To sue or not????

[AussieVisi2r]

Shall I respond?

 

Oh, sure, what the heck.

 

I have said it before and I will say it again: You cannot just FALL off a cruise ship.

 

Here is the Cruise Critic article that appeared at the time:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5259

 

And even if she did 'fall' which you just cannot do, and even if the bar person didn't follow Responsible Alcohol Service laws as RESPONSIBLE ADULTS WE STILL NEED TO TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY. Our society has got to move away from this slippery slope of "Who can I blame?" !!!!!!!

 

So my answer to the OP.....NO!

[danv3]

If they sue, they're probably looking for a settlement, which they probably get. There are a lot of nuciance law suits filed hoping the company sued will pay off rather than going through the cost and time of a trial.

 

This. She doesn't need to win in court. In fact they'll probably never even be in a courtroom. She'll file, there will be some discovery, and then there will be a privately mediated settlement.

[dealer9296]

To sue or not????

 

Not! Just Not!

[LMaxwell]

While I find it reprehensible that this buffoon is going to sue Carnival, I was under the impression it is because no alarm exists tied in to the camera while the technology exists. No alarm, no one watching; but the system meets letter of the law. Bet lawyer claims cruise line is negligent in some way. Enough merit to win? Probably not. Enough bad PR to get the cruise line to settle? Sadly, probably yes.

 

I wonder if she decided to sue or if some ambulance chaser got in her ear...

[Desertbelle]

I am 5 foot tall and I swear the balconies on the Oasis (our first time last fall on the Oasis) are even higher than any other ship we have been on. I have to raise my arms to put them on the railing! It makes me feel both safe and like I have somehow reverted to being 5 years old.

 

For me, even standing on a chair on the balcony would make it only slightly easier to "climb" over, I still wouldn't be able to fall.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

The debateable basis of this woman's claim is the notion that Carnival bartenders enticed her to drink too much by plying her with casino coupons for each drink she purchased.

 

As a result, she was rendered utterly helpless to resist the allure of such coupons. The bartenders were negligent when they continued to serve her even though she became impaired to the point of having lost the capacity of balance and judgment. Of course, she does not feel she was negligent by continuing to purchase drinks beyond her ability to behave responsibly.

 

So who really is ultimaltely responsible when someone drinks too much? If this woman can collect a significant sum by denying that she bears any responsibility for drinking too much, every drunk and alcoholic on every cruise could hold cruise lines financially responsible for any harm that befalls themselves or others as a result of excessive alcoholic intake.

[Merion_Mom]

Wow. No personal responsibility. Surprised the media hasn't made more of this ridiculous case, given how they love to bash the cruise industry.

 

i just saw a report about it on Inside Edition and on there she said she leaned over the rail to look at the ship and just fell. If that is true, I think she probably leaned way over. She would have had to. I think she should be very appreciative that they were able to find her when they returned to look for her. That in itself is a miracle.

 

And it's on ABC's 20/20 right now. :rolleyes: (well, not this very minute; it was advertised at the top of the show as being on tonight's show)

[BND]

I saw a bit of this interview earlier today on Inside Edition and I posted on FB about it and said that no one just "falls" overboard as the railing hits pretty high. All my cruising friends agreed Sorry, but she is 100% liable for what happened to her. She had to have climbed on something. There's no way she "leaned" over the railing to look and tumbled over unless her head weighs more than the rest of her body. :rolleyes:

 

This is the kind of story that makes my mom afraid to cruise. She tells me before every cruise to "not fall overboard". I've given up explaining to her how high the railings hit me. I'm 5'3"and it certainly isn't something I can trip and fall over.

Edited January 18, 2014 by BND

[Cruising89143]

Carnival should countersue.

[1cruise2U]

I'm watching TV and see 20/20 airing this story right now

[Esmerelda]

This is on 20/20 right now. You can see in the video her leg coming over the railing. Once again proving; YOU JUST DON'T FALL OFF OF A CRUISE SHIP!

 

I get so tired of hearing this garbage! When you get drunk and climb over the side, you have ISSUES!!

