Cruise Law News

Cruise Line Fat Cat Billionaires

Jim Walker — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:43:17 -0500

A fascinating article appeared in USA Today's Cruise Blog by Gene Sloan - "Titans of the Cruise Industry See Their Net Worth Soar."

This is an amazing article reporting on the Forbes 400 richest people in the U.S., which includes Carnival fat cat billionaires Mickey Arison, Royal Caribbean's Pritzker family, and entrepreneur Leon Black whose private equity firm controls Norwegian Cruise Lines, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

The article which is re-printed in it entirely below is an insight into how to create a fortune by convincing tax paying Americans to turn over their hard earned money to foreign Incorporated, non-tax paying corporations operating foreign flagged cruise ships.

The phenomenon is of particular interest to me because I represent the backbone of the cruise industry - crewmembers like Ismael Richards (photograph above) who worked for 14 years - over 350 hours a month never making more than $545 a month until his back failed and he was abandoned by the cruise line.

So here is the article for your prurient interests:

"The past year has been a good one to be a titan of the cruise industry. Just ask Micky Arison (photograph right).

A year ago, as cruise stocks were plunging along with the economy, wealth watcher Forbes was pegging the Carnival mogul's net worth at just $2.9 billion -- a multi-year low. But with the industry on the rebound, Arison's fortunes once again are on the rise.

Forbes' annual ranking of the world's billionaires for 2010, out late Wednesday, puts Arison's net worth at $4.4 billion, placing him at No. 189 on the magazine's closely-watched list. A year ago he ranked at No. 221.

Arison still has a long way to go to reach his former glory. As recently as four years ago, when the cruise business was riding high, Arison's hefty stake in Carnival had landed him among the 100 richest people in the world. In 2006, Forbes estimated Arison's net worth at more than $6 billion, putting him at No. 94 on the list. He ranked at No. 129 in 2007 and No. 189 in 2008.

Micky Arison isn't the only Arison whose fortunes are rebounding. Another Carnival heir, Shari Arison, is now worth $3.4 billion, up from $2.7 billion a year ago, according to Forbes. Alas, Shari Arison's rising wealth isn't enough to keep her in place in the rankings, where she has dropped to No. 277 from No. 234 in 2009. Four years ago she was within striking distance of the Top 100 at 109.

Another would-be cruise mogul, Leon Black (photograph below, right), also is doing better. The self-made financier who controls Apollo Management -- the private equity firm that in turn controls Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven seas Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line -- almost didn't make the Forbes list last year as his net worth plunged to just $1.1 billion. But this year he's on the rebound with a net worth that Forbes pegs at $2.5 billion. He now ranks No. 277 on the list, up from No. 647 a year ago.

Also faring better are the many members of the Pritzker family of Chicago who collectively own a sizable chunk of Royal Caribbean. Forbes says Thomas Pritzker is now worth $1.6 billion, up from $1.3 billion a year ago (though his ranking on the list has fallen to No. 616 from No. 559 in 2009). Jay Robert Pritzker, Anthony Pritzker and Penny Pritzker, with $1.4 billion a piece, are next at No. 721, followed by a half dozen more Pritzkers who tie at No. 773."

Credits:

Ishmael Richards Jim Walker's Flickr photostream

Mickey Arison Business Week

Leon Black Adam Berry / Bloomber / Lardov

Tortola Tourist Board - Let Cruise Excursion Bus Story "Die Naturally"

Jim Walker — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:14:53 -0500

BVI News and BVI Platinum News continue their excellent coverage of the tragic and deadly crash of the Princess Cruises' excursion bus in Tortola, British Virgin Islands (BVI) with an article entitled "It could Have Been Worse."

PR Nightmare

The BVI Tourist Board is trying to manage the public relations nightmare of the death and multiple injuries of U.S. cruise tourists on a bus with no seat belts being driven by a bus driver with an arrest history and prior conviction record for reckless driving nicknamed "Crash Dummy."

The Director of the BVI tourist Board, Ms. Hadassah Ward (photograph below, left), is struggling with crisis management efforts following this debacle. Ms. Ward scheduled a press conference yesterday where she announced that "it could have been worse."

I'm not sure I understand exactly how it "could have been worse."

A young man died needlessly on a cruise excursion, purchased by his loving parents for his birthday, because of the obvious negligence of the excursion company and cruise line which saw fit to associate itself with a substandard tour company which hired a known reckless driver nicknamed "Crash Dummy" operating a bus not suited for mountainous terrain.

Ms. Ward should have said "this should have never happened."

Instead we see Ms. Ward and her "Tourist Board" worrying about the image of her island and fretting about the press and the blogs covering the tragic story.

Muzzle the Press?

Ms. Ward announced that "one of the Board’s role is to monitor the media . . . to ensure accurate information is being disseminated. Ms. Ward also said she would monitor the "posted pictures of the accident . . . because it will be there for the next 10 to 20 years . . . "

Mr Ward is quoted as saying: "everyone is reading the blogs and newspapers… so we don’t want the information to be misconstrued where people will be affected in terms of liability . . . we need to understand that the blogs are read internationally."

She also noted that "good attitude from the Tourist Board officials" quelled any videos and photographs from being circulated online by the 16 tourists who were involved in the accident.

Ms. Ward concluded her remarks by stating "I am a great believer in letting the story die naturally . . ."

This is the essence of tourist boards and cruise line PR people - they just want the story to go away.

We reported in a prior blog that this is not the first cruise bus excursion to run off the road and injure cruise passengers in Tortola - "Brake Malfunction? Defense Lawyers for Princess Cruises and Bus Driver Disagree on Cause of Tortola Excursion Accident." Nothing was done after that disaster.

History is repeating itself.

Let's Be Happy & Forget about It

So we have the Tortola Tourist Board trying to puzzle the press and control the images of the tragedy for PR purposes.

And the island and cruise line people behind the scenes just want the story to die naturally . . .

And then what?

Another season of substandard buses, with no seat belts, with reckless drivers . . . and another round of unsuspecting cruise passengers taking their families on the next bus driven by a "Crash Dummy" . . .

Comments From Tortola:

Here are some of the comments to the BVI News story that the Tortola Tourist Board is concerned with:

An accident waiting to happen is no accident. Hiring a driver with driving infractions and one of which was reckless driving to operate your tour bus is irresponsible and negligent. The owner of the tour bus too, is guilty of negligence which contributed to this vehicular homicide. Just because these tourists were given a heap of hush money as incentives not to file a lawsuit (we hope) and to keep things quiet, doesn't mean that TB should be issuing insensitive words " It could have been worse" because frankly, it could not have been worse . .

Could have been worse?? Oh it's just one life....I mean come on. You're talking about insurance and all that...I mean if we have people operating and transporting persons and they have no license to drive or no insurance to operate heir vehicles then we have a very serious flaw in the system! Don't give me that could have been worse story. With as much violations this guy should he even be driving much less responsible for transporting this many people? These are peoples lives we're talking about!

