If you were injured on a cruise that departed from Galveston, Texas, what you do immediately after the accident can affect your ability to pursue a claim against the cruise line.
Cruise ship injury cases are different from ordinary land-based personal injury claims. Federal maritime law may apply, the cruise line may control important evidence, and your passenger ticket may impose shortened deadlines for providing notice and filing a lawsuit.
The most important steps are to report the accident, document what happened, preserve evidence, obtain appropriate medical treatment, save your cruise documents, and speak with an attorney familiar with maritime law before evidence disappears or a contractual deadline expires.
1. Report the Accident to the Cruise Line
Report the incident to a crew member or ship security as soon as reasonably possible.
If the cruise line prepares an incident report, ask for a copy. If they will not provide one, write down:
- Who took your report;
- Their name and position;
- The date and approximate time;
- Where the accident happened;
- What you told them; and
- What they told you in response.
Do not assume that simply telling a crew member about an injury satisfies every legal notice requirement contained in your passenger contract.
An onboard incident report and a formal legal notice of claim may be two different things.
2. Take Photos and Videos Before the Condition Changes
Cruise ships are constantly being cleaned, maintained, and operated. A dangerous condition that caused an accident can disappear quickly.
If you are physically able—or if someone traveling with you can help—take photographs and video of the exact area where the accident happened.
For example, photograph:
- Water or another substance on the floor;
- Condensation;
- Leaking equipment;
- Wet stairs;
- Broken flooring;
- Uneven surfaces;
- Damaged handrails;
- Missing or inadequate warning signs;
- Poor lighting;
- Defective doors;
- Elevator thresholds;
- Gangways;
- Deck conditions; and
- Anything else that may have contributed to the accident.
Take both close-up photographs and wider photographs showing the surrounding area.
The wider images can help establish where the condition was located in relation to elevators, restaurants, pools, stairs, bars, restrooms, cabins, or other parts of the vessel.
3. Identify Witnesses
Other passengers may have seen the dangerous condition before your accident or witnessed the accident itself.
Get their:
- Names;
- Phone numbers;
- Email addresses; and
- Cabin numbers, if they are willing to provide them.
Do not assume the cruise line will later give you the names of witnesses.
Once the cruise ends, passengers may return to different states or countries, making witnesses substantially more difficult to locate.
4. Look for Surveillance Cameras
Cruise ships commonly use surveillance cameras throughout passenger areas.
After an accident, look around and determine whether cameras appear to cover the location.
You do not need to obtain the footage yourself while onboard. The important point is recognizing that potentially relevant video may exist.
That footage may show:
- How long a dangerous condition existed;
- When the area was last inspected;
- Whether crew members walked past the condition;
- Whether another passenger previously encountered the same hazard;
- Whether warning signs were present;
- How the accident occurred; and
- What happened immediately afterward.
A lawyer handling a serious cruise injury claim may send a preservation demand requesting that the cruise line retain potentially relevant surveillance footage and other evidence.
The sooner that process begins, the better.
5. Seek Medical Treatment
If you are injured, request medical attention aboard the vessel when appropriate.
Tell medical personnel exactly what happened and identify all areas where you are experiencing pain or other symptoms.
Keep copies of any:
- Medical records;
- Discharge paperwork;
- Prescriptions;
- Medical bills;
- Imaging reports;
- Receipts; and
- Instructions provided by the ship’s medical staff.
If you require additional treatment after leaving the ship, tell the treating provider that your injury occurred during a cruise and explain the mechanism of the accident accurately.
Medical documentation created close in time to an accident can become important evidence in a later injury claim.
6. Save Your Cruise Ticket and Booking Documents
Do not delete your booking confirmation or cruise documents after you get home.
Preserve:
- Your passenger ticket contract;
- Booking confirmation;
- Boarding documents;
- Cruise itinerary;
- Emails from the cruise line;
- Cruise-line app information;
- Excursion reservations;
- Receipts;
- Medical paperwork; and
- Any communications concerning the accident.
The passenger ticket contract can be critically important.
Cruise contracts frequently contain provisions governing notice requirements, filing deadlines, applicable law, and where a lawsuit must be brought.
