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The cruise ship port of Seattle is located in the Pacific Northwest of the United States near the Washington State Forest, mountains, and the beautiful waters of Puget Sound. Seattle is the gateway cruise port for cruises that visit Alaska and Canada. This incredible city is also home to the very first Starbucks, which happens to be located near the cruise ship port at the Pike Place Market in the downtown area of Seattle.
There are two major terminals for cruise ships in Seattle. One the Bell Street Cruise Terminal which is called the terminal at Pier 66 and the second is named Smith Cove Cruise Terminal at Pier 91. The Port of Seattle currently serves eight major cruise lines and offers multiple ships for Alaskan adventures.
Carnival Cruise Line offers Alaskan cruises from the Port of Seattle on the Carnival Splendor and the Carnival Spirit.
Celebrity Cruises offers Alaskan cruises from the Port of Seattle on the Celebrity Millennium and the Celebrity Solstice.
Princess Cruises offers cruises from the Port of Seattle to Alaska on the Crown Princess and the Discovery Princess.
Holland America offers cruises from the Port of Seattle to Alaska and on the Holland America Eurodam and the Holland America Westerdam.
Norwegian Cruise Line offers cruises to Alaska from the Port of Seattle on the Norwegian Encore, the Norwegian Jewel, The Norwegian Spirit, and the Norwegian Sun.
Oceania offers cruises to Alaska from the Port of Seattle on the Oceania Regatta.
Royal Caribbean offers cruises to Alaska from the Port of Seattle on the Quantum of the Seas and the Ovation of the Seas.
Most cruise lines that operate out of Seattle like Norwegian and Carnival and Royal Caribbean Cruises are headquartered in Miami, Florida. Meaning they require that any claim against them be litigated not in Seattle or Alaska or wherever the accident may have occurred from a cruise leaving from Seattle but in the United States Federal District Courthouse in Miami, Florida.
So for example, if someone were to get injured in the port of Skagway, Alaska on an Alaskan cruise that left from Seattle, the cruise line would be sued in Miami, Florida. The typical kind of case that we investigated at our Miami cruise ship passenger injury Law Firm on cruises that leave from Seattle are slip and falls and trip and falls on wet and slippery floors and decks on cruise ships.
Slip and falls on cruise ships are very common because cruise lines utilize different types of surfaces for the flooring such as marble, tile, teak, and synthetic teak. These floors can become extraordinarily slippery and dangerous when wet. Most cruise ships are wet and humid the majority of the time because they’re out at sea, people are tracking pool water around the ship from wet and dripping bathing suits. In other words, slip and falls are a very common incident that occurs on cruises that come out of Seattle Washington.
In addition to the typical slip and falls on wet decks and down dark steep staircases, we also have helped people who have been hurt while participating in activities on cruise ships like zip lining, bumper cars, rock climbing, ice-skating, and Royal Caribbean’s FlowRider artificial surf machine.
The type of accident injuries that we see on Seattle cruises range from broken arms and legs, knee and ankle and shoulder injuries, spinal and neck injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and death.
Most cruise lines have functioning medical centers, oftentimes the injured passenger will require more care than the cruise ship’s medical team can provide. They are typically staffed by foreign-trained, and foreign licensed doctors and nurses.
They have some basic diagnostic tools such as the ability to do basic blood work or urine analysis and an X-ray. But anything more sophisticated than that such as a CT scan or MRI will have to be done at a Shoreside medical facility. For this reason, it is essential that the medical doctors on board the ship accurately and quickly diagnose somebody’s injury so that they can make arrangements as soon as possible to have the passenger seen Shoreside.
Sometimes, this requires that the passenger be medically disembarked from the ship either at sea or at a foreign port. We have had cases where the ship had to divert to another port to get closer to a Shoreside facility due to the critical nature of a passenger’s condition.
Emergency medical care for injured or sick passengers is not always the result of an accident. It is not uncommon for a passenger to experience a medical crisis while onboard a cruise ship. We haven’t investigated a number of cases where passengers have had heart attacks, strokes, aneurysms, and other medical emergencies.
If the medical team on the ship fails to accurately, adequately, and timely diagnose and treat a critical medical condition they could be responsible for medical malpractice. One of the most important things a medical doctor on a cruise ship needs to do before he or she transfers a patient to a shoreside facility is to make sure that the receiving facility can accept the cruise ship passenger.