License or no license, hiring a driver with a record of driving infractions including reckless driving, whose nickname is Crash Dummy should be good reason to revoke his license to operate a tour bus. Lackadaisical, slackness, don't care with attitude are words to describe the way business is conducted in this place from top to bottom.

Credits:

Photograph of Ms. Ward BVI News

Photographs of bus BVI Platinum News

Readers Provide Information on Overboard Cruise Ship Passengers

Jim Walker — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:07:49 -0500

In the last two weeks, there have been two overboard passengers from U.S.-based cruise ships - Costa's Serena and Holland America Line's Rotterdam.

These incidents have been reported - not by the cruise lines or the press - but by Canadian Professor and cruise expert Ross Klein who hosts the informative web site Cruise Junkie. Dr. Klein has been tracking passenger and crew overboards for the past decade.

Like Dr. Klein, we are increasingly being contacted by passengers, crew and other concerned individuals when things go wrong on cruise ships. Here is some updated information we received from our readers:

Passenger Overboard From Costa Serena

In response to our article "Person Overboard from Costa Serena Cruise Ship?," one passenger confirmed that a 34 year old French passenger went missing at midnight on February 26th.

"The ship had to turn around the following day. But the ship and coast guard did not find the man. On that following night the ship was given the go ahead to return to original course. but at that time it was too late to visit the port of Cadiz."

Another passenger informed us:

"Yesterday we returned from the Costa Serena. The Captain had reported to all of us passengers that the missing man was a Frenchman of the surname Pascal, reported missing by his father who was also traveling on the Costa Serena. At the time he went missing the ship was traveling from Tenerife to Cadiz (our itinerary was changed from going to Madeira because of their disaster). Once Mr. Pascal was reported missing, the ship had turned round and for several hours searched in the area where he may have fallen overboard. Then we were told the search and rescue authorities were taking over and as it was too late for us to visit Cadiz, we were taken straight to our following destination, i.e. Malaga. We hope that you will be able to find more regarding the fate of the missing man and let us know."

Passenger Overboard From HAL's Rotterdam

In response to an article " Passenger Reported Overboard From Holland America's Rotterdam Cruise Ship," a United States Naval Aircrewman reported the following:

"I was surprised that this report was not confirmed, and was hoping to help. I was aboard the aircraft referenced that arrived "onstation" to assist in the S.A.R. Operation, a United States Navy P-3C of Patrol and Reconnaissance Squadron (VP)- 26.

We arrived on station after the victim had been in water for about an hour and a half, the delay largely attributed to communication delays, and the relay of the initiated SAR from ship, to shore, to our controller. WE initiated a search pattern that proved unsuccessful. At which point we adjusted our search to the estimated current drift. After several hours we searched our absolute min allowable "off-station" fuel load (required for the transit back to base) and at the last moment we located the SAR victim. Since we were bingo fuel all we could do was give a gps point and get back home. During SAR operations we prefer to maintain "eyes-on" to guide the pick-up vessel in.

I speak for my crew in saying we are grateful to know that at least he was picked up even though we could not affect a rescue. We offer our condolences to the family and relatives, and I hope you know that we did all that we could."

Thanks To Our Readers

Thank you to our readers who have expressed their concern for these passengers and their families and have taken the time to provide information regarding these sad cases.

A special thank you to our brave U.S. Coast Guard and Navy Airmen who put their lives on the line to search for and recover our loved ones at sea.

Credits:

Costa Serena CruiseAir's photostream

HAL's Rotterdam Cajun Bob's photostream

"Cruise Ship Sickness" - Is Norovirus In The Food and Water?

Jim Walker — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:11:21 -0500

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports numerous outbreaks of norovirus on cruise ships operated by Celebrity Cruises, Cunard, Holland American Lines, and Royal Caribbean.

Every time there is an outbreak, the cruise lines blame the passengers who board the cruise ships. The media picks up in this theme and often reports that the problem is not with the cruise ships but the passengers who board the ships already infected with norovirus. For example, in a recent article in the New York Times Travel Section "Stomach Bug Hits Cruise Ships," respected journalist Michelle Higgins writes " . . . the contaminated ships have since been disinfected . . . but such measures can’t prevent a sick passenger from coming aboard and infecting others." Ms. Higgins suggests that " the best defense is simple: wash your hands."

Unfortunately, the issue is not so simple.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), whereas "person to person" transmission of norovirus has been documented, "norwalk gastroenteritis is transmitted by the fecal-oral route via contaminated water and foods."

Contaminated Water Supplies On Cruise Ships?

The FDA indicates that contaminated water is one of the most likely causes of norovirus. The FDA reports that "water is the most common source of outbreaks and may include water from municipal supplies, well, recreational lakes, swimming pools, and water stored aboard cruise ships.

So whereas you always hear reports of extra cleaning of the bathrooms and cabins on infected cruise ships, there is never a mention of whether the potable water is tested and the results of the testing.

Contaminated Food Supplies On Cruise Ships?

In addition to water supplies on cruise ships being a potential source of the virus, food supplies on cruise ships can also sicken the passengers.

The FDA reports that "shellfish and salad ingredients are the foods most often implicated in norwalk outbreaks. Ingestion of raw or insufficiently steamed clams and oysters poses a high risk for infection with Norwalk virus. Foods other than shellfish are contaminated by ill food handlers."

It would be interesting to determine the job positions of the crew members infected with norovirus. For example, the CDC reports that sixty-nine crew members were reported ill on Celebrity's Mercury and Millennium cruise ships during recent cruises. How many of these crewmembers were cooks, waiters or food handlers?

The issue of eating oysters and other shellfish on cruise ships presents a double whammy. Cruise ships dump sewage 12 miles from shore, and the fecal material can contaminate shellfish which filter-feed. Both cruise passengers and people ashore can then be infected by eating contaminated shellfish.

Uncertainty Regarding Cause of Virus and Transmitting Agent

Although the CDC tries to determine the "causative agent" of the outbreak, this means that they are trying to determine the nature of the pathogen (i.e., whether it is norovirus or some other virus). But the CDC does not report whether the virus came from a person boarding the cruise ship or, the more likely scenario if the FDA is correct, from contaminated food and water on the cruise ship.

The issue arises where do the cruise lines obtain their potable water? From U.S. based vendors or from the Caribbean islands? What testing is done at the ports before the water is brought aboard? Where do the food products come from? Is any of the food inspected by the FDA before it is loaded on the cruise ships?

The CDC reports that around 600 passengers became ill on Celebrity's Mercury cruise ship on the last two cruises alone. Are we to believe that all 600 people simply failed to wash their hands? Or is there something in the food and water?

