Eric Shane

Published on: June 18, 2025

Member of Cruise Ship Crew Injured in Fall. How Leesfield & Partners has Represented Passengers and Crew for Decades.

While a cruise ship was docked in Santorini, Greece, a 31-year-old engine department worker fell, prompting an emergency evacuation.

The incident happened on Sunday, June 15, 2025, while the worker was heading down the stairs to the engine room. During the fall, he injured his left leg. He was transported to an emergency clinic, according to Cruise News Today, before being taken to a medical center on shore in Athens, Greece.

In nearly five decades of personal injury practice and representing countless passengers and crew hurt on cruise ships, Leesfield & Partners attorneys are familiar with the many ways in which injuries can occur on these ships. From terrible falls, excursion injuries, inadequate medical care and crimes aboard ships, our attorneys have seen it all — and all the ways in which cruise lines will attempt to skirt liability.

Published on: June 16, 2025

Cruise Ship Adds ‘Thrill Ride’ this November. What to Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

Cruise passengers are sure to get a thrill out of “robotron,” a robotic arm ride, on the top deck of the MSC Seascape this November.

Robotron will be the first of its kind at sea, suspended about 175 feet above the water. Passengers will be offered panoramic views of the sparkling water and white-tipped waves while on the ride, flipping and spinning as they go. Riders may even be dangled over the side of the ship’s deck, according to media.

While this ride is sure to get adrenaline junkies’ hearts racing, Leesfield & Partners has seen numerous times how ships’ onboard adventures have meant injuries for passengers.

Published on: June 12, 2025

Passengers Banned from Cruise Line for Brawling, Throwing Chairs. What to Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

Several passengers have been permanently banned from sailing with Carnival Cruise Line for fighting on board and throwing chairs.

A fight broke out on the Carnival Sunrise over the weekend as the ship sailed from the Bahamas, cruise media reported Tuesday. A video that surfaced online shows multiple passengers in what appears to be a sunroom throwing chairs and brawling while other passengers observed the chaos.

Security was quick to break up the fight. The cruise line has since announced that the passengers involved in the incident have been permanently banned from sailing with the company.

Published on: June 12, 2025

Larger Cruises are Skipping this Part of the Cayman Islands. What You Should Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

Larger cruise lines are leaving Grand Cayman, an island in the Cayman Islands, off of their itineraries, causing a 25-year low in monthly cruise visitors, according to cruise news sites.

The latest data alleges that the Grand Cayman — the largest of the three islands making up the British territory — is experiencing a 27% dip in visits from April 2024 to April 2025. This is the lowest number in monthly cruise visitors seen by the island since 2000. This excludes numbers recorded during the pandemic, when the cruise industry saw a shutdown of operations to mitigate the transfer of COVID-19.

Cruise lines are choosing to skip this tropical oasis because it favors tender ports, meaning cruise passengers are brought to shore in tender boats. As cruise lines continue rapid expansions, it is unfeasible for larger ships carrying thousands of passengers to disembark using this method.

Published on: June 3, 2025

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

By Leesfield & Partners

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: 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: May 20, 2025

Cruise Ship Crime Rates Reach High for Second Consecutive Year, Experts Warn. How Leesfield & Partners has Routinely Represented Passengers.

By Leesfield & Partners

Cruise ships leaving the U.S. have reached a two-year high, according to data from the Department of Transportation.

Allegations of at least 48 crimes were reported from Jan. 1, 2025, to March 30, 2025, according to numbers reported to authorities and published regularly by the Department of Transportation. Under the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act (CVSSA) of 2010, cruise lines are required to report crimes like physical assaults, rape, and sexual assaults to the FBI. Of these incidents, seven were assaults with serious bodily injury, 10 were sexual assaults and 23 were rapes.

Robert McDonald, a criminal justice lecturer at the University of New Haven and former agent with the secret service, told reporters with Fox News that having a number of people drinking alcohol in confined quarters, “whether that’s at a resort, whether it’s on a cruise ship” there is a potential increase for these incidents to occur.

Published on: May 7, 2025

Health Officials Warn of a New Strain of Norovirus Following Three Recent Outbreaks on Cruise Ships

By Leesfield & Partners

Over a hundred passengers and dozens of crew members across three cruise ships reported symptoms of norovirus as health officials warned of new strain.

Officials with the Centers for Disease Control have warned about a “newly dominant strain” of norovirus, which they said could be driving the uptick in recent cases seen on land and on cruise ships. This comes after significant cuts to the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program’s (VSP) workforce last month. These employees were tasked with investigating outbreaks and conducting routine health inspections on cruise ships before their dismissals, which were a part of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plan to issue layoffs to public health agency employees.

Following these cuts, CDC officials called the move “frustrating” and has exacerbated the already taxing issue of being short-staffed. When the news first broke of the layoffs, the agency was already in the middle of responding to two outbreaks.

Published on: April 18, 2025

Want to Sue a Cruise Line in Florida? Leesfield & Partners has 48 Years of Experience Doing Just That.

By Leesfield & Partners

For many vacationers, once the unmistakable combination of sun and salty breeze hit their skin, the worries of being on shore recedes into the background.

While cruise ships can certainly be an enjoyable getaway, however, it is important to note that passengers can fall prey to many of the same dangers that await them on shore. In 48 years of personal injury practice, Leesfield & Partners has represented clients who were victims of just that.

From an improperly maintained balcony railing that resulted in the death of a young girl to horrific jet ski crashes with long-lasting consequences, our firm has represented clients injured in just about every way imaginable on board a cruise ship. With these injuries, come unaccounted for expenses such as was the case for a crew member who went to the infirmary with