Maritime Law Blog
Slip and fall accidents occur with regularity on cruise ships. One defense that all the major cruise lines assert in such claims is that they did not have the requisite notice that the deck was wet and slippery.
The Notice Defense
In slip and fall cases, the mere fact that an accident occurred or that the deck was slick dose not automatically make the cruise line liable for a passenger’s injuries. Where a deck becomes wet due to weather or spills caused by non-crewmembers, maritime law requires the injured plaintiff to prove that the cruise line either had notice of the risk-creating condition. Notice comes in two varieties, “actual” and “constructive” “Actual notice” is when the defendant knows of the risk-creating condition. “Constructive notice” is when it could be shown that the dangerous condition has existed for such a period of time that a reasonable shipowner would have known the condition was present. A recent case from the Southern District of Florida exemplifies how an injured passenger can prove a cruise line was on notice of a slippery deck.
In July 2010, Congress passed the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act (“CVSSA”); legislation designed to improve the security and safety of passengers aboard cruise ships. Under the CVSSA, vessels are required “to integrate technology that can be used for capturing images of passengers who have fallen overboard, to the extent that such technology is available.” Such requirements were to take effect 18 months after the date of the enactment of the CVSSA on or about January, 2012. To date it is clear that cruise lines have been resistant to implementing man overboard systems. Since the enactment of the CVSSA, there have been approximately 143 persons reported to have fallen overboard from cruise ships. In 2017 alone, there have been 11 reported cases.
A 71-year-old woman slipped onboard the Carnival Ecstasy sustaining a head injury that required her to be medevaced. The U.S. Coast Guard deployed a helicopter to assist in her medical evacuation. The vessel was 75 miles off the Florida coast at the time and on its return to its home port of Charleston.
The 
This case concerns a passenger who participated in a seven-day cruise aboard the Royal Caribbean 
Authorities are reporting a 74-year-old passenger on-board MSC Divina is missing and presumed overboard. The man’s disappearance comes just days after a 22-year-old man and a 74-year-old woman went overboard the Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas and the Queen Mary 2, respectively.
A British passenger traveling on board the P&O Cruises ship Azura was killed last Wednesday as a result of a collision involving a bus operated by a shore excursion provider in the island of Dominica. Nine other passengers of the twelve passengers traveling on the bus were also injured as a result of the accident. They were treated at local hospitals and most have been discharged since. The cause of the accident is not yet known.
The Coast Guard is reporting it medevaced a 43-year-old man Tuesday off the