personal injury law

Published on: July 30, 2025

Woman Survives Stabbing Stemming from ‘Personal Dispute’ Aboard Cruise Ship, officials say.

A woman working on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship who was stabbed by another member of the crew before he went overboard has survived her injuries, according to reporting from national news outlets.

The woman was stabbed multiple times in what cruise officials are calling a “personal dispute” on July 24. She was attended to by the ship’s onboard medical staff and is now in stable condition, Royal Caribbean said in a statement.

The incident happened around 7 p.m. while the ship was heading to the Bahamas’ CocoCay. The male employee who cruise officials said was involved in this incident allegedly fled the area where the stabbing took place before jumping from the ship into the water.

Published on: July 28, 2025

Body of Missing Norwegian Cruise Ship Passenger Found on Trail, officials say

By Leesfield & Partners

Authorities have recovered the body of a missing cruise ship 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.

Published on: May 27, 2025

Cruise Ship Captain Dies after Suffering Medical Emergency on Ship. A Look Back at Leesfield & Partners’ Medical Malpractice Cases.

By Leesfield & Partners

A cruise ship’s captain died after suffering a medical emergency at sea, officials said.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the news of the passing of Captain Michele Bartolomei, who had a sudden medical emergency and died onboard Diamond Princess,” Princess Cruises told reporters with PEOPLE Magazine. “Captain Bartolomei was a respected leader, whose decades of service at sea exemplified professionalism, dedication, and care for both guests and crew.”

The incident happened Monday while the ship was in Taiwan in the middle of a 19-day voyage. Passengers were given the news of the captain’s passing in a letter that was delivered to their cabins that informed them of which captain would be taking over for the rest of their trip.

Published on: February 21, 2025

Man Sentenced to Prison After Sexually Assaulting Teen on Cruise Ship.

By Leesfield & Partners

A man working as a chef aboard a Sky Princess ship was sentenced to prison earlier this month for sexually assaulting a young girl during a voyage.

Vincent Lucas, 34, of Goa, India, was sentenced on Feb. 14, 2025, to a year in prison for one count of sexual assault following a four-day trial.

The incident happened inside a teen area, a space exclusively designed for teens to socialize with those in their same age group, when the ship was returning to Southampton, Hampshire.

Published on: January 21, 2025

Doctors: He Can ‘Barely Lift His Arm Away from His Body.’ Leesfield & Partners Secure Confidential Settlement for Injured Cruise Ship Passenger.

By Leesfield & Partners

A man suffered a life-changing injury when he slipped and fell, sustaining a torn rotator cuff while aboard a cruise ship in 2023.

The incident happened as the man, his wife and grandchild were walking in a dining area that had recently been mopped, but not dried. There were no signs or cones that would have prevented him from walking in the area or alerted him to the hazard at the time he fell. As a result, he suffered a torn rotator cuff that doctors later determined would require surgery.

Surgical Intervention

Published on: November 18, 2024

Over 100 people sue after cruise ship illness. Now, the cruise line is being accused of downplaying the numbers.

By Leesfield & Partners

More than 100 passengers who traveled on P&O’s Ventura, a ship owned by Carnival Cruise Line, have filed suit after they say they got sick on board.

Attorneys for the passengers claim there were “repeated outbreaks” of illness on the ship between April and June. About 519 passengers reported for weeks about their symptoms of norovirus, a stomach bug that causes inflammation in the stomach and intestines and is highly contagious. The first outbreak allegedly took place in May during a two-week cruise around the Canary Islands.

In reporting from the BBC it was alleged that Carnival communicated that less than 1% of passengers experienced symptoms while Southampton health officials claimed the number was closer to 12% of passengers.

Published on: November 12, 2024

Hurricane-Force Winds Injure Cruise Ship Passenger. What Do These Companies Owe Their Passengers?

By Leesfield & Partners

Hurricane-Force Winds Injure Cruise Ship Passenger. What Do These Companies Owe Their Passengers?

A Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines passenger was injured after their ship was hit by forceful winds, according to USA Today.

The ship, Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas, “experienced sudden movement” on Nov. 7 as the ship headed to Miami, Florida, from Barcelona, Spain. The incident happened as the ship sailed through Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands. The passenger is being disembarked for additional medical attention, a cruise line spokesperson told reporters.