Cruise lines should be required to publicly report the test results of the cruise ship's water samples, so that the U.S. public can determine the true cause of cruise ship illnesses.

If contaminated water is the culprit, all of the external cleaning of cruise ship surfaces is not going to solve the problem.

Additional Information:

Passengers can track the reported outbreaks on the CDC web page which tracks "Outbreak Updates for International Cruise Ships." Not all norovirus outbreaks are required to be reported to the CDC and the CDC website is incomplete.

A good source for additional information is found on "Illness Outbreaks on Cruise ships." We have reported on numerous cases of cruise line illnesses in prior articles.

Cruise Industry Spent $400,000 Last Quarter Lobbying Against Safety & Environmental Regulations

Jim Walker — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:27:18 -0500

Today Business Week published an article "Cruise Trade Group Spends $400K on 4Q Lobbying" which is re-printed, unedited, as follows:

"Cruise Lines International Association spent almost $400,000 in the fourth quarter to lobby on security and environmental issues along with other matters, according to a recent disclosure report.

The trade group that represents cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean and Carnival also lobbied the federal government on legislation related to seaport inspections, customs matters, sanitation and health laws, quarantine procedures, international health requirements and crime reporting.

In the October-through-December period, the trade group, based in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., lobbied both chambers of Congress, along with the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, Customs and Border Patrol, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of Justice, the Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Transportation Security Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency, according to a disclosure report filed in January with the House clerk's office."

The Cruise Line International Association (CLIA) is the organization which promotes the interests of the cruise industry and lobbies Congress and federal agencies to avoid as much Federal regulation as possible.

The $400,000 from CLIA is in addition to the millions of dollars spent in lobbying by the individual cruise lines. For example cruise expert Dr. Ross Klein reports that Royal Caribbean alone spent over $3,000,000 for lobbyists for the last three years.

The lawyers here at Cruise Law have attended five Congressional hearings where CLIA fought against safety laws and resisted reporting cruise crimes to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the U.S. Coast Guard.

CLIA has a strange group of bedfellows:

CLIA's Vice President of Communications is Eric Ruff (photograph above, far left with glasses) who was Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's spokesperson who helped sell the U.S. on the war against Iraq. He is now responsible for CLIA's "public policy." Mr. Ruff is using his experience gained at the Department of Defense to fight the war against cruise crime regulations and environmental restrictions which may require the cruise industry to spend some of its tax free money to protect passengers and public waters.

CLIA's President is Terry Dale (photograph left) who had the unenviable job of appearing before Congress and testifying against cruise line rape victims. His half-hearted and ultimately losing argument, that cruising is safe and there is no need to report crimes, failed to convince Congress and further tarnished the cruise line's already battered and dubious public image.

Another Vice President is Michael Crye (photograph below right). As down to earth as a Brooks-Brothers-suit-with-extra-starch, Mr. Crye's title involves "technical and regulatory affairs," but he routinely shows up at Congressional cruise crime hearings to belittle crime victims. He is most infamous for accusing missing Royal Caribbean passenger George Smith of being responsible for his own "disappearance" during his 2005 honeymoon cruise.

There is a lot at stake for the cruise industry. The CLIA cruise lines, like Carnival, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean, collect around $35,000,000,000 (billion) a year from mostly U.S. tax-paying citizens yet the cruise lines pay no U.S. taxes. Because of Congressional loopholes, U.S. based cruise companies - which register their businesses and flag their cruise ships in foreign countries - can avoid all U.S. taxes and safety and labor laws.

CLIA and the cruise lines are spending millions a year to make certain that Congress doesn't touch their tax free status and they can continue to skirt U.S. laws.

In contrast to the cruise industry's multi-million dollar lobbying machine full of Washington insiders - Americans across the U.S. volunteering for the non-profit, grass roots organization International Cruise Victims (ICV) have traveled to Washington D.C. to keep the cruise industry accountable for crimes on cruise ships. To see what an unfunded but dedicated group of victims can accomplish, consider reading:

Congress Passes Cruise Crime Law

Congressional All Stars Pass Cruise Crime Law By Vote of 416 to 4

Ken Carver Fights for Cruise Ship Safety

The photograph (left) shows Ron and Sue DiPiero of Ohio, who lost their son Daniel on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, outside their Congressman's office in Washington D.C.

The DiPieros are fighting for a reform of the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA) which provides no recovery for the emotional injuries sustained by grieving families who have lost a loved one on a cruise ship in international waters.

The cruise industry has spent millions of dollars to make certain that families like the DiPieros are deprived of their rights:

The Death on the High Seas Act - Screwing American Passengers for 89 Years

Cruise Industry Tries to Kill Amendment to Death on the High Seas Act

For additional information regarding cruise industry lobbying, please read:

Lobbying Congress - Dirty Waters: The Politics of Ocean Pollution.

Credits:

Eric Ruff AP via politico.com

Terry Dale cruiselaw's Flickr photostream

Michael Crye seatrade-global.com

Celebrity Cruises' Mercury Returns to Port with 182 Sick Passengers - Sailing Postponed

Jim Walker — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:03:27 -0500

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that Celebrity Cruises' Mercury cruise ship has returned to Charleston, South Carolina with 182 ill passengers.

According to its web page "Investigation Update on the Mercury," t'he CDC reports 182 of 1749 passengers (10.41%) are ill with diarrhea and vomiting, and 14 of the 850 crew (1.65%) are sick.

With the sick passengers disembarking, another 1,800 passengers are boarding. (I wonder whether the cruise ine discloses to the new passengers which cabins had sick passengers in them?)

The Mercury has experienced more than its fair share of problems in the last month. There was a report of carbon monoxide poisoning on February 13th when the cruise ship returned to Baltimore. After the ship re-positioned to Charleston, its inaugural cruise from that port resulted in over 400 passengers coming down with the dreaded norovirus.

The ship was delayed a day until February 26th for what the cruise line calls "enhanced cleaning," and we questioned "Will the Celebrity Mercury Infect Another Round of Passengers?"

Now close to 200 people another passengers and crew have fallen ill.

The most troubling information is that the CDC reports that the "causative factor" (i.e., whats causing the sickness) is "unknown."

Norovirus can be caused by sick passengers coming aboard, or sick crewmembers greeting the passengers or, more concerning, infected food and/or water supplies. The cruise supporters always blame the passengers for not washing their hands - which may be the case. But the issue whether there is a problem with the cruise ship cannot be excluded. Many people refer to norovirus as the "cruise ship sickness."

If the potable water or food have norovirus particles, all of the external cleaning in the world is not going to make a difference. It only takes a few fecal particles in the food, drinking water or shower.

USA Today reports that the Mercury's departure today is delayed for another round of "enhanced cleaning."

But without determining the "causative factor" and determining whether the passengers, the crewmembers, or the food and water supplies are spreading the virus - it seems like the cruise line is shooting into the dark.

