Cruise Ship Accidents

If you or a loved one was injured on a cruise ship that left out of the Port of Miami you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. At Suarez & Montero, our Miami cruise ship lawyers stand ready to protect your rights! It’s important to understand that if you or a loved one suffered injuries onboard a cruise ship accident time is working against you. Statute of limitations are in most instances one year from the date of your injury. Therefore, it is important to contact a lawyer with experience litigating against cruise ship companies like Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and others in order to preserve your legal rights.

At Suarez & Montero, we have been helping cruise ship accident victims throughout South Florida stand up and obtain compensation for over 19 years. Our firm knows how to handle complicated legal issues, negotiate your personal injury settlement, and protect your legal rights. All you need to do is focus on healing and recovering. We have the experience, resources, and skill to hold the negligent parties accountable and recover the compensation our clients need. Because our team is prepared to go to trial to obtain full and fair compensation, we often are able to negotiate favorable settlements out of court. We also handle all personal injury cases on a contingency basis. That means we handle all the costs of your case until you recover compensation for your injuries. Our fee is a percentage of that settlement. If we are unsuccessful, you don’t owe us a dime. Over the years, we have noticed that many valid cruise ship injury cases are undervalued, delayed, or denied by insurance companies in the hope that the victims will simply give up. Insurance companies have attorneys, adjusters, and medical experts who are paid to save the company money by minimizing or denying claims. With our help, however, you can stand up to insurance companies and any other negligent parties.

Some of the most common cruise ship accidents include: slip and falls, falling overboard, fallen objects, dock accidents, swimming pool or water slide injuries, injuries on excursions taken on shore, medical malpractice, and sexual or physical assault. Below is a short list of some of the most common injuries that result from cruise ship accidents:

Spinal Cord Injuries:

Spinal cord injuries often affect victims for the rest of their lives. When the nerves of the spinal cord are damaged, it can be difficult or even impossible for the brain to communicate with the rest of the body. As a result, spinal cord injuries can result in loss of range of motion, numbness, pain, sensations of pins and needles, and even paralysis below the point of injury.

Burn Injuries:

Serious burns can happen in a wide variety of cruise ship accidents. In serious cases, victims can be left with disfiguring injuries and permanent scarring that can significantly affect their appearance and physical ability.

Soft Tissue Injuries:

Soft tissue injuries encompass a wide variety of injuries, including sprains, strains, lacerations, and contusions. While these injuries are often minor, they can also be extremely serious and may even require emergency medical treatment such as surgery to correct. Soft-tissue injuries, such as muscle strain and damage to ligaments, may qualify as serious injuries if they result in significant limitation of a body function, permanent loss of use of a body organ, or permanent consequential limitation of a body function or system.

Fractures and broken bones:

Broken and fractured legs, ribs, arms, ankles, and wrists are fairly common in cruise ship accidents. Severity ranges from simple breaks that require a cast to serious breaks or compound fractures that may require surgery to repair.

The impact a serious cruise ship accident injury can have on the lives of cruise ship accident victims can be long lasting. In addition, proper treatment of injuries requires medical treatment that can be costly. If you or a family member have been on a cruise ship accident, you may be able to file a lawsuit and get compensation for your injuries and losses. A cruise ship accident lawyer may be able to help you recover the following damages:

Medical Expenses:

Plaintiffs can recover money for any medical bills resulting from the injury, including hospital bills, prescription drugs, doctor visits and rehabilitation, as well as any future medical expenses.

Lost Wages:

Compensation for time spent away from work, as well as a loss of earning capacity may also be awarded.

Pain and Suffering:

When an individual suffers an injury on a cruise ship, they can experience lasting physical and emotional pain. These victims can receive monetary damages for this pain and suffering.

If you have been injured on a cruise ship accident, there are several things you should do. One of the most important things you can do immediately is to report your injury to the cruise ship crew and see a medical professional in the cruise ship’s medical center. If you are able to, try to take pictures of the condition(s) that caused your injury. Do not rely on the ship’s crew to take photos. Sadly, they are often told to fix the condition that caused your injury and then take photographs of the area after the situation has been remedied. Next, if the cruise line asks you to write down a statement of the events that led to your injury, be very cautious about what you write down as this can be used against you in the future.

Finally, If you have been injured on a cruise ship, it’s important to speak to a cruise accident lawyer immediately. Our firm will take the time to give your case the personal attention it deserves. If you were injured during your cruise vacation, feel free to call our firm to learn more about your rights and the unique legal issues involved in your cruise ship accident case. We are available 24 hours a day and seven days a week to provide you with information and to discuss your potential cruise accident case.

Like many personal injury cases, your claim may be resolved through a settlement. This is especially true if there is no dispute about liability, or legal responsibility, for an accident that has harmed you. However, before your case can reach the settlement stage, you will need to submit a demand for an amount from the other party’s insurance company. To make a proper demand, you will need to determine the value of your case.

If you submit a demand amount that is too low, you will not receive the compensation you need to cover all of your losses. If you ask for a settlement figure that is unreasonably high, the other party will likely reject your demand and may insist on taking your case to trial. Your goal should be to recover the maximum value for your case. This involves more than simply writing down a dollar figure on a piece of paper and handing it to the insurance company. It requires taking steps that will support the amount of compensation you are seeking. It also requires avoiding pitfalls that can harm your case. As you will see when going through the personal injury claims process, the skills, knowledge and resources of an experienced Miami cruise ship accident attorney can play an invaluable role.

We represent victims and families in all matters involving injuries onboard cruise ships. We know families have many concerns following an injury onboard a cruise ship. As legal advocates, we make it our job to help you understand your rights, including the right to recover damages. If you sustained injuries due to a defective product, youshouldn’t have to bear the entire financial weight of those injuries. Companies should be held accountable for their defective, dangerous products. Assess the strength of your claim by speaking with a miami product liability attorney who is familiar with Florida’s product liability laws. Our skillful attorneys are genuinely committed to our clients. We will fight to make sure that you get the maximum amount of compensation owed to you. Let us help you get the medical care you need and fight to make sure you are compensated for your injuries! Our attorneys are ready to provide proven legal representation in pursuing your claim and stand ready to protect your rights. We are available 24/7 to give you a free, no risk case consultation.