We had many cases where passengers were simply dumped off in foreign countries without the ability to communicate or pay for medical care. We even once had a case where an American woman was dumped off by a cruise line in Mexico and had to take a taxi back to Los Angeles to get medical care.
For this reason alone we always recommend that our cruise ship passengers purchase emergency travel insurance that will compensate foreign medical providers as well as pay for your ambulances if needed. Additionally, most American health insurance will not be accepted in a foreign hospital or clinic.
The American College of Emergency Physicians provides the standards for how medical care for passengers on board cruise ships must be conducted. One of the first things that cruise ship doctors need to do is stabilize, diagnose and then provide therapy maneuvers for critically ill or medically unstable passengers. Sadly, this does not always happen.
If you or a loved one was mistreated by the cruise ship’s medical team it’s important to consult with an experienced maritime medical malpractice law firm. Our office in Miami has nearly 50 years of combined legal experience investigating medical malpractice cases against cruise lines and holding them accountable when they fail to provide adequate and reasonable medical care to their passengers.
Call today for a free legal consultation. We are available to help you understand your potential case and to protect your legal rights.
Unfortunately, rape and sexual assault is a crime that does occur with frightening frequency onboard cruises. Although they are rarely reported or investigated they can happen in situations of passenger on passenger crimes as well as passenger and crew or third-party vendors.
If a sexual assault occurs on a ship that visits US ports like Seattle, or any of the Alaskan ports, or involves a US citizen it must be reported and investigated by the FBI. Recently, Carnival Cruiseline was slammed with a $10 million jury verdict in a sexual assault, and rape case that was brought here in Miami’s Federal District Court. In that case, the passenger was raped by a crew member. After a week of testimony, the jury deliberated and returned a $10 million verdict for the young woman victim.
If you’ve been the victim of a sexual assault on a cruise caused by another passenger, a crew member, or by another individual on the ship, in Port, or during a shore excursion you must speak with an exexperienced sexual assault cruise ship lawyer as soon as possible in order to protect your legal rights. Cruise lines must make it available for any victim the ability to speak to a lawyer while still on the ship in a confidential manner. We are available 24/7 to assist you if you are the victim of sexual assault or rape on your cruise.
Seattle excursions are some of the most beautiful and exciting in the world. Typical cruises from Seattle stop at Juno, Skagway, Ketchikan, Sitka, and other ports.
Some of the best shore excursions include whale watching, dog sledding, helicopter flights, glacier tours, horseback riding adventures, zip lining, and much more. Our shore excursion injury lawyers strongly recommend that you purchase your shore excursions directly from the cruise line. While it may be slightly more expensive than purchasing them independently, there are many distinct advantages of buying them directly from the cruise line.
For example, if for some reason the shore excursion is delayed due to traffic, mechanical problems, or any incident the cruise ship will wait for you before leaving you behind. If you purchase the shore excursion independently of the cruise line, they will leave you behind and you’ll be responsible for either meeting the ship at the next port or finding your way home at your own expense.
Another very important advantage is that the cruise lines are supposed to conduct a level of “due diligence” on the shore excursions that they sell. In other words, they have a responsibility to inspect the operation of these excursions to make sure that they are reasonably safe under the circumstances. We have found that they very rarely do this, but they do have the legal responsibility to do this, and if they fail to do so, they can be held liable if something goes wrong.
Additionally, cruise lines that sell shore excursions on cruises from Seattle require that the shore excursion operators maintain sufficient liability insurance to compensate the passenger for the pain and suffering, lost time and money from work, medical expenses, loss of enjoyment of the cruise, and other damages they may suffer as a result of the shore excursions negligence.
If you have been injured on a shore excursion during your cruise from Seattle please contact our experienced shore excursion cruise ship accident lawyers. Our offices are located in Miami, Florida but we have investigated and successfully represented dozens of people from around the world who have been injured on cruises from Seattle and in particular on shore excursions throughout Alaska.
The port of Seattle is one of the leading cruise ship ports for environmental protection and traditionally ranks as one of the cleanest, greenest, and most energy-efficient cruise ship ports in the world. The port of Seattle has some of the lowest greenhouse gas emissions and diesel emissions of any port in the world.