Stay tuned.

Health Tips: @OrlandoChris has some helpful precautions to help prevent the spread of the infection.

Credits:

Cruise desserts nbnpress.com

Better Safe Than Sorry - Spring Break Safety Tips

Jim Walker — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:28:23 -0500

From time to time, Cruise Law News has a guest blogger. Caitlin Burke is a recent graduate from the University of Florida. She majored in Recreation, Parks and Sport Management. Ms. Burke wrote a senior honor's thesis entitled a "Qualitative Study of Victimization and Legal Issues Relevant to Cruise Ships." She is working as a case manager for Walker & O'Neill as she prepares for law school.

Caitlin discusses her experiences in a cruise port of call two years ago, and offers 5 safety tips for students:

In March of 2008 I took a cruise over Spring Break with one of my friends from the University of Florida. It was technically my "last spring break” so naturally I wanted to make the most of it. I decided to take a 9 day cruise.

I boarded the Norwegian Pearl and set sail around 5 p.m., pina colada in hand.

The first night was like everyone else’s first night of spring break - a mess. Lots of alcohol, lots of socializing, lots of exploring, lots of alcohol, lots of alcohol . . . lots of alcohol. (Don’t judge me). It was indeed a great first night of spring break. Needless to say the next morning my friend and I were feeling slightly under the weather. (I blame the stress and exhaustion of school and midterms, some will argue it was the massive amount of tequila consumed the prior night).

We awoke slightly groggy but ready to disembark and explore our first port of call in the Dominican Republic. We boarded the small tenders, becoming evermore nauseous as we bounced up and down with every wave. I bounded off the boat praying I wouldn’t lose the greasy breakfast I had just consumed at the cruise ship breakfast buffet.

Finally on firm land, we looked for a taxi/excursion/attraction to begin our exploration. At first look, Semana seemed like a tourist hot spot - there was a strip of brightly colored shops and restaurants. Some of our friends took taxis for informal "tours." But we walked down the road, window shopping and trying to find something that was more “local” (i.e., less touristy). As soon as we made it to the end of the strip, we made a right hand turn, which we almost immediately began to regret.

All of a sudden buses, cargo vans, motorcycles, vespas, bicycles all began to fly past us honking, yelling, screaming, hollering, and whistling at us as my friend and I looked at each other in disbelief.

We continued to walk down the road but felt increasingly uncomfortable. The local men were intensely staring at us, whistling, and making inappropriate comments. We looked at each other, fear in our eyes, turned around, and bolted back to the tourist strip. Still nauseated from the tugboat ride over, we decided to eat some lunch and let our stomachs settle before returning back to the cruise ship.

We sat at a restaurant that was as close to the cruise ship as possible (also flooded with other passengers from our ship) and ate a burger for three and a half hours. We were disappointed about not being able to see the island but happy to have made it back unharmed from the 20 feet we ventured off.

After working at a law office that handles only cruise ship related incidents - like shore excursion and port-of-call assaults - I’m thankful that I trusted my gut and did not venture out to see the island. We were able to see other ports and island destinations in depth as the trip continued, but we regretted even getting off the ship in Semana. I recommend anyone traveling to foreign ports to be cautious, trust your gut, and don’t venture off if you’re even the least bit skeptical of your surroundings.

Like your mom always tells you, better safe than sorry.

Caitlin's 5 Safety Tips for Spring Break:

1. Don't drink too much. Have a designated sober person who can look out for the group.

2. Travel in groups. Never let anyone wonder off alone. Even if they say "I'll be right back," go with them.

3. Always watch your drinks being opened, being prepared, and being poured. Date rape drugs are common and easily accessible on cruise ships and in foreign ports. Do not trust the bartenders or waiters preparing your drinks.

4. Never leave your drink unattended (as college students we tend to our drinks pretty well, so this is probably the easiest rule to abide by).

5. Use your common sense and don't let your guard down. Crimes occur on cruise ships and in the ports of call.

Update March 9, 2010:

Caitlin's blog was named one of Lexblog's Ten Best Blogs of 3,000 law blogs for the week!

Way to go Caitlin!

Did Princess Cruises Check the Driving Record of Excursion Bus Driver, Crash Dummy?

Jim Walker — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 11:12:57 -0500

A story in the BVI Platinum's newspaper indicates that the cruise excursion bus driver Roland Allen, nick-named "Crash Dummy," had been convicted of driving offenses - including reckless driving - before the ill-fated Princess Cruises excursion bus crash.

We suspected this, as we raised this issue in a prior article "How Did Princess Cruises Excursion Bus Driver "Crash Dummy" Earn His Nick Name? - Why Does He Have A Police Record?"

Compelling Record of Bad Driving?

In an article " Allen's License Suspended, Independent Mechanic to Examine Bus," the newspaper reveals an exchange between the bus driver's lawyer and the criminal Magistrate presiding over the matter. The lawyer for Mr. Allen pleaded the Magistrate not to suspend Mr. Allen's license. In response, the Magistrate:

". . . lamented that the court was given a conviction sheet of Allen and most of the offences are road traffic offences with one being reckless driving. 'The allegations are compelling' she stated."

The newspaper also reports on a curious plea by Mr. Allen's lawyer who "told the court that tour operator is his only means of income and suspending it will deprive Allen of his livelihood." This argument ignored the fact that the cruise line had already suspended the tour in question, the "Tropical Forest Hike and Beach" excursion, as previously reported in USA Today. The Princess Cruises' website states: Tropical Forest Hike & Beach***Cancelled***

The Magistrate ruled that given Mr. Allen's previous convictions, "it is not wise to allow him to return behind the wheels."

Was It Wise to Permit "Crash Dummy" Behind the Wheel In The First Place?

Cruise lines have certain legal duties to their passengers. The cruise line must conduct an investigation into the safety procedures of the tour company and audit the tour's safety record. This includes not only inspecting the excursion company's buses but inspecting the driving records of the tour company's drivers. Cruise lines also have a duty to warn passengers of dangers which are known, or should be known, to the cruise line.

Princess Cruises advertises the excursion bus going to the "highest peak in the Virgin Islands."

Why did the cruise line permit a driver - known in the community of Tortola as "Crash Dummy" and reportedly convicted of reckless driving - take cruise passengers through this steep mountainous terrain? Why didn't the cruise line warn its passengers of these dangers before charging them $59 a piece for the excursion?

Credits:

Tropical Forest Hike and Beach Princess Cruises

Cruise Ship Accident and Injury Lawyer

Jim Walker — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 05:52:33 -0500

When cruise passengers are injured during cruises and require legal representation, the chances are that they will require a lawyer in South Florida. Most cruise lines are based in either Miami or Fort Lauderdale. These cruise lines include "forum selection" clauses in the passenger tickets which require that the passenger's lawsuit must be filed in Florida.

