Walker & O'Neill, P.A. (LexBlog France)

From time to time, I receive letters and emails from crew members on cruise ships around the world. I typically don’t publish them. But after communicating back and forth with this ship employee, I promised to bring awareness to her situation and that of other employees on the ship. The crew member sent me photos...

From time to time, I receive letters and emails from crew members on cruise ships around the world. I typically don’t publish them. But after communicating back and forth with this ship employee, I promised to bring awareness to her situation and that of other employees on the ship. The crew member sent me photos...

A cruise passenger reportedly went overboard from the MSC Preziosa in the Caribbean several days ago, according to the France-Antilles newspaper. The Martinique newspaper reports that a 69-year-old Dutch citizen was not located on the MSC Cruises ship when it arrived in Fort-de-France last Saturday, December 8th. The last port before Martinique scheduled on the cruise was Philipsburg,...

A cruise ship captain is on trial in France on charges of violating pollution laws designed to address health concerns over air pollution caused by ferries and huge cruise ships.  According to the Telegraph newspaper, France has charged U.S. captain Evans Hoyt, age  58, for breaking Europe’s air emission laws by authorizing the burning of bunker...

Newspapers in France are reporting that one crew member has been killed and four other crew members were injured after a lifeboat fell from the Harmony of the Seas, which was docked in Marseilles, France. According to 20 Minutes newspaper, five members of the ship’s navigation crew were on board during a drill when the lifeboat...

The Paul Gauguin cruise ship reportedly lost propulsion and has been stuck in Bora Bora for the last several days, according to an article in Cruise Critic. The popular online cruise community publication says that “Paul Gauguin has been stuck in Bora Bora for the past several days because of a propulsion issue, which interrupted...

Yesterday, the Moby Zaza, a “roro” (roll on / roll off) ferry operated by Italian ferry company Moby Lines, caught fire at the passenger terminal in Nice, France. A bystander sent us a short video of the fire while it was happening.  Today, the Maritime Herald published a short article, stating that the fire erupted...

Newspapers in Europe are reporting that seventy-seven passengers and crew members were evacuated from a ferry and pier at the port of Joliette, in Marseilles, France after “after loud noises were heard below deck.’ The ferry was identified as the Jean Nicoli which was scheduled to leave for Sardinia this morning.   Mail Online says...

Yesterday. I received information from a Cruise Law News reader that a man went overboard from the M/V Horizon operated by Croiseires de France between the Dominican Republic and St. Maarten.  Today a newspaper in St. Maarten reported that yesterday, the police department in St. Maarten received a call from the security office at the A.C....

A P&O ferry erupted in flames as it sailed from Dover, England to Calais, France this morning. A number of news sources report that a fire broke out in the engine room of the Pride of Canterbury as it was approaching port in France. 337 passengers and 119 crew members were aboard the ferry at...

BBC News reports that a six year old boy was pulled from a swimming pool on the Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas yesterday.  The AFP news agency says that the child’s heart had stopped when he was found in the cruise ship pool. BBC says that the cruise ship’s doctor was able to re-start...

We have asked P&O Ferries’ primary competitors to answer whether they have CCTV cameras on the passenger decks on their ships. We’d like to see whether P&O Ferries is the only U.K. based ferry line not using CCTV cameras to monitor and record the activities on their passenger decks. France’s MyFerryLink answered today stating only...

The Cruise Line International Association (CLIA) announced today that eight cruise line groups have agreed to be merged with CLIA in order to operate under a common organization.     The associations are the European Cruise Council (ECC), Asia Cruise Association (ACA), Passenger Shipping Association (PSA/ACE), France’s AFCC, Brazil’s ABREMAR, Northwest and Canada Cruise Association...

Costa is back in the news with a widely reported incident where the Costa Pacifica cruise ship violently struck a piling in the Port of Marseille this morning. The cruise ship sustained a gash of around 8 meters long, which luckily is above the waterline.  Costa down-played the incident stating that the damage was just a...

Cruise industry expert Professor Ross Klein’s website, Cruise Junkie, mentions an incident this last Sunday involving a passenger ferry in France. High winds broke a dozen mooring lines to the Napoleon Bonaparte, a passenger and vessel ferry. The impact with the pier ripped a 30-metre long hole in the stern, causing water to flood compartments...

College students, booze and ships are often a recipe for bedlam.  Being “cruise drunk” can lead to violence.   The media in the U.K. is reporting that around 200 college students headed to France on a skiing trip stripped naked, smashed glasses and overturned furniture during a drunken night of havoc on the P&O Spirit...

Multiple new sources in the U.K. are reporting that a crewmember from the Celebrity Eclipse cruise ship went overboard last night and is presumed dead. Sky News reports that, according to the cruise line, a Filipino crewmember was captured on closed circuit television (CCTV) climbing over a railing and jumping from the cruise ship.  The luxury cruise ship, operated...