Cruise Ship Malfunction Strands Hundreds in Puerto Rico

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on November 25, 2018

A ship with the Norwegian Jade cruise liner that was supposed to return to Miami after a 10-night jaunt through the Caribbean has become stranded, leaving its hundreds of passengers trapped thousands of miles from their homes. As this story remains a developing item, we do not possess all of the information relating to it at this time, but there are certain facts that are knowable and confirmed.

The ship departed from Miami on Friday, November 16th. The beginning leg of the journey took the ship and its passengers to San Juan, Puerto Rico, after three days of sailing across the ocean. Once they reached San Juan, an announcement came over the loudspeakers telling the passengers that, due to some sort of technical malfunction, the remainder of the cruise would be cancelled. The announcement continued by saying that all the passengers aboard would be chartered flights back to Miami and that they would receive a full refund for their aborted trip. In addition, the Norwegian Cruise Line (parent company to the Norwegian Jade) informed all passengers via a letter that was sent out some time after the initial incident that they would each receive a 100% credit towards any future trip with the company.

At the time of this writing, it is not clear just what happened to cause the cruise ship to be deemed a hazard to those aboard. The Norwegian Cruise Line has remained surprisingly tight-lipped about the whole thing, no doubt worried that a full explanation into the events would cause alarm among those looking to book a cruise with the popular company.

We do not know if anyone was injured as a result of whatever happened aboard the ship, but it does seem as though the company’s decision to empty the Norwegian Jade of all its passengers was made with the wellbeing of those aboard in mind. In other words, whatever malfunction the ship was experiencing had the potential to place those aboard in direct danger.

The company stated that over the course of the upcoming days the ship will sail back to Miami. Once there, it will be subjected to repairs that are scheduled to take several days.

Sources:

• Cruise passengers from Florida stranded in Caribbean after ship fails

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.