So if the accident occurs on a cruise ship operated by Carnival, Celebrity, Norwegian, Oceania, Regent Seven Seas, Royal Caribbean, or Silversea cruise line, the passenger will have to find a lawyer here in Miami or Fort Lauderdale. This is true regardless of where the passengers live, where they boarded the cruise ship, where the cruise ship is going, or where the accident occurs.

Many passengers searching for a lawyer on Google or Yahoo run across listings for a "cruise ship accident lawyer" or "cruise ship injury attorney." There are many lawyers who list themselves as "cruise ship lawyers" but they actually have no education, training, or experience handling maritime cases in general or cruise line cases in particular.

Our firm handles cases only against cruise lines. We know how the cruise lines defend cases involving injured passengers and crewmembers. When considering hiring a lawyer to represent you or your family, ask the lawyer some basic questions (our answers follow):

Did you obtain an education in maritime law? Yes. I studied maritime law courses starting in 1980 from the best law school in the U.S. with a maritime law curriculum. Tulane Law School - Admiralty and Maritime Law

Are you a member of any maritime law societies? Yes. I am a member of the Maritime Law Association of the United States (since 1984), the Admiralty Law Section of the American Association for Justice, Florida Admiralty Trial Lawyers Association, and Southeast Admiralty Law Institute.

Have you lectured maritime law students? Yes. Last week I was invited to speak before the Maritime Law Society of Stetson Law School, the oldest law school in Florida. Cruise Law Visits Stetson College of Law to Discuss Crime on Cruise Ships

Have you handled cases against cruise lines before, and how many? Yes. Over 500, in the last 10 years alone. We routinely handle cases against Carnival, Celebrity, Costa, Disney (Magical Cruise Company), Holland American Line, Norwegian, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Regent Seven Seas, and Silversea.

Have you or your clients appeared before U.S. Congress regarding issues of cruise ship safety? Yes. We have attended five Congressional hearings in Washington D.C. with six clients regarding issues of cruise line safety issues.

Do you handle only maritime cases? Yes. We handle only maritime cases involving accidents and injuries on cruise ships. We have handled high profile cases involving cruise ship fires, collisions, and sinkings.

The cases typically involve a cruise passenger slipping and breaking an ankle, knee, or hip on the cruise ship, an injury during a shore excursion, a passenger who is sexually assaulted during the cruise, or a crewmember who is injured during work. Most cases where passengers and crewmembers are injured also involve issues of delayed or inappropriate medical treatment.

Have you or your clients been featured in newspapers, documentaries, or on television news programs? Yes. Over 100 newspaper articles, law journals, and television programs have featured our firm and/or our cruise passenger clients.

ABC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN, FOXNews, DATELINE, 48 HOURS, Larry King Live, A & E Investigative Reports, Hannity & Colmes, Greta Van Sustern, Nancy Grace, Inside Edition, Julie Banderas, Big Story Weekend, CourtTV, Catherine Crier, Montel Williams, Joe Scarborough, Rita Cosby, Mike & Juliet, Geraldo Rivera, Nancy Bloom, Dan Abrams, UK’s BBC-Radio 4, Heartland w/John Kasich, E! Entertainment, TruTV, Canada’s CATV-5, Good Morning America, TIME Magazine, National Law Journal, RADAR Magazine, Lawyer’s Weekly USA, Miami Herald, American Law Media, Tradewinds, Fort Lauderdale’s Sun-Sentinel, Miami Business Review, LA Times, NY Times, Salt Lake Tribune, Florida Today, Daytona Beach Journal, Sacramento Bee, Washington Post, Greenwich Times, Greenwich Citizen, Greenwich Post, San Francisco Chronicle, St. Petersburg Times, Miami’s New Times, London’s Guardian, Edmonton Post, Chicago Sun-Times, Bahamas Journal, CruiseCritic, and the Associated Press have all covered our cruise line cases and our client's causes.

Who are your clients? Cruise passengers and crewmembers. Most of our passenger clients are former cruise fanatics. After being involved in an accident, they feel mistreated or neglected by the cruise staff and are often ignored once they return home from the cruise. Most cases are not high profile cases, but simply involve an accident and questionable medical treatment on the cruise ship or in the port of call.

Our cruise passenger clients come literally from all fifty states in the U.S. Our crew clients contact us from around the world.

Tulane Law School - Admiralty and Maritime Law

Jim Walker — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 10:14:44 -0500

A lot of people ask me how I became involved practicing maritime law.

Thirty years ago, I started law school at Tulane School of Law in New Orleans, Louisiana. I may be biased, but Tulane has the best law school in the United States involving maritime studies. Tulane has a renowned "Admiralty and Maritime Law" program which is part of the Tulane Maritime Law Center.

Tulane is where I took my introductory maritime courses (Admiralty I and Admiralty II), maritime jurisdiction, maritime personal injury and death, maritime insurance and "offshore operations" - a particularly excellent course addressing personal injury and death cases in the oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico.

Tulane is the home of the Tulane Maritime Law Journal (previously called has the Maritime Lawyer) which is described in Wikipedia as the "preeminent student-edited law journal in the field of Admiralty and Maritime Law."

The professors teaching the maritime law courses were excellent. A professor named Thomas Schoenbaum taught the introductory maritime course. He went on to write the famous maritime law hornbook - "Admiralty and Maritime Law." A number of the maritime personal injury courses were taught by maritime lawyers, including the Honorable Eldon Fallon who was a well known personal injury lawyer and then became a highly respected Federal Court Judge in New Orleans.

After graduating from Tulane law school, in 1983 I joined the Maritime Law Association. Since 1983, I have been practicing maritime law - mostly personal injury and death cases.

I have a lot of fond memories of attending maritime law classes at Tulane. Its hard to think that was three decades ago!

Tulane also sponsors the Admiralty Law Institute every other year, which is always a good excuse to make a trip back to New Orleans.

You can follow Tulane's maritime program on Twitter @TulaneMaritime.

Dramatic Video and Photograph of Killer Wave Striking Louis Majesty Cruise Ship

Jim Walker — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 06:12:35 -0500

A number of photographs and videos have been posted on the internet showing the large wave which hit the Louis Majesty cruise ship. One of the most dramatic photographs (below) shows what CBS News calls a "killer wave" about to hit the bow of the cruise ship.

We reported on this story in prior articles: Monster Waves Hit Louis Majesty Cruise Ship and President of International Cruise Victims Questions Cruise Passenger Safety - Louis Cruise Lines No Stranger to Disaster .

The wave and wind conditions at the time of the incident should have clearly alerted the officers on duty to warn the passengers to secure themselves in their cabins. The Master should have instructed the passengers to keep away from the public windows, particularly at the vessel's bow. The cruise ship was heading directly into the waves and those passengers killed and injured were particularly vulnerable in the public areas at the bow.

