Cruise Ship Accident Lawyer Blog
While aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, an 8-year-old boy drowned in one of the ship’s swimming pools. The ship named “The Liberty of the Seas” was traveling from Galveston, Texas to Cozumel, Mexico when the tragedy occurred. The child’s body was discovered by one of the passengers and removed from the pool. A member of the ship’s medical team performed CPR on the child for over an hour but was unsuccessful. If you were injured or lost a loved one in a cruise ship accident, consider contacting a Miami Cruise Ship Accident Attorney.
Despite the many risks involved with swimming children, most cruise lines do not have lifeguards stationed at their family pools. It is telling that in this situation a passenger and not a cruise ship employee had to be the one to first attempt to rescue the boy from the pool.
While signs are always posted to warn passengers to swim at their own risk, it makes you wonder if that is enough to protect children on cruises. Especially when you consider the scenario of a long cruise where there are many opportunities for a child to be separated from his or her parent and swim unsupervised, the lack of lifeguards is baffling.
Disney Cruise Line is the only major cruise ship company to have life guards stationed at all their family pools. Unfortunately it took the near drowning of a child in May 2013 in the pool aboard a Disney Fantasy Cruise Ship to implement this policy. Although he was saved, the incident left him with severe brain damage and he is still undergoing physical therapy.
According to Cruise Lines International Association, 1.5 million children are aboard cruise ships each year. Despite some larger cruise ships having as many as 1,000 employees, placing a few lifeguards where children swim is still not a priority for some cruise liners. The three biggest cruise ship companies, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Carnival Cruise Line do not have any lifeguards.
This is not even the first child to drown aboard a Royal Caribbean Cruise this year. A 4-year-old boy drowned in a pool on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas ship after he wandered away from his parents. The ship had departed from Fort Everglade, Florida and like in the recent drowning, a passenger pulled the boy out of the water and not a crew member.
Contact a Miami Cruise Ship Accident Attorney Today
If you were injured or lost a loved one aboard a cruise ship, do not hesitate to contact an experienced cruise ship accident attorney. At Gerson & Schwartz P.A. we have extensive experience fighting with the major cruise line companies and getting our clients the restitutions they deserve. Whether it is a minor slip and fall or an enormous tragedy such as a wrongful death, we will help ensure that large cruise ship corporations do not get away with negligence. All our cases are conducted on a contingent fee so there are no attorney’s fees unless we recover money on your behalf. Contact us today for a free consultation.