In 2018 the state of Washington passed a law making Puget Sound a “no discharge zone“. This law applies to cruise lines and prohibits them from discharging sewage whether treated or not, into Puget Sound.
For over 10 years the Port of Seattle has partnered with the Port of Tacoma, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, and The Northwest Seaport Alliance to work to reduce air and greenhouse emissions through a program known as the “Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy.“ Seattle is a leader in clean energy strategies for cruise ships and cruise ports around the world and delivers nearly $900 million in annual business revenue to the region.
It is difficult to prove how and why an accident happened on a cruise ship. Most people just know they got hurt but don’t know how. The typical situation involves wet and slippery floors, decks, staircases, and other surfaces. We frequently perform what is called a “Ship Inspection“ where we go onboard the ships with experts in the field of engineering, architecture, and maintenance to determine how and why an accident occurred. We do specific types of testing of these floor surfaces to see just how slippery they are especially when wet. This is known as the “coefficient of friction”.
Our lawyers and experts travel around the world inspecting cruise ships every single week. If you’ve been injured on a ship due to a wet and slippery deck, steep staircase, or other unmarked obstacles such as a threshold- we have years of experience holding cruise lines accountable when they put their profits ahead of passenger safety.
You may be entitled to compensation for lost wages, medical expenses, and pain and suffering. We’re available 24/7 to help you evaluate your potential cruise accident claim. Call us today we’re ready to help.
Our lawyers work on cruise accident cases on a pure contingency-fee basis. In other words, we don’t get paid unless you do. There’s no fee unless we are successful in getting you money. With nearly 50 years of combined legal experience, Aronfeld Trial Lawyers is considered one of the preeminent law firms in the area of maritime law, and cruise ship injury cases.
Bear in mind that most major cruise lines require claims against them to be filed within one year of the date of the incident. Before a lawsuit can be filed against Norwegian cruise lines they have to be notified within 185 days of the incident in writing. Several other cruise lines have similar pre-suit notice requirements.
Not all accidents on cruise ships are cases. Sometimes people simply get hurt and it’s not the cruise line’s fault. Understanding the differences requires many years of experience and passion in the field of maritime accident injury law.
We are pleased to provide a free legal consultation, confidentially by telephone, Zoom, Google Meet, FaceTime, or Skype. Our lawyers are available to speak to you 24/7, we suggest you call us as soon as possible after your injury even if you’re still on your cruise.
We provide free initial legal consultations to anyone who may have had an accident on a cruise to or from Cozumel–or while in port. Not all injuries or claims are valid legal cases. However, we have over 50 years of combined legal experience helping people from around the world who have suffered a physical injury because of a cruise line’s putting its profits ahead of passenger safety. Call us today toll-free at 1-866-597-4529 or email us. We also provide consultations via SKYPE and Facetime. We encourage you to contact us even while still onboard the vessel–before you speak to a cruise line investigator or sign any document.
Miami-based Aronfeld Trial Lawyers was established by Board Certified Trial Lawyer, Spencer Aronfeld in 1991. The firm represents cases resulting in serious injuries in the areas of Defective Product Liability, Maritime Law, Automobile Accidents, Premises Liability, Cycling Accidents, Slip and Fall Incidents, Wrongful Death, Medical and Dental Malpractice, Civil Rights Claims, Workplace Injuries, Sexual Assault, and others. Every client receives the full benefit of our experience, our resources, and our commitment. The practice of personal injury law is our calling. We are a firm of high-profile, nationally recognized legal advocates who work for you, our client, never big business. All attorneys and staff members at the firm are bilingual speaking Spanish. To learn more, visit https://www.aronfeld.com/ or contact Aronfeld Trial Lawyers directly at (305) 441-0440.
Aronfeld Trial Lawyers is a firm of high-profile, nationally recognized legal advocates who work for you, our client, never big business. We represent cases resulting in serious injuries in the areas of Cruise Ship Injuries, Wrongful Death, Automobile Accidents, Cycling Accidents, Slip and Fall Incidents, Product Liability, Civil Rights Claims, Workplace Injuries, Maritime Law, Sexual Assault, Medical and Dental Malpractice, and others.
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