All cruise ships have what are called "safety management systems" (SMS) or "safety and quality" (SQM) protocols which address how the vessel should be operated in rough weather and the type of precautions which should be considered to protect the passengers. It will be interesting to see what type of safety procedures the cruise ship had, and whether the vessel's officers ignored them.

CBS News has a video (below) depicting the wave striking the ship's bow (the ship in the video is the "Norwegian Majesty") and describing the panic aboard the cruise ship:

Credits:

Photograph BarcelonaReporter.com

Video CBS News

Additional Passengers Sickened on Mercury Cruise Ship

Jim Walker — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:54:36 -0500

Celebrity Cruises is again reporting that at least 55 passengers have fallen ill on its Mercury cruise ship with norovirus-like symptoms.

In a prior article we questioned: Will the Celebrity Mercury Infect Another Round of Passengers?

Here We Go Again

A local news source in South Carolina, the Palmetto Scoop, reports on the latest cruise ship sickness in an article entitled "Sickness Again Plagues Charleston Cruise Ship:"

The crew of the Celebrity Cruises “Mercury” ship, which docks in Charleston, thought they had thoroughly sanitized the vessel after nearly one-quarter of the 1,800 travelers came down with a norovirus-like illness on their last voyage.

Turns out they didn’t do a very good job.

The Mercury ship set sail from Charleston on Saturday and within days, dozens of passengers became sick. As of Friday, 55 of the 1,880 travelers had fallen ill with the norovirus stomach bug.

Norovirus is a disease common to cruise ships because it is highly contagious and affects confined communities. The unpleasant disease usually runs its course after a day or two and spreads through food, water, or person-to-person contact.

Celebrity Cruises has based the Mercury in Charleston, South Carolina where officials have reported twice as many cases of norovirus as normal this winter. The Associated Press reports that the virus may have come aboard the cruise ship by passengers, crewmembers or infected supplies.

Celebrity Cruises is owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises whose cruise ships have experienced a large number of norovirus cases this season.

Other Royal Caribbean Cruise Ships Experiencing Widespread Illness

The Huffington Post reports that at least 310 passengers were sickened aboard Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas. A spokeswoman for the Brazil's National Agency for Sanitary Vigilance stated that the sickness was caused by "some kind of food poisoning aboard" the cruise ship. Earlier this week, Brazil ordered all 1,987 passengers and 765 crew members to remain on the ship anchored near Rio de Janeiro. The passengers were just recently permitted to leave the ship.

Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas and Celebrity Cruises' Millennium cruise ships have also reported of a large number of ill cruise passengers. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) 102 passengers and 14 crewmembers suffered gastrointestinal illness on the Jewel of the Seas, and 157 passengers and 23 crewmembers became ill on the Millennium.

You can track cruise norovirus cases via the CDC has a web page which tracks "Outbreak Updates for International Cruise Ships," although not all cruise illnesses are required to be reported to the CDC. For example, the recent outbreak of illness on the Vision of the Seas was not reported to the CDC.

For other information about norovirus on cruise ships, consider reading Cruise Ship Norovirus - Clean the Damn Toilets!

Video: WCSC (AP)

President of International Cruise Victims Questions Cruise Passenger Safety - Louis Cruise Lines No Stranger to Disaster

Jim Walker — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:02:20 -0500

This morning Kendall Carver, President of the International Cruise Victims organization, appeared on the "Fox and Friends" television show regarding the death of passengers aboard the Louis Majesty cruise ship.

Mr. Carver raised the issue why the passengers were not warned of the wave conditions before the disaster, based on information gathered from the ship's radar and ocean buoys. Waves of this height (around 30 feet) are not considered to be "rogue" waves and are to be reasonably expected on a cyclical basis.

Mr. Carver also questioned why passengers were sitting in public areas with unsecured items around them near the glass windows when the waves crashed against the ship, and why the Louis Cruise Line officers did not inform the passengers to secure themselves in their cabins.

No Stranger to Disaster

In response to our first article on this incident - Monster Waves Hit Louis Majesty Cruise Ship - a reader, Jose, left an interesting comment:

A coincidence? This ship was owned by the company Louis Cruises whose "Sea Diamond" sank in Santorini on 5th April three years ago; two people also died . . . I was on board the ship when she crashed and sank.

The reader is referring to the sinking of the Sea Diamond cruise ship which struck a reef in Santorini, Greece. The reef was in a known and well marked location. The vessel's hull was ruptured and the cruise ship took on water. Rather than grounding the vessel in shallow water, the officers thereafter took the vessel into deep water, where it sank.

1,600 persons were evacuated, but two passengers, a father and daughter, were lost. There was a consensus that the officers engaged in reckless seamanship. Greek maritime authorities arrested the cruise ship's Master and five officers and charged them with negligence.

Photographs of the sinking of the Sea Diamond can be viewed at the web site of Michael Hipler.

Credits:

Ken Carver KPHO News

Sea Diamond cruise ship YouTube BlueDonkeyMan

Monster Waves Hit Louis Majesty Cruise Ship

Jim Walker — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:08:28 -0500

Three 30 foot waves crashed into the Louis Majesty cruise ship in the Mediterranean Sea on Wednesday. Two passengers died.

The Greece-based Louis Cruise Lines ship was north-east of Barcelona, Spain, heading east to Genoa, Italy when three "abnormal" waves struck the vessel.

The waves smashed windows in public areas. CNN reported that the deceased passengers included a German man, 69, from North Rhine Westphalia, and an Italian man, 52, who was traveling with his family.

Fourteen others were treated aboard the cruise ship for injuries, and were hospitalized when the ship returned to Barcelona on Wednesday night. One passenger sustained two broken legs in the incident.

The last "rogue" wave case involved Norwegian Cruise Line's Dawn cruise ship in 2005. The NCL ship was hit by a 70 foot wave, breaking cabin windows and flooding over 60 cabins. Another maritime lawyer in Miami sued NCL, alleging that the cruise line endangered its passengers by trying to sail through rough weather so that the cruise ship could arrive back in port in time to be filmed in Donald Trump's Apprentice television show.

NCL denied these allegations, and a jury decided in NCL's favor.

March 5, 2010 Update: See updated article: President of International Cruise Victims Questions Cruise Passenger Safety - Louis Cruise Lines No Stranger to Disaster

TIME Magazine: "The Cruise Ship Disaster: How Do 'Rogue Waves' Happen?"

Credit:

Video CBS News

How Did Princess Cruises Excursion Bus Driver "Crash Dummy" Earn His Nick Name? - Why Does He Have A Police Record?

Jim Walker — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:19:39 -0500

In an article entitled "Taxi Driver Granted $60,000 Bail - License Suspended," BVI News in Tortola, British Virgin Islands (BVI) reports that the driver of the Princess Cruises excursion bus arrested for reckless driving and causing death by reckless driving has been offered bail in the amount $60,000. The Magistrate set bail of $25,000 cash and a $35,000 surety.

