Personal Injury Law

Carnival Splendor: A Cruiser's Worst Nightmare

By Mark R. Hanson

Imagine spending almost $3,000 and all of your vacation time to go on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera. Sounds like fun. Now imagine that same vacation and the cruise ship's engine catching fire and disabling the ship. The cruise ship has to be towed from sea, the air conditioning doesn't work, the toilet facilities are on lock down and the ship is running out of food. Now you know what the passengers aboard the Carnival Splendor are going through.

The Navy comes to the rescue with distilled water, canned crab meat and SPAM. Yes – SPAM. Aside from being extremely uncomfortable, this mishap could be more problematic for passengers with special needs. Consider the vegetarian, people with restrictive diets and those with strict religious beliefs. The food products airlifted aboard contain, shell fish, pork and are high in fat and sodium. The vegetarian has the least difficult choice but what about those who have to compromise their health or religious beliefs?

The Carnival Splendor Cruise passengers could undergo unnecessary emotional strain and experience significant physical discomfort. The duty of the Carrier to its cruise passengers is to conduct itself in a reasonable manner under the circumstances.

These are rare but foreseeable circumstances. While the ordinary passenger may have his trip ruined, others may suffer a greater loss. For the former, a refund and a voucher for a future cruise may adequate compensation but for others who suffer health consequences, their measure of damages and compensation may be much greater.

The situation is manageable and we all hope for the best for all aboard the ship, while Carnival is crossing its proverbial fingers and hoping no one becomes gravely ill or worse.

Full post as published by LaBovick Injury Law Blog on November 11, 2010 (boomark / email).