When you are gravely injured on a Celebrity cruise ship or shore excursion, you should seek legal advice immediately to protect your rights. Find out more by calling the Celebrity cruise ship accident lawyers at Wolfson & Leon today at 305-285-1115.
With everything you need to enjoy yourself onboard, cruises are an excellent vacation option. Tasty food, comfortable rooms, nightly shows, and plenty of activities keep passengers busy at sea. But the biggest highlight of a cruise is the thrilling shore excursions. Travelers can disembark on guided tours to admire a town's cultural attractions, architecture, and local art. Passengers looking for more excitement can try cliff jumping or cave swimming in Bermuda, scuba diving in Aruba, or land sailing through the island of Bonaire.
But as we enjoy our time away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it is easy to forget that you can get hurt while on a cruise. You could slip as you walk by the pool or fall as you are walking down the stairs. Even a sudden change in the ship's direction can cause people to lose their balance and fall.
If you are badly hurt on a Celebrity Cruise, you should talk with a Miami cruise accident lawyer when you return. You could be compensated for your medical treatment if you were gravely hurt while on a cruise. However, injured passengers have an extremely short window to bring a claim against the cruise line. When you miss the filing deadline, you will not be able to recover the damages.
Shore Excursion Injury on a Celebrity Cruise ShipCelebrity Cruises is a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group. Celebrity Cruises currently has a fleet of 15 luxury cruise ships headquartered in Miami, Florida. The cruise line boasts such luxurious amenities as expansive staterooms with breathtaking ocean views, cashmere mattresses, and open-air verandas.
Getting hurt while on vacation is not just limited to the cruise ship. Passengers can get injured on shore excursions. We trust that the staff on these excursions know the safety protocols and are properly hooking up our safety equipment. We trust that they pay attention as we participate in the activity and give us the correct instructions. We trust that the staff knows what to do if something goes wrong.
But when that is not the case, you may be seriously hurt. If a passenger goes on a zipline or climbing wall without the proper safety equipment or if the equipment is not attached correctly, they risk significant injury. Passengers participating in parasailing or snorkeling could be badly hurt or even drown if they do not receive proper instruction from the staff. And you don’t have to join in a heart-thumping activity to get hurt. Passengers can be severely injured if they are involved in a car accident or victims of violent crime when touring the port.
What to Do When Hurt in a Shore ExcursionIf you are gravely injured on a shore excursion, you should seek medical help immediately. When you cannot get care onshore, you may need to return to the ship's medical team.
Do what you can to document what happened at the accident scene. Get pictures and videos of where the accident occurred, as well as anything that may have caused the accident, such as faulty equipment or missing signs. Be sure to write down the contact information of anyone who witnessed the accident. When possible, try to write down everything you can remember about the accident, including the timeline of events and what instructions you received.
Who is Liable in a Celebrity Cruise Shore Excursion Accident?Independent contractors and third parties run most shore excursions booked through Celebrity Cruises. Some terms and conditions apply when you book your shore excursion. Within these provisions, the cruise line will absolve itself from any liability in the event of injury or death.
If the contractor running the event was negligent and you were hurt as a result, you may be able to recover damages, despite the signed waiver. Additionally, if the cruise line had prior knowledge of known dangers, such as a high level of criminal activity at the port, but did not tell you, they could be negligent.
Filing a Claim When Injured on a Shore ExcursionMany restrictions on your ticket contract also apply to the terms and conditions for a shore excursion. Your ticket contract requires written notification of your claim to be received within 185 days of the injury or fatality. Ticket contracts usually require that a lawsuit be filed within one year of the injury or fatality. This short timeline makes it critical to speak with an attorney who specializes in cruise ship accidents to determine when and where you need to file a claim.
Why Call a Celebrity Cruise Ship Passenger Injury Lawyer?When your family has been severely affected by a serious injury on a Celebrity cruise ship, you could receive compensation for your medical care, lost income, future care, pain and suffering, and mental anguish. You can learn more about your rights when you have been hurt in a Celebrity cruise ship accident by calling Wolfson & Leon today at 305-285-1115.