Justin B. Shapiro

Published on: September 11, 2025

Did You Fall on a Cruise Ship? Here’s What You Should Know.

Teetering waves and non-code-compliant stairs or railings are a dangerous combination — one that has caused painful injuries for many Leesfield & Partners clients.

While many may not think about the various ways in which they can be injured when they set out on a cruise ship vacation, it doesn’t mean that accidents still aren’t a possibility.

And serious injuries from falls aren’t just something that occurs to the elderly. Data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows that falls occur across all age groups. Even so, the average age of passengers departing from PortMiami is 46.5 years old, according to Industry Reports from the Cruise Lines International Association, showing that relatively young individuals are still falling (no pun intended) prey to these incidents.

Published on: August 27, 2025

Ship Drifts for Hours After Power Failure. What this means for passengers.

By Leesfield & Partners

A major power failure Monday left a cruise ship with thousands of passengers drifting for hours off the coast of Italy, according to Cruise News Today.

An electrical issue the ship’s engines caused the outage, though onboard services continued with little disruption The ship required help from the Italian Coast Guard and two tugboats that guided it into Naples. The ship later regained partial engine power, arriving hours after it was originally meant to. The cruise line is conducting a full inspection and said the ship is expected to resume its sailing schedule Tuesday.

While this power failure was quickly addressed and resulted in limited disruption to passengers’ vacations, other engine failure, mechanical issues and fires do occur aboard ships. If not swiftly dealt with, however, there can be bigger consequences. The passengers of a 2013 cruise ship that lost power know this better than most. In that case, which was explored in a recent Netflix documentary, passengers were stranded without power for days in a stifling ship with no working bathrooms, creating a recipe for disaster.

Published on: August 26, 2025

Cruise Passengers Medevacked in Separate Emergencies. But That’s Not Always the Case. What to Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

Two cruise ship passengers were evacuated from a ship off the coast of Washington state Sunday when hit with two separate medical emergencies, however, Leesfield & Partners attorneys know this is not always the case.

Thankfully, however, that was not the case for two passengers facing recent medical emergencies. In these cases, a 52-year-old woman and a 99-year-old man were suffering from separate emergencies. The woman was suffering from cardiac arrest and the man was experiencing “complete esophageal obstruction,” according to reporting from CBS News.

The ship is estimated to be around 145 nautical miles west of Cape Flattery in Washington state at the time of the evacuations. The U.S. Coast Guard coordinated with the Royal Canadian Air Force and Canadian Coast Guard to evacuate the passengers.

Published on: August 18, 2025

Two Dead After Drowning at Same Cruise Ship Resort in the Bahamas. What to Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

At least two people have died from apparent drownings in separate incidents over the weekend at the same Bahamas resort.

The incidents occurred on Friday at Celebration Key, the new private resort reserved for Carnival Cruise Line guests. Both victims, a man and a woman in their 70s from the U.S., were assisted by lifeguards but could not be saved.

The first incident happened just before noon Friday involving a man, 79, who was snorkeling off one of the Celebration Key beaches. The man became unresponsive and was pulled from the water by a lifeguard who administered CPR. Tragically, the man died.

Published on: August 15, 2025

Cruise Passenger Falls Off Pier on Way to Ship — What Had Him So Distracted?

By Leesfield & Partners

A cruise ship passenger filming the walk to their cruise ship was so distracted by his phone screen that he walked straight off the pier, falling into the water below, according to various news outlets.

The incident happened Thursday at Royal Caribbean’s CocoCay, a private island in the Bahamas. Rescue teams sprang into action and tossed the passenger a life preserver before rescuing the man and bringing him back to shore via jet ski, officials said.

Thankfully, no injuries were reported. For many cruise passengers injured by slippery decks, crew negligence, or other cruise ship accidents, the outcome is far less fortunate. Leesfield & Partners — a personal injury law firm with offices in Key West, Orlando, and Miami, home to the world’s largest passenger port — knows this truth better than most. With countless recoveries obtained on behalf of injured passengers and grieving families, our skilled trial attorneys are keenly aware of how quickly a vacation can turn tragic, leaving victims with life-altering injuries.

Published on: August 14, 2025

Family Influencer Accidentally Videos This Potential Cruise Ship Security Flaw. What to Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

When a family and lifestyle influencer with millions of followers filmed her family’s first moments entering their cruise ship suite, she also inadvertently captured their startled realization that they’d walked into the wrong room — a mistake made possible by a potentially flawed security practice: room keys taped to doors.

Rachel Sullivan, known as @rachsullivan__ on TikTok, posted the video this week to her over 2 million followers, showing her and her husband’s humorous reactions when they walked into the wrong cabin.

“We’re in the wrong one,” her husband exclaimed as he tried to usher out their toddler and made a grab for the family’s bags. ” … Because the room keys are on the door!”

Published on: August 8, 2025

Man Injured in Water Slide Incident Aboard World’s Largest Cruise Ship.

By Leesfield & Partners

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.

Published on: August 8, 2025

Iconic Miami Beach Landmark to Open Water Park. What to Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

The Fontainebleau in Miami Beach, which has largely been credited with altering the landscape of luxury hospitality in the area and was once the playground for elites including Elvis Presley, Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra, has recently announced plans to build a water park on the iconic property.

The home of LIV, one of the top nightclubs in the country that has been the stage for some of the most-famous performers in the industry, is seemingly using the planned construction of a water park to beckon to new clientele: families with children. The park will include 11 slides to the hotel’s pool area, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.

In a statement to the newspaper, hotel officials said the move will transform the property into ” … a destination for all-ages, with all-new pools and water features, family attractions and slides, food and beverage offerings, and elevated poolside entertainment.”

Published on: August 7, 2025

Ship Sailing Around the World Fails Public Health Inspection. What to Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

A residential cruise ship on a three-year voyage was just shy of a few points it needed to pass a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) health inspection, officials said.

The Villa Vie Odyssey received an 81 during its July 9 inspection when it needed an 86 to pass, according to reporting from USA Today. Inspectors with the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) reported issues in areas such as potable water to food safety and housekeeping. One inspector reportedly discovered a waffle iron that was allegedly covered in grease and “black debris” that was being stored with clean equipment. Water was also found pooled beneath one of the wine cellar refrigerators. Near another refrigerator on another deck, inspectors said they found fruit flies.

Safety signs were also reportedly missing from the ship’s pool which would indicate depth markers in both feet and meters.

Published on: August 5, 2025

Cruise Ship Left Drifting Off Italian Coast with no Power. What to Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

Electrical failure resulting in a power outage caused thousands of passengers aboard a Celebrity Cruise Line ship without power and drifting off the Italian coast for several hours over the weekend, officials say.

The Royal Caribbean Group, which is the cruise line’s parent company, said that the 2,170-passenger ship was without power for at least three hours while it was repaired. The outage was the result of a technical issue, but the company did not elaborate further on what caused the issue. The outage cut off things like lighting, air conditioning, kitchen facilities and the ship’s toilets.

While the power outage affecting some of the ship’s essential functions is eerily similar to the 2013 incident aboard the Carnival Triumph — which caught the attention of the public online when it was revisited in a viral Netflix documentary — these passengers were fortunate to avoid a prolonged ordeal. In that incident, thousands of passengers and crew were stranded in the Gulf of Mexico for almost a week after a fire cut power to the ship. Over time, the toilets began overflowing, causing sewage to leak into the hall and over the floors of the ship. With no air conditioning, no way to cook meals and the foul stench filling the ship, conditions quickly worsened for those on the ship.