7. Do Not Assume a Galveston Departure Means You Can Sue in Galveston
This surprises many passengers.
You may live in Texas.
You may have purchased your ticket in Texas.
Your cruise may have departed from the Port of Galveston.
Your accident may even have occurred while the ship was sailing to or from Galveston.
That does not necessarily mean a lawsuit against the cruise line can be filed in Galveston or elsewhere in Texas.
Cruise passenger contracts often contain forum-selection clauses specifying where claims must be litigated.
For example, Carnival’s current U.S. ticket contract provides, subject to its terms and exceptions, that certain disputes must be litigated in the Southern District of Florida in Miami or, where federal subject-matter jurisdiction is lacking, in a court in Miami-Dade County.
That is one reason a cruise injury should be evaluated as a maritime claim, not simply as a Texas premises-liability case.
8. Be Aware of Short Cruise Injury Deadlines
Do not assume that you have the same limitations period that might apply to an ordinary Texas personal injury lawsuit.
Cruise lines can include much shorter contractual deadlines in their passenger ticket agreements.
For example, Carnival’s current ticket terms provide that personal injury, illness, or death claims generally require written particulars within 185 days and require suit to be filed within one year, subject to the contract and applicable law.
Royal Caribbean’s current U.S. passenger terms likewise contain provisions generally requiring written notice of a personal-injury claim within six months and suit within one year.
Because contracts and circumstances differ, an injured passenger should have the actual ticket contract applicable to the voyage reviewed rather than relying on a general deadline found online.
Waiting can create problems even before a legal deadline expires because evidence may become more difficult to obtain.
9. Be Careful About Statements to the Cruise Line
After an accident, cruise personnel may ask you to explain what happened or complete an incident report.
Provide accurate factual information, but be careful about speculation.
If you do not know how long water had been on the floor, for example, you do not need to guess.
Likewise, do not minimize an injury simply because you hope it will improve.
Some injuries become more severe or more apparent after the initial accident.
If a cruise-line representative or claims administrator contacts you after the voyage requesting a detailed recorded statement, release, medical authorization, or settlement agreement, consider speaking with maritime counsel before signing documents or providing an extensive statement.
10. Preserve Your Own Clothing and Footwear
Do not immediately discard what you were wearing when the accident happened.
In a slip-and-fall case, the cruise line may later argue that footwear contributed to the accident.
Preserving the shoes can prevent unnecessary disputes over what you were wearing and their condition.
Likewise, keep any clothing, equipment, or personal property damaged during the accident when it could have evidentiary value.
11. Write Down What Happened While Your Memory Is Fresh
As soon as reasonably possible, make your own detailed account of the incident.
Include:
- Date and time;
- Deck and location;
- Weather conditions, if relevant;
- Lighting;
- Floor or deck condition;
- What caused you to fall or become injured;
- Whether warning signs were present;
- What crew members said;
- Names of witnesses;
- Whether the area was cleaned immediately afterward;
- Medical treatment received onboard; and
- How your symptoms developed after the accident.
Small details that are obvious immediately after an accident can be difficult to remember months later.
12. Save Communications From the Cruise Line
Preserve emails, text messages, app messages, letters, claim correspondence, and voicemail messages relating to your injury.
Do not delete communications simply because they appear routine.
They may later help establish when the cruise line learned of the claim, what representations were made, or how the company responded after the accident.
13. Do Not Post Detailed Information About the Accident on Social Media
A serious injury claim can eventually become contested litigation.
Posts, photographs, videos, comments, location information, and other social-media activity may become relevant.
There is generally little benefit in publicly debating fault or discussing the details of a potential legal claim online.
Preserve existing evidence, but be thoughtful about creating new public statements concerning your injuries or the accident.
14. Speak With a Maritime Lawyer
Cruise passenger claims can involve issues that do not typically arise in ordinary personal injury cases, including:
- Federal maritime law;
- Passenger ticket contracts;
- Forum-selection clauses;
- Contractual notice periods;
- Shortened filing deadlines;
- Maritime standards of care;
- Cruise-line surveillance evidence;
- Vessel maintenance records;
- Crew inspection practices;
- Shore excursion relationships; and
- Foreign ports and international travel.
