Cruise Ship Lawyers Blog
At least one passenger was injured after viral video online shows acrylic glass panel of water slide on Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas suddenly shattering while he was inside, media outlets reported Friday.
The incident happened Thursday and the man was treated for injuries by the ship’s medical staff, the cruise line said in a statement to media. The severity of the man’s injuries was not immediately available Friday.
Videos of the aftermath have gained traction online showing passengers screaming to lookouts on the slide, warning them that there was a gaping hole spouting water in the acrylic drop slide. The ship — which set sail from Port Miami on Aug. 2 — closed off the slide for the remainder of the voyage while officials conduct an investigation into how this could have occurred.
The Icon of the Seas is the largest cruise ship in the world with a tonnage of 250,000. The ship can carry nearly 8,000 passengers and over 2,000 crew. It had a wide array of amenities, including six waterslides in its water park and multiple pools. The slides are a part of its Category 6, “the largest water park at sea,” the company boasts on its website. The park, equipped with record-breaking water slides and other rides, is a self-proclaimed “thrill zone.”
These are the amenities that modern-day cruising would seemingly appear incomplete without. As the industry continues to see rapid expansion, competition to attract passengers is fierce and most companies continue to build ships that can accommodate these high-octane experiences. In 49 years of personal injury law, much of which has involved cruise ship injuries, Leesfield & Partners attorneys know just how quickly these experiences can turn sour for unsuspecting passengers.
Leesfield & Partners
When readying for a well-deserved cruise vacation, passengers are typically thinking about packing lists and souvenir shops, not whether or not they will suffer a life-altering injury. After decades of representing injured clients and grieving families, however, Leesfield & Partners attorneys know that being on vacation does not exclude you from possibly being injured. In that time, the firm has handled a wide array of cruise ship injury cases from medical negligence to severe falls on cruise ship decks. This is why the firm warns passengers to be wary of the latent dangers aboard these “floating cities.”
The firm recently reported on the “robotron,” an electronic arm ride that has been boasted to dangle riders 175 feet in the air above the water. The potential dangers of such a ride become all too clear should the unthinkable occur — though this fear aspect appears to be all a part of the appeal. Passengers should be aware that many of these amenities are often poorly maintained. This fact is consistently demonstrated by decades of injury cases handled by Leesfield & Partners attorneys.
“There is, sadly, ample opportunity for unsuspected injury by highly technical and often computer-driven rides and equipment that keep raising the ‘thrill stakes,’” said Leesfield and Partners’ Founder and Managing Partner, Ira Leesfield, in a previous cruise ship blog. “Remember, even the world’s most well-regarded theme parks now report incidents of abduction and sexual abuse, and numerous injuries and deaths related to their park equipment.”
Previous Onboard Injury Cases
Leesfield & Partners previously represented a Canadian woman who was traveling on a cruise ship when she was horrifically raped. The woman was in her cabin alone when a member of the ship’s crew abused his employee status and used a keycard to access the woman’s room where he attacked her.
The firm secured a multi-million-dollar amount for the woman in that case.
The firm recovered $2.5 million for a 9-year-old who collided with an unpadded steel grommet while diving for an out-of-bounds ball as he played on a ship’s basketball court. The child in that case suffered a catastrophic brain injury as a result on the traumatic incident.
Similarly, the firm represented a man, 62, who was injured while playing pickleball aboard his cruise ship. The firm settled the case for $500,000.
The firm obtained a confidential settlement for a family devastated by the tragic loss of their young daughter. In that case, the child was separated from her family aboard a ship when she leaned over a poorly designed cruise ship railing and fell five stories to her death.
Bernardo Pimentel II, a Trial Attorney at the firm, is representing a woman who suffers extreme trauma and emotional turmoil after it was revealed she was one among numerous passengers, including children, whose privacy was violated when a crew member planted hidden cameras in their cabins.
That crew member was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for producing child sex abuse material.
That case is ongoing.
Ongoing Cases
Partner Justin B. Shapiro is representing a woman who was injured on a cruise ship excursion. In that case, the woman purchased a jet ski excursion marketed as one for beginners and was severely injured when the tour guide leading the group crashed into her from behind while attempting to pass her on the water.
That case is ongoing.
Mr. Pimentel is handling an ongoing case of a woman who was further injured by crew members after returning to her cruise from shore. The woman tripped and fell on an uneven bridge on shore, seriously injured her left ankle, knee, arm and elbow, leaving her in a great deal of pain. She was able to walk back to the tender boat where she informed the crew she would need to see the ship’s physician.
No action was taken to ensure that medical personnel would be there to meet her when she arrived. She disembarked without assistance and, while walking up the gangway, paused to gather herself while in extreme pain. She told the crew she needed immediate medical attention. The crew, again, failed to provide a wheelchair or another means of transport to the infirmary. While still on the gangway, crew members approached our client and grabbed her arm. She fell to the floor in agony and was finally given a wheelchair and taken to the infirmary.
While there, she was diagnosed with multiple fractures to her hip and shoulder. Hours later, she was transferred to a remote hospital in Brazil and was left to wait a full week with insufficient medical care before she could be transported to a larger city and then to the U.S. for a full hip replacement.
She spent weeks recovering at a hospital in Florida before she was able to return to her home in another state.
Trial Attorney Carlos A. Fabano is handling a wrongful death case on behalf of several children who lost their mother at the hands of a cruise ship doctor’s negligence. That case is ongoing.
