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Miami Cruise Ship Lawyer
Miami Cruise Ship Injury Attorneys
If you are injured on a cruise ship that embarked or disembarked from Miami, Florida you need help from experienced lawyers. At Gerson & Schwartz, PA our Miami cruise ship attorneys help injured cruise passengers and crew members worldwide. It's important to know that if you were injured in a cruise ship accident from Miami, Florida, or anywhere else, time is working against you. Statutes of limitations are shorter than state law claims. Injured passengers typically have only one year from the date of the incident to file a lawsuit. Cruise lines also require written notice of your claim within six months. Failure to comply with these deadlines will result in your claim being time-barred. Therefore, it is important to contact attorneys with experience litigating against major cruise lines like Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Celebrity, and Norwegian to protect you.
Gerson & Schwartz is widely recognized as one of the nation's top cruise ship injury law firms in the United States. Founded by Philip M. Gerson in 1970, the firm has more than 100 years of collective experience representing accident, serious injury, rape, and sexual assault victims at sea. Our firm sets itself apart from many other law firms and has tried over 350 jury trials to verdict. Our lawyers have also recovered hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of injured passengers and crew against major cruise lines, including Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean International, Norwegian Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, Celebrity, Virgin, and Princess Cruises. If a fair settlement offer is not made, we won't hesitate to bring your case to trial. Your case claim will be handled quickly if we are hired to be your cruise ship attorneys.
Our firm's efforts have been recognized with distinction, supported by prestigious peer-reviewed honors and lawyer publications, including “Best Law Firms” by U.S. News & World Report for admiralty and maritime law and personal injury. Our attorneys are also consistently recognized by “Best Lawyers in America” and Super Lawyers and hold an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell and a perfect 10.0 rating on Justia.
Our firm's track record of success and client satisfaction is reflected in numerous 5-star Google reviews. Our client testimonials highlight the dedication and trust clients place in us when injured or harmed by cruise line operators. Our Miami cruise ship injury lawyers have helped seriously injured passengers and crew members in virtually every scenario. We hire leading experts in engineering, human factors, maritime safety, and other technical specialties. With headquarters located in Miami, Florida, just minutes from the Port of Miami, Florida allows us to conduct prompt investigations, vessel inspections, and gather important evidence to prove our client's cases in the courtroom.
Miami, Florida is The Cruise Ship Capital of the WorldPortMiami is widely recognized as one of the world’s busiest cruise ports and is the major hub for the global cruise industry. Miami, Florida, serves as the headquarters for many of the world’s leading cruise lines, including Carnival Cruise Lines, Virgin Voyages, Princess Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, Norwegian Cruise Line, Margaritaville, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, and others.
Other cruise lines operating itineraries from Miami, Florida include MSC Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, Azamara Cruises, Crystal Cruises, P&O Cruises, and Costa Cruises, making Miami as one of the premier departure points for Caribbean and most international cruise voyages.
Port Miami set yet another world record for the number of sailing passengers. For example, in 2025, Port Miami set an all-time record with more than 8,564 million cruise passengers. Year-to-year growth was over 4% which is more than any other port in the world. With nearly 8 million passengers, it explains why Port Miami is known as the “Cruise Capital of the World." While some cruise injuries are accidental, many are preventable too. When cruise lines and their employees are negligent, our lawyers are here to help.
Our cruise ship injury attorneys in Miami, Florida, help innocent passengers and hold cruise lines legally and financially accountable. Our goal is the same in every case. To find the truth and hold cruise lines accountable in the courtroom to promote safety for future cruise passengers.
An Overview of the Law: Cruise Ship Liability for Accidents & Injuries at Sea
Under general maritime law of the United States, cruise lines are required to act with reasonable care under the circumstances. But what is reasonable or the circumstances are not always clear. Of course, reasonable care includes cleaning up spills, warning about wet or slippery floors, replacing worn-out carpet on steps, correcting dangerous conditions, providing safety and security for the protection of passengers, and correcting other types of hazardous conditions.
