CRUISE SHIP INJURIES, LOUNGE CHAIRS ON WALKWAYS

With 5000 passengers and 1500 crew there are certainly many ways to sustain injury on a cruise ship. One of the most prevalent types of injuries we see, but which is greatly overlooked is passengers tripping over lounge chairs that have been set around the cruise ship’s walking track.  The typical set up is that on one of the upper decks the cruise line will have a walking/exercise track that runs around the perimeter of the deck. It is typical for the cruise line to have lounge chairs on the inward side of the track as well as on the outward (seaside) part of the track.

The problems with the lounge chairs around this walking track are numerous. First, the cruise lines inevitably try to pack in as many lounge chairs as possible around that walking track so that as many passengers as possible can have the use of a lounge chair. But this means those chairs will be packed in very closely to each other and they present a tripping hazard because it is difficult to get in between the chairs to sit down—or get up—without tripping over the lounge chair.

The second problem is that when the employees place the lounge chairs around the exterior (or seaside) section of the track there often is not enough room to keep the extended chairs off the track. This can and, we have seen that it, often does create a tripping hazard for people walking the track—especially in the bright sunshine—and difficult to see that a chair leg may be protruding out into the walkway. Remember, these are walkways and exercise tracks, not a place for employees or passengers to place their chairs.

The third problem is that passengers often move these lounge chairs around to suit their desired set up, but some of these chairs end up out into the walking track. This causes a tripping hazard and more so for older passengers with diminished eyesight.

At www.888BoatLaw.com we have seen many of our clients sustain significant orthopedic injuries from unexpectedly being tripped by a lounge chair that protrudes out into the walking path. It sounds simple enough to avoid, but when the sun is brightly shining on the open deck and there are many sites to distract one’s attention it is easy trip over a lounge chair leg which is protruding into the walkway.  We have seen videos of clients who have fallen—unexpectedly—and whose only brace to the fall was their upper body, because it happened so quickly.

We have handled multiple of these cases. The cruise lines have the perspective that these chairs constitute an “open and obvious condition” on the vessel, but the cruise lines are also aware this such fall downs are not one-time incidents. Cruise lines keep track of injury claims and they know these lounge chairs can be a problem. Then why do they not do something about them?  It is a good question. Many people would be surprised to learn that when a passenger suffers an injury on a cruise ship the cruise line very often takes the position that the cruise line cannot be the guarantor of the safety of the passenger. The cruise lines routinely place this mantra in their legal briefs against injured passengers. The cruise lines are also often heard to say “We had no notice of the dangerous condition”, and therefore the cruise line fights the injury claims. When this happens you better have good maritime counsel because a dog bite attorney is not likely at all to know your rights against a cruise line for your cruise ship tripping/fall down incident. At www.888BoatLaw.com (the law offices of Frank D. Butler, PA) we have been successfully handling cruise ship injury cases for more than 25 years. You can have confidence that this is what we do every day of the week. It is not a sideline.

If you have sustained a cruise ship injury because of a misplaced lounge chair—or for any other reason—give us a call from anywhere in the State of Florida or Nationwide at 888-B-O-A-T-L-A-W. (888-262-8529). We have been successfully recovering for cruise ship injured passengers for more than 25 years.

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