Cruise Ship Industry Attempts to Address Recent Problems by Drawing Up Passengers' Bill of Rights

It seemed as if the cruise ship industry are feeling the pressure as a result of recent widely publicized events: mechanical fires, collisions, and accidents on cruise ships. Many became concerned as to whether cruising was safe, and what the industry would be doing to protect passengers. Finally, the cruise ship industry has answered. After many months of bad publicity, the cruise industry has announced the creation of a passenger bill of rights.

This bill of rights contains 10 "rights" that address problems such as emergency situations or mechanical failure. The rights addressed will become part of passengers' contracts and will be enforceable by law.

These guarantees are meant to comfort passengers and offer them a degree of protection from the kinds of situations we have seen in the last 5 months. The main example has been the Carnival Triumph, which was left without power after a fire this past February. In March, three other Carnival Cruise Lines ships had mechanical issues.

Just this past Monday, a fire that broke out on a Royal Caribbean ship did such extensive damage that the cruise was canceled. Concerns about passenger safety had reached such a level that recent events had to be addressed and some changes made. The passenger bill of rights seems to be the first step in such a series of changes.

The Passenger Bill of Rights includes:

• The right to disembark if essential needs aren't being addressed on board the ship.
• The right to a full refund if a trip is canceled because of mechanical problems or a partial refund for trips that are shortened.
• The right for passengers to get timely updates about itinerary changes if a mechanical failure or emergency disrupts a trip, as well as updates on attempts to deal with the mechanical problems.
• The right to transportation to the scheduled final port or a passenger's home city if a cruise ends early because of mechanical issues.
• The right to shelter if passengers must disembark and stay overnight at an unscheduled port.

For a full list of these "rights" go to Cruise Industry Adopts Passenger Bill Of Rights.

Critics of these "Rights' correctly point out that these so called rights represent nothing more than a diluted face saving effort which fails to address numerous legitimate concerns. While the cruise ship industry proudly heralds these so called "rights' to the world, their attorneys are fighting in the courts to limit their exposure from claims brought by their injured passengers. For example, the industry has been able to obtain rulings which in almost all cases insulate the cruise ship operator from the negligence of the ship board medical crew in instances where the passenger sustains injury due to medical care that falls below the standard of care.

For questions or concerns about this new "bill of rights," contact Dade County Cruise Ship Accident Attorney Robert Gross at his office in Miami at 305-793-5526.