Other examples our Miami cruise injury attorneys have direct experience in include claims for rape and sexual assault; negligent acts by crew members, slip and fall accidents, failing to provide routine maintenance and inspections of shipboard equipment, automatic door malfunction claims, flowrider accidents, excrusion accidents, water slide crashes, gangway accidents, and failing to repair or replace defective ship equipment. If the cruise line knew or should have known about a danger or a risk of harm, the general maritime law of the United States requires them to undertake corrective actions or other preventive measures and or to provide warnings to help you protect yourself from what they know.
When cruise ship operators are negligent, they are legally required to pay monetary damages as financial compensation for their negligence. Compensation includes money damages for pain and suffering, past and future medical bills and expenses, wage loss, loss of earning capacity, scarring, disfigurement, and emotional and psychological harm. Over the years our cruise injury lawyers have successfully handled lawsuits and claims against every major cruise line in Miami, Florida, and ports of call worldwide.
Common Cruise Ships That Sail From Port of Miami
- Carnival Breeze
- Carnival Magic
- Carnival Ecstasy
- Carnival Fantasy
- Carnival Glory
- Carnival Horizon
- Carnival Celebration
- Carnival Firenze
- Carnival Sensation
- Carnival Splendor
- Carnival Victory
- Carnival Vista
- Empress of the Seas
- Enchantment of the Seas
- Majesty of the Seas
- Navigator of the Seas
- Symphony of the Seas
- Independence of the Seas
- Wonder of the Seas
- Norwegian Escape
- Norwegian Epic
- Norwegian Getaway
- Norwegian Jade
- Norwegian Jewel
- Norwegian Pearl
- Norwegian Sky
- Celebrity Reflection
- Celebrity Infinity
- Celebrity Eclipse
- MSC Divina
- Disney Magic
- Disney Wonder
- Seven Seas Explorer
- Seven Seas Mariner
- Seven Seas Navigator
- Oceania Insignia
- Oceania Riviera
- Oceania Regatta
- Oceania Sirena
Cruise ships are essentially floating cities, carrying thousands of passengers and crew on each voyage. Today, some vessels accommodate more than 6,500 passengers. Every year, cruise lines continue to introduce larger ships with increasingly dangerous attractions, including rock climbing walls, steep water slides, simulated surfing, bumper cars, ice-skating rinks, and roller coasters. Even the synthetic floor surfaces they use on open decks can become dangerously slippery or reach temperatures in excess of 120 degrees, causing severe burn injuries.
While cruise lines market these vessels as safe vacation environments, the massive size and scale and evolving ship designs present new safety challenges and unique risks of harm. Larger ships, newer attractions, and synthetic flooring can increase maintenance demands, wear and tear, crowd control issues, and dangerous conditions that passengers may not typically encounter on land. These hazards can be even more serious at sea, where immediate medical care, emergency response, and corrective maintenance may be limited. Cruise ship voyages and their profits are based on turning the ship and getting ready for the next voyage. Unfortunately, every year cruise lines are faced with unique safety challenges that they don't want you to know before it's too late.
Cruise Ships Present Unique Safety ChallengesThe notion that you're safer at sea than you are on land is a myth. While cruise ships can be enjoyed safely, there are also many hazards that passengers don't realize until it's too late. There are no police on a cruise ship. The cruise line's employees' loyalty is to the cruise line. When passengers cross the gangway onto the vessel, many don't realize they are no longer subject to the same legal protections or access to information and care you expect if you were injured on land. Medical facilities and resources are limited. Security presence is also not what passengers are led to believe.
What Makes Miami Cruise Ships Different Than Land-Based Injury ClaimsPassengers have serious injuries from slippery floors, defective or poorly designed drainage systems, inadequate maintenance, negligent repairs, poorly maintained equipment, defective stair nosing, failure to utilize non-skid or anti-slip materials on staircases, inadequate handrails, tripping hazards, and the lack of proper warnings or safety signage. Injuries may also result from dangerous shipboard attractions and activities, including water slides, FlowRider surf simulators, ropes courses, rock-climbing walls, ice skating rinks, and other onboard recreational features that require proper supervision and maintenance.