BVI citizen Roland Allen was arrested following the crash of a bus carrying cruise passengers from a Princess Cruise ship on an excursion into Tortola. The accident occurred as the cruise excursion bus was descending a very steep road called "Windy Hill Road."

The Magistrate suspended Mr. Allen's license, pending the outcome of his trial regarding the death of cruise passenger Aaron Rumphrey who died in the crash.

The BVI News reports that Mr. Allen's next court appearance is March 25, 2010.

"Crash Dummy" Arrested For Theft?

BVI News previously reported that the excursion bus driver is known as "Crash Dummy," a nick-name Mr. Allen apparently obtained before the fatal cruise excursion bus accident.

An online "Police Blotter" indicates that "Roland Allen of Baughers Bay" was arrested for theft in July of last year. There are no details online available to explain the nature of the alleged theft, or how the charges were resolved.

The comments to the online reports refer to Mr. Allen as "Crash Dummy," suggesting that Mr. Allen's reputation as a "crash dummy" existed before the terrible cruise line excursion accident.

How Did "Crash Dummy" Earn His Nick Name?

The question remains how and when Mr. Roland earned the unenviable label of being a "crash dummy?" Has the cruise excursion driver been involved in other accidents?

A clue may be found in the comments of a reader of the BVI News:

"When you hire a driver that you know (or should know) is a reckless driver, he has been involved with the law several times because of his driving habits and you know that around town his name is "Crash Dummy", and you have not informed unsuspecting customers by placing a sign on the bus "Ride at your own Risk, Dangerous Driver" then you are as guilty and responsible for the outcome and should be in Balsum and your company shut down immediately. You, the driver and the BVI Government share the responsibility for this travesty and the lawsuits will be piling up, no doubt."

Why Did Princess Cruises Permit Cruise Passengers To Be Driven By "Crash Dummy?"

It is an understatement to say that it is reckless for the cruise line to herd unsuspecting cruise tourists into a bus without seat belts to be driven over a steep hill by a driver called "Crash Dummy" with a police record and apparently a history of driving violations.

Mr. Allen's driving record and police history will become a focus of investigators. We will be discussing this outrageous situation created by Princess Cruises in our next blogs.

A Hero or Villian?

Another newspaper in BVI, the BVI Beacan, reports that the prosecutors in Tortola intend to prove that Mr. Roland was driving recklessly. The newspaper quotes the prosecutor saying:

“The vehicle started to accelerate and despite efforts, the driver was unable to bring the vehicle to a stop . . . We are claiming that his driving was reckless because he was going at a speed at which he was unable to control the vehicle . . . a loud screeching was heard from the brakes . . . [Mr. Allen] ought to have known” about any problems with the excursion bus.

However, Mr. Allen's defense lawyer argued to the Court that when his client "started down the hill, he put the bus into second gear but realised there were no brakes. He tried pumping the brakes but the vehicle sped down the hill, not because of Mr. Allen’s actions, but because it was heavy with the tourists’ weight."

“He had no alternative but to put the bus in those ruins. If he’d done anything else he would have gone off the hill. He should be commended.”

Person Overboard from Costa Serena Cruise Ship?

Jim Walker — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:37:41 -0500

CruiseJunkie.com reports that was a person may have gone overboard from the Costa Serena last Saturday February 27th.

A passenger informed the CruiseJunkie web site that a person was reported missing from the Costa cruise ship while in the Atlantic between the Canary Islands and Malaga.

The web site stresses that this incident is not yet confirmed from the cruise line company but is based on the account from a passenger on board the ship.

We last reported on an overboard passenger last week - Passenger Reported Overboard From Holland America's Rotterdam Cruise Ship. There was no official confirmation from the cruise line in that case either.

This is one of the problems with overboards and crimes on cruise ships. As matters now stand, cruise lines are under no legal obligation to report such incidents to U.S. authorities. As a practical matter, cruise lines do not like to report incidents which tend to show that cruising is unsafe.

It has become increasingly difficult for cruise lines to engage in cover ups, with an increasing number of people using blogs and other social media tools like Twitter and FaceBook.

Although the cruise industry refuses to disclose the actual number of people going overboard from cruise ships, the Cruise Junkie web page documents over 130 passengers and crew members have jumped, fallen, or been thrown from cruise ships in the last decade.

Credits:

Costa Serena cruise ship comequandofuoripiove1973 Flickr Photostream

Cruise Law Visits Stetson College of Law to Discuss Crime on Cruise Ships

Jim Walker — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:20:59 -0500

Today we had the honor of being invited to speak to the maritime law society at Stetson University College of Law.

Stetson has the oldest law school in Florida, founded in 1900. Its campus is located on the beautiful Mediterranean style architecture campus in Gulfport, Florida.

I discussed the topic "Crime on Cruise Ships," and explained the epidemic of cruise crimes on cruise ships over the past decade.

Assisting me with the presentation was Caitlin Burke (bottom right), an intern at our firm. Ms. Burke graduated from the University of Florida where she majored in Recreation, Parks and Sport Management. Ms. Burke wrote a senior honor's thesis entitled a "Qualitative Study of Victimization and Legal Issues Relevant to Cruise Ships." Caitlin was also a guest blogger last year when she authored Why Cruises are NOT the Best Vacations with Kids.

Stetson has a well established introductory maritime program and a well organized Maritime Law Society. The event was well attended. Assistant Professor Christine Cerniglia (bottom left) - who previously handled maritime litigation in New Orleans for several years - attended the power point presentation with her students.

In the past decade there have been hundreds of sexual assaults and unexplained disappearances of passengers and crew members from cruise ships. The issue of the safety of passengers and crew has been highlighted by the International Cruise Victims organization and five Congressional hearings on cruise lines crimes in the past five years.

The students appeared interested in many of the issues we have discussed in prior articles on this blog:

The "disappearance" of Merrian Carver on the Celebrity Mercury cruise ship.

The death of cruise passenger Dianne Brimble.

The battle for safe cruises fought by Ken Carver and the International Cruise Victims organization.

The issue of crimes against children on cruise ships.

The disappearance of crew member Angelo Faliva.

We received a nice email from Ceara Riggs, the President f Stetson's Maritime Law Society, while we were driving back to Miami:

"Thank you very much for driving all the way from Miami to speak at our meeting this afternoon! You had many interesting stories to share and your experiences really seemed to engage and captivate everyone in attendance.

It was very insightful to hear that even though we’re only law students, we can start making a difference.

It was especially beneficial to hear from Caitlin, as well, because she could share her own experiences and how she tries to make a difference in this industry. Thank you again and we hope you will be able to visit our campus again in the future!"

Thank you Stetson Law for inviting us! We will be back . . .

Royal Caribbean Continues Shipping Relief Items to Labadee, Haiti - Is It Enough?

