Cruise Ship Lawyers Blog
The first norovirus outbreak of 2026 was reported to the Centers for Disease Control recently aboard a Holland America ship, according to reporting from Cruise News Today.
The report was made regarding a voyage that ended at the beginning of the month and involved about 85 passengers and nine crew members.
Norovirus is an illness that can cause acute gastroenteritis and spreads through contaminated food, water, or surfaces. It is highly contagious and spreads through the viral particles of vomit or stool of infected people, which can be accidentally ingested. Common symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, and stomach cramps.
It can be particularly hard to control aboard cruise ships because of the close living quarters, shared dining areas and rapid turnover of passengers from one voyage to the next. Some ways to avoid being exposed involve maintaining proper hygiene and avoiding those who have reported experiencing symptoms.
At the end of 2025, during a holiday cruise through the Eastern Caribbean, over 100 people became ill, according to previous Cruise Ship Lawyers Blog reporting.
In that incident, 95 passengers and nine other members of the crew suffered from symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps.
That incident marked at least 22 gastrointestinal outbreaks aboard cruise ships in 2025. Norovirus was the cause of more than 16 outbreaks in 2025, a year that saw a surge in outbreaks, according to the CDC. Over the summer, norovirus was making headlines after officials warned of a new strain of the illness.
It is important to note that when a medical emergency or injury-causing accident arises aboard a ship, it is up to that vessel’s medical staff to treat that patient. In five decades of personal injury practice, however, Leesfield & Partners has seen the various and terrible ways in which these medical teams can fail their patients or stand in the way of them evacuating the ship to seek better medical attention on shore.
When that happens, it is the job of personal injury law firms like Leesfield & Partners to hold cruise lines accountable.
Leesfield & Partners
Leesfield & Partners, a firm known for its dedication to clients and dogged pursuit of justice, has nearly five decades of experience handling cruise ship cases. From tragic excursion deaths to slip and falls and severe injuries caused by a ship’s medical personnel, our skilled trial attorneys have seen just about every injury that can occur at sea and their devastating consequences. In 50 years, Leesfield & Partners has obtained over $20 million for cruise passengers who were further injured by the errors, lack of knowledge and bad judgement of the medical staff on board ships meant to help them.
As common carriers, these cruise ships have an irrefutable duty of care to ensure the safety of all passengers, and that includes having adequately trained medical staff to deal with injuries and illnesses on board. However, because these ships sail in foreign waters, U.S. medical-licensing standards don’t always apply. Cruise lines are only required to have a “qualified medical practitioner” on board, meaning that these individual’s qualifications van vary and may not meet U.S. standards on land. While the CDC’s VSP inspects these vessels twice a year, they are looking at hygiene and outbreak control, not individual physician credentials. As a result, ships can be staffed with medical professionals whose training may fall short of U.S. standards, potentially to the detriment of sick or injured passengers.
One Leesfield & Partners client who experienced these consequences firsthand was a member of the crew who went to the infirmary for symptoms of nausea. Instead, he was erroneously given medication rapidly into his IV that clearly state in a black box warning label it should be given slowly injected deep into the muscle over a period of time. If these instructions were not adhered to, the label warned, there was an increased risk for gangrene, tissue injury, and/or amputation.
Tragically in this case, our client was in immediate agony. This was the start of a 17-hour journey in which his right arm would begin to blacken, the tissue dying slowly as cruise ship doctors searched online for ways to help. Eventually, he was able to seek medical attention on shore where doctors attempted to save his arm. They could not.
In the end, our client lost his right arm due to the errors of the doctors aboard the cruise ship. Our client was awarded over $3.3 million in arbitration thanks to the work of attorneys at Leesfield & Partners.
Sadly, this is far from an isolated incident. Our skilled attorneys have represented countless clients who were let down by the very professionals entrusted with their care. From misdiagnoses and delayed evacuations to outright breaches of the standard of care, we fight tirelessly to hold negligent cruise line doctors accountable — and to secure the best possible outcome in every case.
Another illness that made headlines aboard cruise ships in 2025 was Legionnaires’ Disease. This severe form of pneumonia is caused by the Legionella bacteria, which grows best in warm, slow-moving water. This illness is caused by inhaling water droplets contaminated with the bacteria.
Eric Shane, a Leesfield & Partners Trial Attorney, recently secured a $4 million recovery in a Legionnaires’ disease case involving the death of a family’s patriarch. This marks the largest recovery of its kind for a single plaintiff in U.S. history.
“I am proud of this result not because of the number, but because it represents justice and accountability,” Mr. Shane said. “The family trusted us to make sure their loved one’s death wasn’t in vain, and we take that responsibility seriously.”
Previous Cases
Previously, the firm represented a 9-month-old whose meningococcal meningitis was misdiagnosed by a stomach bug. As a result of this error, the infant underwent multiple amputations. Leesfield & Partners secured an over $5.5 million award for the family in that case.
A retired nurse who suffered a horrific accident aboard a ship required a life-saving blood transfusion. As the result of cruise medical staff negligently failing to test the blood they administered to the woman, she was diagnosed with HIV. The firm settled the case for $4.25 million.
In addition to errors made while treating patients, Leesfield & Partners has seen doctors delay or deny evacuations for patients who were in the middle of medical emergencies. These delays can occur for a myriad of reasons, however, for our clients, these decisions were made to protect the ship’s schedule and bottom line. As a result, medical situations were exacerbated, leading to further injury and death.
One family who was represented by Leesfield & Partners went on a cruise to mark a milestone anniversary. Instead of a fun-filled family vacation, our clients suffered a tremendous loss that began with their patriarch suffering a heart attack while the ship was still in port. He was denied evacuation and the ship left for its destination, and he later died.
The firm secured a multi-million-dollar recovery in that case.
A teenager who suffered a stroke on a ship was written off for her age, despite the obvious symptoms. The case was later settled for $3 million.
In another case, the firm secured $1.5 million for a person having a stroke while on a cruise ship.
Trial Attorney Carlos Fabano recently settled a confidential case on behalf of the family of a wife and mother to three minor children who died after a cruise ship’s medical personnel failed to evacuate her while she suffered from a medical episode.
If you or a loved one was injured while in medical distress aboard a cruise ship, don’t wait. Call a Leesfield & Partners attorney today to see if you may be eligible to make a claim.
Call: 305-854-4900 │800-836-6400
