Articles Tagged with “Leesfield & Partners”

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Authorities have recovered the body of a missing cruise passenger after she went missing on a hike last week in Juneau, according to media reporting.

The body of Marites Buenafe, 62, of Kentucky, was found Thursday by an Alaska Army National Guard helicopter crew below the ridge line of the Gold Ridge Trail. Buenafe, a doctor with UK Healthcare, a series of hospitals and clinics with the University of Kentucky, was reported missing to the Juneau Police Department on July 1 by family members. Her family told authorities that she had gone for a hike that morning and planned to take a tram part of the way up a mountain before walking to Gastineau Peak and Gold Ridge.

She did not return to the cruise ship that was docked in Juneau by its departure time.

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A father went overboard after his daughter fell from the Disney Dream Cruise as it sailed back to Florida from the Bahamas Sunday, according to reporting from various media outlets.

The four-day cruise was sailing back to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale when the child went overboard and her father followed after her. The child allegedly fell from the ship’s “deck 4,” according to media, which is about 20 feet above the waterline. That area has a walkable promenade with a railing and plastic covering meant to block anyone from climbing over.

The man and his child treaded water for about 20 minutes before they were rescued by crew, according to media.

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At least two passengers were left behind after an excursion “went wrong,” involving extreme heat and bus malfunctions, according to reporting from Cruise News Today.

A Norwegian Cruise Line excursion began to “fall apart” after mechanical issues caused a bus delay, said Cruise News’ Doug Parker. The two guests were left behind after a scheduled stop in Germany was cut sort during the excursion. The pair was helped by another cruise ship and was later able to re-board.

Thankfully, no injuries were reported in this incident, however, Leesfield & Partners attorneys knows that accidents and injuries can happen at any time.

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The horrors of a February 2013 Carnival Cruise are being revisited in a new Netflix documentary that dropped this week, and the story is nothing short of a total shipshow.

What was meant to be a four-day roundtrip from Galveston, Texas, to Cozumel, Mexico, turned into at least 4,000 passengers and crew being stranded in the Gulf of Mexico for almost a week after a fire damaged cables powering the Carnival Triumph. The toilets began overflowing and there was sewage dripping down the walls, witnesses can be seen explaining in the documentary, which was released Tuesday.

‘It Got Bad Fast’

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A man, 71, faces criminal charges after police say he grabbed a teenager while aboard a cruise ship off the Australian coast.

Jeffrey Mark Spiro, of New Zealand, was charged with deprivation of liberty and two counts of common assault.

The alleged incident happened on June 19 at around 11 p.m. aboard the ship where a 14-year-old girl was waiting near the elevators. Spiro allegedly grabbed the child and took her to the ship’s security office because he claimed she was running with a “small toiletry item,” according to reporting from cruise news sites. The item was later identified as a pair of tweezers.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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