Dozens of Carnival Passengers Banned For Life After Massive Brawl Breaks Out In Cruise Terminal
A huge fight broke out in the Port of Galveston cruise terminal, as passengers were disembarking the Carnival Jubilee. The incident occurred on Saturday, April 26, and resulted in dozens of passengers being placed on Carnival’s “do not sail list.”
Video footage shows a group of passengers shoving past barriers inside Cruise Terminal 25, before pushing at least one person to the ground and punching them. The incident occurred in the debarkation area under the authority of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The brawl then expanded to additional areas of the disembarkation zone, even as security guards intervened.
This is not the first time a fight has erupted among Carnival passengers. In 2018, more than 20 passengers were kicked off the Carnival Legend after a violent fight broke out in Eden, Australia.
Why Are Fights Taking Place on Cruise Ships?
There is a combination of factors that make cruise ship fights as common and dangerous as they are. For one, cruise ships consistently overserve their passengers alcohol. Alcohol is easily one of the most profitable and financially imperative commodities on board cruises.
Massive cruise lines such as Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Lines, and even Disney Cruises market and provide packages for the consumption of alcohol on an extreme level, including unlimited drink packages with very few exceptions or procedures in place to prevent alcohol poisoning or excessive inebriation.
It goes without saying that combining crowds on a ship with an unlimited amount of alcohol can create dangerous situations; not only for those drinking but also those surrounding the alcohol such as children or other passengers.
Cruise ships are already unfamiliar environments for a sober mind to navigate safely: whether that is due to the wet surfaces, unusually dark and atypically designed rooms, the rockiness of the ship, or because of the amount of pedestrian traffic. Adding alcohol to the equation makes these obstacles significantly harder to overcome and has led to thousands of injuries, which our team of experienced attorneys have fought relentlessly for.
Another contributing factor for why cruise ships experience fights like the recent one on the Carnival Jubilee has to do with insufficient security. Most cruise lines lack enough security personnel, cameras, and other safety measures which many on land businesses are forced to maintain.
Injured While on a Cruise Ship?
Although you might want to fully relax and disconnect on your next cruise, you should also keep an eye out and stay alert for your own safety. Cruise lines are legally obligated to protect the passengers on or offboard their ships, however, this does not necessarily mean that if you suffer an injury, they must compensate you. Cruise lines in a trial, which are mostly heard in Miami, FL’s Federal Courthouse, must be at least 51 % at fault for your injury according to the jury, for you to even receive a settlement. Proving that percentage requires months of investigations, interviews, and legal dialogue between our team of plaintiff attorneys, the law firm representing the cruise line, and the federal judge appointed to the case. This long stretch of legal back and forth requires meticulous attention to the details of the case and a passionate team of lawyers willing to help the injured and overlooked client.
Our law firm has been successfully and vehemently advocating for the health, safety, and justice of injured passengers from around the world. If you have been injured on a cruise line, contact our offices today so we can begin the fight for you.
