FDA Warns American Cruise Lines of Legionnaires’ Cases Onboard
FDA Warns American Cruise Lines of Legionnaires’ Cases Onboard By Delgado Trial Attorneys The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning after multiple
Miami Cruise Ship Injury lawyer
Virgin Voyages global headquarters is located in the South Florida suburb of Plantation and is the newest major player to enter the global cruise industry. Like the majority of its industry competitors, Virgin Voyages also requires that all accident cases be filed and litigated in the federal courts of the Southern District of Florida in Miami, Florida. Have you been injured while on a Virgin Voyages cruise ship? At Delgado Trial Attorneys, we have been fighting for the rights of injured cruise ship passengers and their families for over 50 years.
Virgin Voyages is a company based in Plantation, Florida, owned by businessman, Richard Branson and his business partners. Legally, it is a joint venture between Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Bain Capital. Currently there is only one ship in the Virgin fleet but it has an additional three ships on order expected to begin sailing in 2022, 2023 and 2024, respectively.
Branson created Virgin Voyages to offer luxury cruises catered towards the adult crowd. The cruise vacation packages offered currently through Virgin Voyages are only for adults, offering parents and travelers the opportunity to travel in luxury on the open seas kid-free.
Virgin Voyages’ fleet includes the following vessels with a fourth vessel anticipated to debut in 2023:
Virgin has designated Miami as the year-round home port for the Scarlet Lady. She flies a Bahamian flag as will all three of the currently named ships. Valiant Lady will call Miami its home in the winter and will alternate with her summer home Barcelona, Spain. Resilient Lady, the third vessel in the fleet will enter service in August 2022 and will call San Juan, Puerto Rico its winter home and the Port of Piraeus in Athens, Greece its summer residence.
Accidents happen. They are not always caused by someone else’s negligence. However, it is also true that evidence of a third party’s negligence will often require an investigation to determined with any certainty. Cruise lines have their onboard security officers investigate accidents to determine the cause moments after they learn a guest was injured onboard. If it is important enough for them to investigate the incident, why wouldn’t you?
Above all else, you have a right to know. You also have a right to compensation if you can prove someone else was at fault. That’s why, if you were hurt aboard a ship or in a foreign port of call on a shore excursion, you should look into what caused the accident. In fact, that is part of the service our cruise ship accident lawyers offer to all of the clients we agree to represent. This ensures each client is given the best chances of success based on the merits of their respective cases.
Investigations allow an experienced cruise ship accident lawyer to determine when an accident is just an accident or whether it was caused by another’s negligence. Without a doubt, knowing the difference is critical to successfully making a cruise ship passenger injury claim against cruise lines like Virgin Voyages.
Cruise lines are responsible for passenger injuries that occur both on and off the ship. Passengers who are injured while on a Virgin Voyages ship, tender, or in port should seek immediate medical attention for their injuries and should promptly report the incident. Many times, cruise lines count on passengers not reporting, and they will use the defense of “lack of reported incident” to fight a claim that is later filed.
Some of the most common accidents that occur on cruise ships include:
Major cruise lines, like Virgin Voyages ordinarily owe their passengers a duty of reasonable care. This duty of care includes: (1) providing a reasonable amount of security against physical harm, including criminal activity and assault; and (2) they must ensure that the ship and the equipment are in reasonable working condition, and its crew, are adequately trained to perform their assigned tasks respectfully.
Cruise lines can be negligent for accidents and passenger injuries that occur both on board and on shore in a foreign port of call. If you have been injured while traveling on a Virgin Voyages cruise ship, Delgado Trial Attorneys is committed to holding the cruise line accountable for your injuries. In fact, we urge anyone who has been involved in an accident during a cruise to consult with an experienced cruise ship injury lawyer before the time periods in the ticket contracts run out.
Important evidence such as the identity of crewmember witnesses, CCTV footage of the incident, data on marine and oceanographic conditions including wind speeds and wave height, and the frequency of ships being refurbished in dry dock renovations can limit the amount of evidence as more time passes after the incident.
Typically, some of the the most common cases on oceangoing vessels like the cruise ships in the Virgin Voyages fleet involve people who have slipped or tripped and fallen on the ship on staircases, open decks exposed to the weather like the sun decks, around the swimming pools, even in their cabins and the buffet lines. Getting hurt onboard a ship is often very expensive and medical bills can tally into the six figures, in addition to past and future lost wages. They also lose the value of their vacation and endure months or even years of pain and suffering.
Injuries sustained on a cruise ship, must be thoroughly documented. Immediately after the accident occurs, doing the following can help maximize your recovery:
The Miami-based cruise ship accident attorneys at Delgado Trial Attorneys possess a skill set that few other maritime attorneys can claim. Specifically, their diverse professional experience including Raul G. Delgado II’s extensive experience defending insurance companies and the major cruise lines and preparing their trial strategies for years before beginning to represent accident victims in Florida and cruise ship passengers and crew members injured because of negligence. Coupled with Raul G. Delgado’s 44 years of personal injury experience fighting on behalf of injured accident victims throughout Florida, Delgado Trial Attorneys offers a combination of experience in all types of cruise ship personal injuries unlike any of their competitors.
This diverse experience allows our attorneys to effectively strategize and advocate for every client we represent. We have handled all types of cruise ship passenger accidents over the years with a focus on slip, trip and falls, medical malpractice, FlowRider accidents, sexual assaults, Death on the High Seas, and more. Contact our law firm today for a free case evaluation. Virtual sign-ups available.
FDA Warns American Cruise Lines of Legionnaires’ Cases Onboard By Delgado Trial Attorneys The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning after multiple
FBI Opens Investigation Following ‘Suspicious’ Death of Carnival Cruise Passenger By Delgado Trial Attorneys The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating what has been
Not Again! Carnival Magic accused of discharging waste while calling in Grand Turk By Delgado Trial Attorneys As the old saying goes, “the more things
Why crime on the high seas affects us all Crime and exploitation at sea may seem like a distant problem but it hits closer to