Cruise Ship Accident Lawyers

The Accidents We Handle

Most of what we see falls into a handful of patterns: a fall on a wet pool deck or a slick stairwell, a norovirus outbreak that spreads through a ship's shared spaces, a missed diagnosis or delayed response from the ship's medical staff, an assault by another passenger or crew member, or an injury during a shore excursion the cruise line sold or endorsed. Falls overboard and drownings are rarer, but they're some of the most serious cases we take on.

If what happened to you doesn't match any of these exactly, tell us anyway. We'll tell you honestly whether you have a claim.

Your Ticket Has Deadlines Built to Work Against You

Buried in the fine print of almost every cruise ticket is a set of terms most passengers never read until they need them. Federal law lets cruise lines shorten the normal window for an injury lawsuit down to as little as one year, and require written notice of your injury within six months of it happening — sometimes even less. Miss either deadline, and it usually doesn't matter how strong your case is.

Ordinary Texas personal injury rules don't apply here. Cruise claims fall under maritime law, and most major lines write their contracts to send lawsuits into one specific court — Royal Caribbean and Carnival both route claims to federal court in Miami, for instance, no matter where you live or where you boarded. Get that wrong, or miss a filing deadline because nobody told you about it, and the case can be over before it starts. The sooner we're in it, the more of your claim survives.

What the Cruise Line Actually Owes You

Cruise lines don't have to be perfect — the legal standard is "reasonable care under the circumstances," not some impossibly high bar. But if a hazard was foreseeable and the crew didn't do anything about it, that's usually where a claim starts.

The fine print cuts both ways, too. Federal law (46 U.S.C. § 30509) stops cruise lines from using their own ticket contract to limit or waive liability for injuries or deaths their own negligence caused. They can shorten your deadline to sue. They can't write themselves out of responsibility for causing the harm in the first place.

What to Do After You're Hurt Onboard

Go to the ship's medical center, even for something that feels minor, and get a copy of whatever record they create — that record becomes part of your case whether it helps you or hurts you. Report what happened to cruise staff and ask for a written incident report; cruise lines have been known to claim an injury was never reported at all; a report on file closes that door.

Your phone is your best evidence here. Whatever caused the fall — the wet floor, the broken handrail — won't stay that way once housekeeping or maintenance gets to it, so photos matter more than they would on land. The same goes for anyone standing nearby: get their name, cabin number, and phone number if you can, because by tomorrow they could be at a different port or already home.

There's also a form. Cruise lines tend to have one ready fast, sometimes along with a request for a recorded statement, often before you've had a chance to think it through or talk to a lawyer. You're allowed to wait. Find out what it says first — that call is free.

When the Ship's Medical Staff Is the Problem

For years, cruise lines argued they weren't responsible for the doctors and nurses in their onboard medical centers, treating them as independent contractors rather than employees.

A 2014 federal appeals court decision, Franza v. Royal Caribbean, changed that — cruise lines can now be held liable for a shipboard doctor's negligence, because to a passenger, that doctor looks like part of the ship, not an outside contractor renting space near the pool deck. If a missed diagnosis, a delayed response, or a mishandled emergency made your situation worse, that's worth having reviewed.

If there was a missed diagnosis, a delayed response, or a mishandled emergency that made your situation worse, that's worth having reviewed.

How Long You Have to File

One year. That's usually all you get to file a cruise ship injury lawsuit — half the window Texas law gives you for an ordinary car accident. Some cruise lines cut it even shorter, requiring written notice within six months just to preserve your right to sue at all, and none of that moves because the cruise line was obviously at fault. We've seen strong cases die on the calendar, not on the facts.

What Your Claim Might Be Worth

A twisted ankle from a slip on a wet pool deck and a fractured hip from that same fall aren't worth the same amount, even though they happened in the exact same spot on the same ship. We start with the medical side — what treatment cost onboard, what it cost once you got home, whatever care is still ahead of you — and build outward: missed income if the injury kept you from work, a phone or mobility device that got damaged, and what the pain and disruption actually cost you to live through. When an injury is serious enough, it can reach into how it's affected things with a spouse or family too.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is decided on its own facts.

Why Passengers Injured on a Cruise Ship Call Ali Law Group

• We know the contract terms cruise lines rely on — the short deadlines, the notice requirements, the forum-selection clauses — and how to work within them for your case.
• You work directly with your attorney, not a call center or a case manager. You will have your attorney’s cell phone number and can call when you need them.
• No fee unless we win. The cruise ship accident consultation is free, and there's no obligation.