim against Royal Caribbean, you must prove that the cruise line was negligent. This means demonstrating that a “reasonably careful ship operator” would have taken different actions to prevent your injury. For instance, if RCCL knew about a defective railing and failed to fix it, this could be considered negligence.
While it is impossible for cruise lines to foresee all potential hazards, RCCL has a responsibility to reasonably prevent harm to passengers through adequate safety measures.
If you suffered an injury on a recent cruise with Royal Caribbean, contact your local Florida attorney, Brandon Stein, for a free consultation at 877-783-4652. You can describe your accident and find out whether your case has merit.
Information for Out-of-State Attorneys and Clients
SteinLaw handles many cruise ship personal injury lawsuits on behalf of out-of-state clients and attorneys for two critical reasons:
The first is that personal injury claims against a cruise line company usually require passengers to file them in the same state of the company’s headquarters. This can be an issue for people that live elsewhere, and with many major cruise lines based in Florida—such as Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Carnival, and Norwegian Cruse Lines—SteinLaw is well-positioned to help litigate these claims.
The second is that cruise ship accident lawsuits carry a one-year statute of limitations. This—combined with the need to file in the same state of the company’s headquarters—can create an incredibly tight, inconvenient, and often expensive litigation process for out-of-state passengers injured in a cruise ship accident.
With such a narrow window of opportunity for victims to process their claims, SteinLaw takes great care to get victims beyond Florida the compensation they deserve.
In the links below, we are happy to provide additional information for out-of-state victims and attorneys seeking a Florida-based firm to handle a client’s cruise ship personal injury claim on their behalf:
- Cruise Ship Personal Injury FAQ
- Understanding Admiralty and Maritime Law: How to Pursue Damages as a Worker at Sea
- Cruise Ships Facing Lawsuits Over COVID-19 Outbreaks
- Will Travel Insurance Provide Additional Protection if I am Injured On Vacation?
- Common Cruise Ship Accidents and Understanding Your Rights
- How to File a Claim Against:
Contact SteinLaw today to see what we can do to help you or your client get the compensation they deserve for their cruise ship personal injury.