In other cases, passengers may become victims of negligent security, including sexual assault or other criminal acts committed by crew members or fellow passengers. Many cruise ship injuries ultimately result from inadequate supervision, understaffing, poor safety practices, or carelessness by ship personnel.
At Gerson & Schwartz, our lawyers in Miami are here to help seriously injured passengers and crew across the nation, including vessels that depart or arrive in Miami, regardless of whether your vessel disembarked in or out of Miami, Florida, or another port of call.
How Miami Cruise Ship Accident and Injury Claims Cases Are DifferentCruise ship injury claims are very different from typical land-based injury claim cases. Shortened deadlines to file a lawsuit, forum selection clauses, application of maritime law, and the fine print in cruise ticket contracts often require personal injury lawsuits to be filed only in federal court in Miami. That means if you are an injured cruise passenger from New York, California, Nebraska, or Chicago, your local lawyer can't help you. You need an experienced cruise ship accident lawyer in Miami to protect your legal rights.
Jurisdictional issues add another layer of legal complexity. Injuries in international waters or foreign ports that involve foreign-flagged vessels can raise questions about what laws and rules apply. In most injury cases, most cruise lines require passengers to file suit exclusively in federal court in Miami, Florida, regardless of where the passenger resides or where the vessel departed. Cruise ship personal injury claims are based on the general maritime law as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court and lower federal courts.
Though most major cruise line cases must be litigated exclusively in federal court in Miami, some exceptions may apply. Examples may be based on the cruise itinerary, whether the vessel touches a US port, if the claim involves a US passenger, and what cruise line is involved. There are also some exceptions for minor children that don't apply to adults. For these reasons, it is essential to contact an experienced lawyer to understand your legal rights and remedies.
Likewise, claims involving shore excursions or third-party operators require knowledge and careful legal analysis. Sometimes foreign legal systems and coordination with international counsel may be required. Beyond jurisdictional issues and strict deadlines, cruise lines often attempt to limit liability through shipboard waivers before participating in onboard activities and, in some cases, shore excursions. Though shipboard waivers are typically unenforceable under general maritime law, some waivers by excursion operators may be.
Knowing how to successfully challenge these blanket waivers requires a deep understanding of maritime law and legal and business relationships between the cruise line and shore excursion operators and other third parties. At Gerson & Schwartz, our lawyers have the experience needed to evaluate these complex legal issues.
Miami Cruise Ship AttorneysAt Gerson & Schwartz, our Miami cruise ship accident lawyers have the necessary experience to represent the injured in:
- Rape and Sexual Assaults
- Slip, Trip and Fall Accidents
- Passenger Accidents
- Rape or Sexual Molestation
- Wrongful Death
- Gangway Accidents on Cruise Ships
- Criminal Acts by Crew Members
- Crew Member Injuries
- Excursion Accidents
- Crimes At Sea
- Missing Persons
Cruise lines and their team of lawyers are highly experienced in defending claims. They often delay, deny, or attempt to minimize passenger injuries. Without skilled legal representation, you risk losing critical evidence or missing important deadlines. At Gerson & Schwartz, our cruise ship accident attorneys know how cruise lines defend themselves and, more importantly, how to fight back too. Our lawyers have the experience necessary to build our cases in compelling fashion. Our message is powerful and effective.
How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Miami Cruise Ship Lawyer?
Our firm handles all cruise injury cases on a contingency fee basis. That means you only pay us if we win. There are also no costs to get started. Our lawyers know the questions to ask and how to find the answers to. Thought the cruise lines may fight we have the knowledge, training, and resources we do too.