A lawyer familiar with maritime litigation can evaluate these issues and determine what evidence should be preserved.
Why Gilman & Allison for a Galveston Cruise Injury?
Gilman & Allison, LLP is a Texas maritime law firm with actual experience representing cruise passengers in significant litigation against a major cruise line.
Attorneys Douglas T. Gilman and Brent J. Allison represented passengers in federal litigation arising from the 2013 Carnival Triumph disaster, commonly known as the “Poop Cruise.”
The Carnival Triumph sailed from Galveston before an engine-room fire disabled the vessel while returning from Cozumel. Litigation followed, and Gilman & Allison attorneys represented passengers pursuing claims arising from the incident.
That experience is part of a broader maritime practice representing people injured aboard vessels and in maritime accidents.
Today, Gilman & Allison represents passengers in cruise injury matters involving accidents such as:
- Cruise ship slip and falls;
- Wet decks and flooring;
- Elevator accidents;
- Stairway accidents;
- Gangway injuries;
- Defective doors and equipment;
- Falling objects;
- Inadequate maintenance;
- Shore excursion injuries;
- Shipboard medical issues; and
- Other serious passenger injuries.
Frequently Asked Questions About Cruise Injuries From Galveston
What should I do immediately after being injured on a cruise?
Report the accident, seek appropriate medical attention, photograph the accident scene, identify witnesses, preserve your cruise documents, and save all communications concerning the incident.
Should I fill out a cruise ship incident report?
Accidents should generally be reported, but passengers should provide accurate facts rather than guessing about matters they do not know. An onboard incident report also should not automatically be assumed to satisfy any formal contractual notice requirement.
Can I request cruise ship surveillance video?
Potentially relevant surveillance footage may be important evidence. Because retention practices can vary, an attorney may send a preservation demand requesting that footage and other evidence relating to the accident be retained.
How long do I have to sue after a Carnival cruise injury?
Carnival’s current ticket terms contain shortened contractual provisions for personal-injury claims, including written notice within 185 days and suit within one year, subject to the particular contract and applicable law. Your specific passenger contract should be reviewed promptly.
My cruise departed from Galveston. Can I sue Carnival in Texas?
Not necessarily. A cruise ticket may contain a forum-selection clause requiring litigation somewhere other than Texas. Carnival’s current U.S. ticket terms generally designate courts in Miami, Florida for covered disputes, subject to the terms of the contract.
What if I was injured on Royal Caribbean out of Galveston?
The same general evidence-preservation principles apply, but Royal Caribbean has its own passenger contract and contractual requirements. Its current U.S. terms contain shortened notice and filing provisions for personal-injury claims. The contract applicable to your particular voyage should be reviewed.
What if my accident happened while the ship was docked in Mexico?
The location of an injury is important, but it does not by itself determine whether a claim exists or which law applies. Cruise-related accidents in Cozumel, Costa Maya, and other foreign ports can raise additional issues involving maritime law, excursion operators, cruise-line contracts, and the parties responsible for the dangerous condition.
Do cruise ship injury cases fall under Texas law?
Not necessarily. Many passenger injury claims aboard cruise vessels are governed by federal maritime law, and the passenger ticket may contain additional choice-of-law and forum provisions.
Injured on a Cruise From Galveston? Protect the Evidence Early.
If you or a family member suffered a serious injury aboard a cruise sailing from Galveston, Texas, do not assume that the cruise line will preserve everything you may later need to prove your case.
Photographs can disappear.
Witnesses can become difficult to locate.
Surveillance footage may become an issue.
And the passenger ticket may contain deadlines substantially shorter than those ordinarily associated with a Texas injury case.
Gilman & Allison, LLP represents injured cruise passengers and has firsthand experience litigating passenger claims against Carnival arising from the Carnival Triumph “Poop Cruise.”
If you were seriously injured aboard Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, MSC, Princess, Disney, or another cruise line, contact Gilman & Allison to have the circumstances of your accident and the applicable maritime law evaluated.
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Texas Maritime & Galveston Cruise Injury Lawyers
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