cruise lines

Published on: June 3, 2025

At Least Three Ships Affected by Strong Winds, Passengers Injured. What to Know.

Heavy winds over the weekend caused chaos for multiple cruise lines over the weekend and multiple injuries to passengers.

At least three ships were affected by the winds, with one incident being caught on camera by a passenger who was filming from his cabin balcony.

The first incident was caused by 69 mph gusts that caused the ropes of an Alaskan cruise to snap, knocking a gangway into the water. The ship, which was later guided back by tugboats, began to slowly drift away from the pier. The gangway fell into the water and was retrieved by a crane.

Published on: June 3, 2025

Child Killed in Fall from Third-Story Balcony at Sleepover, officials say. What to Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

A 12-year-old girl died after falling from a third-story window at a Massachusetts apartment during a sleepover with friends, news outlets reported.

Arya Lebeau died a day after the incident on May 24, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.

“I cannot express the amount of grief I feel at the loss of my only baby,” the child’s mother, Charlene Cabrera, said in a statement on a public GoFundMe page.

Published on: June 3, 2025

Germiest Spot on Cruise Ships Revealed. Can You Guess Where?

By Leesfield & Partners

When asked to name the germiest surfaces on cruise ships, one might think about commonly touched areas such as doorknobs, stair railings or elevator buttons.

While these places have been known to transfer illness-causing germs such as norovirus — as the CDC warned earlier this year — a microbiologist has revealed a far more surprising source of contamination.

Microbiologist Jason Tetro told the Reader’s Digest that private hot tubs on ships are a breeding ground for germs and bacteria. In October 2024, these private hot tubs on the balconies of guests were linked to multiple outbreaks of Legionnaires’ Disease on cruise ships. These outbreaks were linked back to two cruise ships on different cruise lines.

Published on: May 29, 2025

Cruise Ship Saves Group Stranded in the Ocean. A Look Back at Previous Leesfield & Partners Cruise Ship Cases.

By Leesfield & Partners

A couple who told reporters with ABC News that they dreamed of traveling the world on their catamaran tell the shocking story of how they were saved by a cruise ship along their journey.

Helena Franczak and Dustin Leonard, two crew members and their three dogs were on the catamaran when it was damaged at sea in the South Pacific. The couple was heading to Fiji when the weather took a turn for the worst, taking the vessel’s mast and leaving them stranded over 170 nautical miles from New Caledonia, a French territory made up of dozens of islands in the South Pacific.

While stranded, they noticed a cruise ship in the distance and shot off a flare to get the attention of the ship’s crew. The daring rescue took extreme caution and skill as “it takes a little mistake … and you may sink them,” the ship’s captain told reporters.

Published on: April 1, 2025

Two Men Charged for Sexually Abusing Teen on Royal Caribbean Cruise, officials say

By Leesfield & Partners

Two men have been accused in the rape of a 14-year-old boy in a sauna aboard a Royal Caribbean ship headed for PortMiami.

The men, Ricardo Daniel Mondragon Leal, 37, and Jose Juan Prudencio Diaz, 36, were charged on Friday, March 21.

Mondragon faces charges of sexual battery on a minor, lewd and lascivious molestation on a child aged 12 to 16 years old, lewd and lascivious exhibition on a child under 16 years old by a person over 18 years old.

Published on: March 6, 2025

Passenger Could Face Criminal Charges After Trying to Board Ship in Aruba. What to Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

A cruise passenger in Aruba attempted to board the ship with a firearm and could now faces criminal charges.

The incident happened on Feb. 26 when a Royal Caribbean passenger attempted to board Oasis of the Seas following a stop at the cruise port in Aruba. Security discovered the firearm during a routine security screening conducted when passengers return to the ship.

Local law enforcement took the passenger, whose name has not yet been released by authorities or cruise ship officials, in for questioning.

Published on: February 21, 2025

Over 100 Passengers Sick at Ship Docked at Florida Port. What to Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

A norovirus outbreak on a cruise ship docked at Port Everglades on Friday left at least 169 people ill, according to reporting from local media.

Holland America Line’s Rotterdam ship was headed to the Caribbean, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica over a 12-day voyage when it reported the outbreak of norovirus, which causes gastrointestinal illness, to the Centers for Disease Control. There were over 2,600 passengers on board with more than 900 crew. At least 152 passengers and 17 crew members reported being ill during the voyage. Common symptoms of norovirus are vomiting and diarrhea but can also include headaches, muscle pain, cramps and fever.

Holland America officials reported that their crew increased cleaning and disinfection procedures and isolated the infected to mitigate the spread.

Published on: December 31, 2024

At least four dead from cruise-related incidents on various cruise lines, officials say.

By Leesfield & Partners

A woman was found unresponsive in the water while on a cruise excursion and a man who died in a cruise line security’s custody, prompting an FBI investigation, are among four of the people who have recently died aboard cruises.

On Dec. 17, a crew member went overboard as the ship he was on was headed back to port in Baltimore, prompting a seven-hour-long search. The man in that incident tragically passed away. He was 23.

A woman died at the hospital after she was found unresponsive in the waters at Blue Lagoon, a popular cruise excursion in Nassau, Bahamas. Additional information, including the extent of her injuries or whether she died from ingesting a substance, were not immediately available Friday morning. The woman’s name has not been released.

Published on: December 6, 2024

Man Accused in Cruise Fight Gets Jail Time. What’s a Cruise Line’s Duty in Protecting Passengers?

By Leesfield & Partners

A cruise line passenger was sentenced to just over two years in prison with 50 months of mandated anger management and substance abuse treatment after a 2023 fight on a ship involving a fellow passenger.

Michael Truman, 39, was recently convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury, according to news outlets.

His charges stem from an October 2023 incident aboard a Carnival Cruise Line ship during a performance in the ship’s theater. Another passenger allegedly asked Truman to quiet down during the performance twice before deciding to get crew members involved.

Published on: November 26, 2024

A College’s Year-Long Study Discovered Cruise Ship’s Effects in Key West was ‘like having 32 hurricanes.’ What to Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

When cruise ships sail into Key West, the looming vessels evoke thoughts about the tourist economy.

What people don’t think about is how much damage these ships can cause to local marine life as they navigate through the port.

The College of the Florida Keys recently revealed in a year’s long study that the turbidity measures of ships – the level of suspended particles, such as sediment and organic matter, stirred up by the ship as it moves through the area – surpassed limits set forth by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In some cases, these ships’ turbidity measurements reached levels akin to storms such as the recent damage left behind by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.