How Cruise Ship Accident Cases in Miami, Florida Are Different from State Law ClaimsCruise ship injury claims are not handled like typical land-based personal injury cases. Claims involve general maritime law, federal statutes, international treaties, and, in some cases, foreign laws and contractual provisions contained in your passenger ticket often called the “contract of carriage.” These contracts routinely impose strict limitations, including a requirement to provide written notice of your claim within as little as six months and to file a lawsuit within one year. Missing these deadlines, especially if the incident was not properly documented onboard, will permanently bar your claim.
Jurisdiction is also more complex. Even if you live in another state or a foreign country, you will be required to file a lawsuit based on the venue clause, which is typically federal court in Miami, Florida. Cruise lines include forum-selection clauses in the ticket contracts to limit where lawsuits may be filed purposefully to make it more difficult for passengers to sue them. Strict compliance with these legally enforceable agreements will significantly affect your legal rights if not followed. This is despite the fact you may have never fully reviewed or were never physically given a copy of the contract because many cruise lines now provide only online terms and conditions.
Our cruise ship attorneys investigate critical legal and factual issues in every case. Common issues we investigate include whether the cruise line knew of a dangerous condition, whether safety procedures were followed, and whether surveillance footage and incident reports were preserved. Our lawyers also look into whether the vessel complied with maritime safety standards and whether the cruise line failed to properly maintain, inspect, supervise, warn, or secure the area where the injury occurred.
Examples our cruise ship attorneys in Miami, Florida, investigate include whether the cruise line:
- Failed to maintain a particular area on the ship safely
- Failed to follow recognized safe practices and safety policies
- Failed to recognized industry standards
- Failed to warn about a known dangerous condition or specific hazard
- Were they aware of prior similar incidents or complaints over a number of years
- Did they maintain the ship and/or equipment and fixtures in good working order
- Did they conduct routine inspections to ensure the vessel and equipment was safe and in good working order
- Did the cruise line repair or replace equipment and flooring
- Did the cruise line or vessel comply with manufacturer and maintenance reqruiemnts/protocols
Under general maritime law, cruise lines owe passengers a duty to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances. What is reasonable depends on a fact-intensive analysis of many variables.Liability may arise if it can be proven that there was a breach of care to maintain the vessel in safe condition, correct dangerous conditions, and warn about known dangers. Failing to train crewmembers and conducting criminal background checks of crew members and passengers all fall within the duty of care. Cruise lines are also required to inspect and repair equipment and adopt and enforce appropriate safety and security measures for the safety of passengers.
Liability may arise from the actions of crew members at every level, from housekeeping and maintenance staff to security personnel. In many cases, the cruise line may also be held responsible for intentional conduct or even criminal acts of crew members under principles of vicarious or strict liability. Many serious injuries occur due to preventable conditions such as slippery flooring, defective equipment, inadequate maintenance, poor supervision, or dangerous shipboard activities that were not properly vetted for safety.
Your Case Can Expire: Read Your Cruise Passenger Ticket ContractYour passenger ticket contracts will usually require the following:
- Written notice of a claim within as little as six months
- Filing a lawsuit within one year (exceptions may apply to minors)
- Filing the case in federal court in Miami, Florida, regardless of where you live or the port of call the vessel departed.
Missing these deadlines will permanently bar your legal claim.
Common Cruise Ship Accidents and Injury ClaimsOur common types of cases our Miami cruise ship attorneys represent clients in serious and catastrophic injury cases include.
- Slip and fall accidents (wet decks, pool areas, stairways)
- Cruise Ship Rape and Sexual Assault by Crew Members
- Rape and Sexual Assault by Passengers
- Trip and fall hazards (thresholds, uneven flooring)
- Gangway and embarkation injuries
- Negligent security and criminal acts
- Medical malpractice onboard
- Flowrider accidents
- Water Slide Crashes
- Hot Decks and Floor Surfaces
- Shore Excursion accidents
- Drowning and Wrongful death
- Defective equipment and unsafe conditions
- Crew member injuries (Jones Act claims)
These incidents often occur in high-traffic areas such as open decks, restaurants, and gangways, or during ship-sponsored activities that present hidden risks.