Jim Walker — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:59:11 -0500

Syracuse New York local news station Channel 10's "Travel with Val" takes a look at Royal Caribbean's controversial decision to continue sailing to its "private resort" of Labadee, Haiti.

While the cruise line is shipping pallets of food and supplies to Labadee and committed $1 million from its net proceeds, is this enough from a corporation which grosses over $6 billion and pays no taxes?

We have written many articles on the relationship between Labadee and Royal Caribbean.

Credits:

Video Syracuse New York local news station Channel 10's "Travel with Val"

CruiseLaw Meets LexBlog

Jim Walker — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:27:24 -0500

Last week I met Kevin O'Keefe. Kevin is the genius behind LexBlog which designs and creates law blogs and supports legal bloggers like myself. If you like the design and functionality of this blog, thank Kevin. His team designed it.

Kevin's company also runs LexMonitor, the best round-up of legal blogs around, as well as LexTweet which tracks lawyers who use Twitter. Kevin also has an award winning blog "Real Lawyers Have Blogs" which is something every ahead-of-the-curve-lawyer should read.

Kevin was in Miami speaking at a convention and announced an-after-hours "beer for bloggers" get together at Tobacco Road via his blog and Twitter page. For those of you not familiar with Miami, Tobacco Road is the oldest bar in Miami, with liquor license no. 001, and a relaxing place to hang out.

It was a nice time. Some of the lawyers drove for a couple of hours to Miami to make it.

Legal marketing expert Paula Black, virtual law firm DirectLaw entrepreneur Richard Granat, international business lawyer Santiago Cuerto, estate planning lawyer David Shulman, business lawyer and Gulf War hero Juan Antúnez, and criminal defense lawyer and super-blogger Brian Tannenbaum all showed up.

Kevin is an inspiring story. He was a real life lawyer and trial attorney in rural Wisconsin and then created Prairie Law (which he sold to Lexis). He hit his stride by moving to Seattle to create his LexBlog success. His company supports something like 3,000 law firms, from blogging law students to solo lawyers to the Am Law 200 big law firms. LexBlog is an impressive network and helps small law firms like mine be the proverbial big fish in the small pond.

I remember last year when I was searching for a company to host my blog. I emailed and then spoke to the people at LexBlog. I thought that I was interviewing them to see if they were going to meet my blog requirements. Half-way through the 30 minute conversation, I realized that they were interviewing me to see if I met their criteria.

There are a lot of top notch blogs and lawyers on the LexBlog platform - like Bill Marler's Blog which has expanded to include the NoroBlog and the Food Poison Journal which have touched upon cruise ship norovirus outbreaks.

My first blog on Lexblog was on September 10th last year. Things started slowly. Maybe only 20 or 30 people a day stumbled on to my blog, probably by accident. But I'm now 171 days and 173 blogs down the road (who's counting?) Last week alone, over 14,000 different people viewed over 25,000 pages on this little blog. Not bad.

More importantly, the blog has been cited in national law journals, local newspapers in Florida, and news sources in Europe and the Caribbean.

Thanks LexBlog. And next time I'll buy the beer at Tobacco Road.

To see what other lawyers are saying about Kevin and LexBlog, consider reading "God Bless Mrs. O'Keefe" (pretty funny) by a South Carolina trial lawyer, David Swanner.

Credits:

Tobacco Road Kevin O'Keefe

Can Sick Cruise Ships Cause Norovirus Outbreaks in Ports?

Jim Walker — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 10:48:21 -0500

A headline in the NoroBlog intrigued me - "Cruise Ships Causing Norovirus Outbreaks in Ports?" - indicating that norovirus is "often associated with cruise ship sickness." The article also raises the question whether cruise ships can infect the local port communities.

The cruise industry's PR people have been fighting the connection between norovirus and "cruise ship sickness" for many years.

Last week the cruise industry's trade organization, Cruise Line International Association (CLIA), wrote a letter to the Daytona Beach News Journal complaining that a writer made a connection between the virus and cruise ships and concluded that this is an illness that happens "often" on cruise ships.

CLIA's letter to the editor stated: "the overwhelming majority of norovirus outbreaks take place at land-based locations, such as schools, day care centers, hospitals and nursing homes." The one comment to the letter, from a passenger on the norovirus infected Queen Victoria cruise ships, dismissed the letter as "more cover-up from the cruise spokes people."

CLIA has made the "its-a-lot-worse-ashore" argument before. But arguing that it has a better record than day care centers and nursing homes seems counter-productive to the cruise line's image. Of course day care centers with a million kids who have not mastered the art of going to the toilet and washing their hands and then wipe their runny noses all over the toys are going to be a hotbed of viruses. And anyone entering a nursing home filled with incontinent geriatrics can instantly smell feces entering the facility.

The Food Poison Journal (affiliated with the Noroblog) reports that "outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness, and norovirus in particular, are not new to the cruise industry. In fact, the phenomenon prompted the CDC to create and oversee a "vessel sanitation program (VSP)."

Arguing against the label "cruise ship sickness" is a waste of time. The real debate should be whether sick cruise ships pose a health hazard to the local port communities.

In the past six weeks, the United States considered blocking the arrival of the Queen Victoria because of a norovirus outbreak - U.S. to Block Arrival of Queen Victoria After Norovirus Outbreak? - and a week earlier the U.K. considered impounding the Balmoral cruise ship because of a similar outbreak - "Cursed Cruise Ship" Balmoral At Risk of Being Impounded As Hundreds More Suffer Vomiting Bug.

The South Carolina Post and Courier ran an interesting article "Norovirus Confirmed Aboard Mercury" which reported on the concern that the Celebrity Mercury cruise ship - with over 400 norovirus infected passengers - could infect people living in Charleston.

The newspaper reports that Katie Zimmerman, a project manager with the Coastal Conservation League, received frantic calls and e-mails from residents concerned not only about infected passengers entering the city but also about trash from the ship entering local waters.

Cruise ships like the Mercury can dump completely untreated sewage 12 miles offshore. Although the article concludes that waste from the Mercury poses no risk to marine life or people who eat local seafood, there is a risk of contaminated water infecting shellfish which filter-feed.

In this day and age, it is barbaric to think that hundreds of CLIA cruise ships routinely dump human waste into the sea. Cruise lines dump waste because they register their cruise ships outside of U.S. jurisdiction in places like Liberia and Panama which don't care what the cruise lines do.

The thought of a cruise ship like the Mercury dumping hundreds of thousands of gallons of norovirus infected feces just 12 miles offshore South Carolina is particularly disgusting.

Even the worst run child care facilities and nursing homes don't do that.

Credits:

Sick cruise passenger Bill Mahler's Food Poison Blog

Cruise Cleaners Telegraph.co.uk "Cruises: Norovirus Questions & Answers"