Cruise Ships and Coronavirus | What Responsibilities to Cruise Lines Have?

If you or a loved one have contracted COVID-19 after a cruise, you may be wondering how you will cover new medical bills for which you were unprepared. Through filing a coronavirus claim in Texas, you may be able to see your financial costs addressed, along with your pain and suffering. Carabin Shaw’s team of Texas personal injury lawyers has decades of combined experience representing personal injury and wrongful death cases, and while coronavirus-related litigation is of course a new field, we can still help you through a complex legal process. Call us today at 1-800-862-1260 for a free consultation.

The COVID-19 coronavirus is known to spread through close quarters, and cruise ships have shown to be effective vectors. Many unfortunately found this out too late, having been unknowingly exposed to the virus while on a cruise. Over 2,000 people have tested positive for the coronavirus during or after returning from cruises, and several have unfortunately died as a result.

COVID-19 can cause severe complications, including reduced lung function and, in the worst cases, death. If you have been affected by a case of COVID contracted on a cruise liner, look for a Texas injury attorney to help you pursue a negligence claim.

You may think it’s frivolous to pursue damages against a cruise company for getting an infectious disease aboard one of their ships. However, negligence can occur anywhere. It is possible that there were steps a cruise company could have taken to ensure the safety of their passengers but ignored. These include:

• Notifying passengers of confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 among ship crew in advance so that they may cancel or proceed at their own risk
• Notifying passengers of confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 among other passengers so that they may practice social distancing
• Providing adequate hand sanitizer and other cleaning agents
• Providing dining options that allow for social distancing
• Providing acceptable medical care

Cruise ships and coronavirus are known to be connected. As a customer, you should be able to expect that the cruise line is doing everything they reasonably can to ensure your safety; as an employee, you should be able to expect the same of your employer. Failure on the part of a cruise line to respond to a known threat of COVID-19 in any of the above ways leaves them vulnerable to a coronavirus claim in Texas.

There is no law against representing yourself in a tort claim. However, the assistance of a Texas injury attorney will be invaluable in helping your case succeed. A legal representative can help you sort through the details of your case and present the most pressing ones in your claim. They will be able to provide insight on how much you stand to be awarded in damages from your claim, and to help you request a reasonable amount. Your case is likely to be settled out of court, as the vast majority of personal injury claims are, so an attorney’s experience negotiating with defendants will be invaluable. If the cruise line’s legal team is aware that you will be representing yourself, they will likely take advantage of your lack of legal experience and leave you walking away with less than you are owed, if anything at all.

Carabin Shaw’s Texas personal injury attorneys specializing in negligence cases has extensive combined experience representing individuals pursuing compensation from larger companies. Although the spread of COVID-19 will only be stopped through social distancing and the development of vaccines, there is a financial way forward for those who have been impacted by it due to negligence.