Cruise Ship

Every year the U.S. Centers for Disease Control inspects cruise ships that call on U.S. ports. The inspections are meant to help ensure that the cruise ships’ crew members observe proper hygiene and sanitation protocols. The ships are graded on a scale from 0 to 100, with 86 being the minimum passing score. With this…

In November 2018 a Key West pier was severely damaged when it was struck by a cruise ship. Now, after months of repairs, the pier is finally getting back to operation. The pier at Mallory Square hosted its first cruise in nearly half-a-year on May 5th, the Miami Herald reports. The pier had been out…

Newsweek reports that an American woman has been reported missing from a Holland America cruise ship, and is feared dead.The 69-year-old passenger is thought to have gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean as the cruise ship traveled from Florida to Ireland.  The Newsweek report quotes retired professor Maria Luciano Hernandez, who chronicled the search for…

In March 2019 the Viking Sky cruise ship made headlines when it suddenly lost power while sailing off the coast of Norway. The ship was in the midst of a powerful storm when the power loss occurred, leaving passengers and crew vulnerable to the choppy waves. Many people were injured in the incident, some seriously.…

Cruise ship outbreaks are in the news once again. While cruise ships can be struck with cases of norovirus that can sicken up to 700 people, the industry’s most recent illness outbreak involves measles. The prevalence of cruise ship outbreaks has many wondering why do cruise ships seem to be the perfect breeding grounds for…

Two cruise ships collided in Vancouver over the weekend, in the latest incident to rock the troubled cruise industry. The VancouverSun.com reports that two Holland America cruise ships collided while in port on Saturday, leaving a huge gash in the side of one of the vessels.  The incident occurred as the Oosterdam was docking near…

Yesterday we blogged about a New York man who was arrested after allegedly assaulting a woman aboard a cruise ship last week. Now, media outlets are reporting additional details about the case.  45-year-old Adam Damian Panetta, of Farmingville, New York, was arrested on Friday and charged in federal court with one count of assault and…

Cruise ships are a hotbed of bacteria and potential illnesses, but the deadliest may be Legionnaire’s Disease, an infection caused by “Legionella” organisms that leads to severe pneumonia. Unlike most contagions, this illness is not spread through person to person contact (though this may happen on rare occasions). These organisms live within aerosolized water, and…

Multiple news outlets report that a New York man has been arrested for assaulting a woman while the two sailed aboard a cruise ship earlier this week.   Boston 25 News reports that 45-year-old Farmingville, New York resident Adam Damian Panetta appeared in federal court yesterday, after being arrested following the cruise. Panetta is charged…

Every year hundreds of people become victims of cruise related injuries and deaths. Reports of cruise ship sexual assaults alone account for dozens of victims annually. Add this figure those who are injured in slip-and-fall accidents, in cruise ship pools, and while on excursion from cruise ships, and the tally adds up quickly.  While many…

Newsweek.com reports that the Emerald Princess cruise ship suffered a fire earlier this week. The report indicates that the blaze was sparked by a dehumidifier inside the bulkhead in the dry storage. The blaze reportedly started while many crew members were on the lifeboat loading team, and they were not available to help fight the…

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is responsible for compiling and reporting cruise ship crime statistics. The DOT’s latest stats are out, and show that cruise ship sexual assault continues to be the most commonly reported crime aboard the vessels.  The DOT’s most recent report covered October 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018. Here are…

In February, 2019, a passenger aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship was seriously injured when he fell from one of the ship’s rides. 25-year-old Casey Holladay,of Florida was injured while on the Sky Pad trampoline. Holladay can be seen on camera jumping on the ride with his harness attached. Soon thereafter Casey fell from the…

On April 10, 2016, two Americans from Nebraska were killed in a fire while sailing on an Amazon river cruise in Peru. The couple was sailing on a 31-passenger river boat, on a charter excursion sponsored by International Expeditions, when a power strip in their room sparked the blaze. In the investigation following the tragedy,…

Reason would have it that the most prevalent crime aboard cruise ships would be something minor, such as theft. There are thousands of state rooms aboard today’s massive ships, and with crew members moving in and out, one would think that there may be some level of theft occurring on any given day.  But despite…

FloridaToday reports that a man has returned to Bervard County, Florida to face charges that he committed a sexual assault aboard a cruise ship. 27-year-old Justin Dolson was sailing on a cruise ship in March 2018 when he allegedly sexually assaulted the minor. He reportedly began touching the minor while they were in an onboard…

A group of cruise passengers claims to have been trapped in a cruise ship elevator for over an hour. Newsweek.com reports that the passengers were traveling on the Carnival Inspiration when they became trapped.  When the cruise passengers were finally rescued, they report that crew members were insensitive to their plight. The passengers say that…

Earlier this week the Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas was damaged when a massive crane fell on the vessel while it was in dry dock in the Bahamas. The ship had been transported to the Bahamas to undergo routine maintenance. But the falling crane did such damage to the ship that Royal Caribbean has…