Charleston Personal Injury Attorneys Discuss Incidents Concerning Carnival Cruise Line Passengers

Charleston Personal Injury Attorneys Discuss Incidents Concerning Carnival Cruise Line Passengers

These warm, summer months are a popular time for families and friends to get together and take a relaxing cruise. Your South Carolina boating and water accident attorneys have seen an influx cruise ships in the Charleston Harbor in recent years, as Charleston has become a regular sending off point for cruises heading down to the Caribbean.

While these trips are more often than not thoroughly enjoyable, there was a recent court ruling in favor of a plaintiff who suffered serious injuries after a slip and fall on a pool deck. The trial to determine damages was earlier this month, May 9th, and the Federal Judge entered the final judgement Friday, May 13th. The plaintiff in this case was awarded $2.998 million for the injuries she suffered on the pool side deck of the Carnival Pride.

The slip and fall accident happened back in August of 2009 and was caused by the Carnival Cruise Line, which had installed a resin surface on its ships pool decks. This surface is not ideal for a pool side as it is hard and slippery. According to the lawsuit, the Carnival Corporation knew this surface posed a threat to the Carnival Pride’s guests and passengers, as there had been a number of prior accidents on this same type of deck surface, not only on this vessel, but others as well. After discovery into this surface established these facts, the Carnival Corporation admitted liability.

The plaintiff in this case, as a result of the pool side slip and fall, suffered a fractured patella, or better known as the knee cap, and underwent six surgeries to repair the fracture. In the future, the plaintiff will need one, maybe two, total knee replacements.

In an unrelated incident, a Carnival Cruise Line passenger was killed and another seriously injured after a jet ski accident. The passenger killed was a 27-year-old Florida woman, and at the time of the accident there was a man, described as in his late 20s, also riding on the same watercraft. The man was injured and, as of the last reports, was still being treated at a hospital in the Bahamas.

At the time of the fatal accident, the two passengers were on a scheduled stop in Nassau, Bahamas from the Carnival Sensation. In a statement made by the Carnival Corporation it was noted that the jet ski involved in the accident was independently rented. Even though the jet ski was rented from an independent service in Nassau, and not from the cruise line, Carnival sent support staff to Nassau to aid the families of the two passengers involved.

According to reports, Nassau police are still investigating this unfortunate incident and have yet to release details into the events leading up to, and causing, the serious jet ski accident.

Just for informational purposes, the Bahamas rely heavily on the cruise ship industry and tourism, as it accounts for more than half of the country’s employed workforce and 60 percent of their GDP. But, in recent years, due to the Great Recession, tourists visiting the Bahamian Islands has dropped dramatically. It would be a shame for personal injury lawsuits involving accidents onboard and/or around cruise ships to further damper an industry the Bahamian economy primarily depends.