How Cruise Line Negligence Is ProvenNegligence may be established if the cruise line:
- Employee acts carelessly and carelessness causing an injury to a passenger
- The cruise line knew or should have known about a danger or a particular risk of harm
- Failed to maintain or take corrective action on the ship or an area to make it safe
- Failed to warn about a known danger, hazardous condition or risk of harm
- Evidence of negligence may include, failing to take corrective despite prior incidents
- Ignoring complaints of prior similar accidents or incidents.
- Failed to follow safety policies or industry standards
Cruise injury victims are entitled to recover damages for medical expenses, lost income, loss of earning capacity, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and permanent injuries such as scarring or disfigurement and inability to lead a normal life. Our firm handles these cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning there are no attorneys' fees unless we recover compensation on your behalf. There are also no upfront costs to get started.
Our lawyers have spent decades representing injured passengers and crew members in catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases against major cruise lines such as Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, and Norwegian Cruise Line. We understand how these corporations defend claims and how to build cases in order to hold them legally and financially accountable.
Types of Compensation for Cruise Ship Injury VictimsInjured passengers and crew members may be entitled to compensation for:
- Medical bills and expenses (past and future)
- Lost wages and loss of earning capacity
- Pain and suffering in the past and future
- Emotional and psychological harm
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Inability to lead a normal life.
Cruise lines and their insurers are highly experienced in defending these cases. They often delay, deny, or attempt to minimize claims. Without skilled legal representation, you risk losing critical evidence or missing important deadlines.
Our attorneys understand cruise line defense strategies and have the experience necessary to build strong cases and take them to trial when necessary. Our firm handles all cases on a contingency fee basis; there are no attorneys' fees unless we win.
What to Do If You Are Injured on a Cruise- Report the incident immediately and request a written report
- Seek medical care onboard and do not refuse treatment
- Take photos and videos of the scene
- Identify witnesses and crew members
- Preserve evidence such as footwear
- Seek medical care again once home
- Contact a cruise ship injury lawyer immediately
Even if you do not live in Florida, your case may still need to be filed in Miami. Our firm represents clients across the United States and internationally and works with experts and co-counsel around the world when necessary.
Gerson & Schwartz lawyers are located near the Port of Miami and Port Everglades and handle cases throughout Florida and nationwide.
Act Now Before Your Claim Is Time-BarredCruise lines and their insurers are not on your side. In many cases, they delay and stall in an effort to run out the clock on your claim. Because of shortened statutes of limitations and strict notice requirements, waiting too long can destroy your ability to recover compensation. Acting quickly allows your legal team to investigate the facts, secure critical evidence, and position your case for success. If you or a loved one has been injured on a cruise, do not delay. Contact an experienced Miami cruise ship injury lawyer to protect your rights and begin the process immediately. Cruise lines often delay in hopes that victims miss strict filing deadlines. These deadlines are much shorter than typical personal injury cases. If you wait too long, your claim may be permanently barred.
Speak With a Miami Cruise Ship Injury Lawyer TodayIf you or a loved one has been injured on a cruise ship, do not wait. Time is working against you. The Miami, Florida cruise ship accident injury lawyers at Gerson & Schwartz, PA, are willing and able to represent you and your family in Florida state court as well as in federal courts. Our Miami cruise ship attorneys have developed strategic affiliations with other lawyers in nearly all jurisdictions. Our law firm regularly accepts referrals of cruise ship injury cases from other lawyers throughout the country.
Our Miami, Florida cruise ship injury law offices are located in Miami near the Port of Miami and close to Port Everglades in Broward County, Florida. Collectively, our lawyers have 100 years of experience handling cruise ship injury accidents, maritime claims, and wrongful death cases. All cases are handled through a contingent fee arrangement. This way there are no attorney fees until and unless we recover money for you. Contact us today for a free consultation at (877) 475-2905.