 

Nuff said....

 

:mad:

[lazeyey]

This is on 20/20 right now. You can see in the video her leg coming over the railing. Once again proving; YOU JUST DON'T FALL OFF OF A CRUISE SHIP!

 

I get so tired of hearing this garbage! When you get drunk and climb over the side, you have ISSUES!!

 

Nuff said....

 

:mad:

 

I am watching and it looks like she climbed over the ledge.

[lovetocruiserccl]

How do you fall off a cruise ship? You have to climb over the railing. Alcohol is the biggest factor in falling off a ship. And where was her fiance? I just don't understand.

 

Sent from my SM-N900V using Forums mobile app

[Brandonclan]

I think the video shows that she had climbed up on something, probably the railing, and fell. Drunken stupor.

Sounds like they are suing for Carnival's procedures for man overboard and the "over serving" of alcohol.

Question is, are these cruise ship bartenders being trained and held to the same rules as land bartenders? Clearly no one is driving home from the cruise bars, and lots of "over serving" goes on. They are there to give us what we want right? Most would probably rather over serve than deal with the confrontation of cutting off the drinker. They assume passengers will just stagger to their cabin and pass out right? Not always, as proven many times with fights, language, and even going overboard!

Who was negligent? My opinion,....the passenger was. I have seen alcohol make very smart people do dumb things.

She was very lucky to have been saved. I'd say their procedures worked. Can a quicker response help with this? Sure, and technology will eventually be found that will help.

Lawsuit?? No way. They saved her life, period.

[NJdreamchaser]

If the passanger was so intoxicated from being over served how did she have the stamina and motor coordination to stay afloat in the middle of the ocean for what was it - 90 minutes?

[Merion_Mom]

If the passanger was so intoxicated from being over served how did she have the stamina and motor coordination to stay afloat in the middle of the ocean for what was it - 90 minutes?

 

I would think that falling into the cold seawater would sober you up pretty darn fast. :rolleyes:

[Brandonclan]

If the passanger was so intoxicated from being over served how did she have the stamina and motor coordination to stay afloat in the middle of the ocean for what was it - 90 minutes?

 

The water must have a very sobering effect?? :eek:

 

Trust me, I don't think she was over served as she and her lawyer claim. I was just raising the question knowing lots of folks are.

[NJdreamchaser]

I will take everyone's word for it on the sobering effects of a 7 deck drop into the frigid sea. :D That sure does make sense!!! If I were her I would just be thankful that I survived!!

[papcx]

Nothing on the planet has a "sobering effect" alcohol in the bloodstream remains there until the body deals with it, which takes time!

 

A situation that causes release of adrenaline (such as realising your stupid enough to fall overboard) will heighten your senses, as in the fight or flight response, but you'll still be drunk.

 

Treading water for 90 minutes in those circumstances (drunk with several broken bones) is quite impressive, maybe she should get a medal with her multi-million $\€\£ payout!

Edited January 18, 2014 by papcx

[Trainman-2]

She has to sue in order to get the blame for her own personal stupidity off of her shoulders and onto the cruise line.

 

As stated above, it is not possible to fall over the balcony railing while standing on the deck.

 

In order to "fall" someone would first have to raise their center of gravity above and outside of the railing. This takes a good bit of effort, even if you are falling down drunk.

 

It would only be fitting if RCI Counter Sued for the cost of stopping the ship and searching for her. Not only that, but all of the other passengers should sue her for Disrupting Their Cruise by forcing the ship to stop which delayed arrival at the next port.

[crazy8mom]

Unbelievable! Wake up and take responsibility! Unfortunately these days too many have the same mindset!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Guess she has the money to waste on a law suit that she will lose.

[biker@sea]

Lady Luck must love her , she may Win !!! :eek:

[angles]

They "over served" her alcohol, so she was so drunk that she climbed up on something (had to no way to fall otherwise) and fell off the ship. She was not so drunk as to be able to get back to her room, out to the balcony, up onto a chair/table, lean over and fall. She also was so drunk that after her fall she had the ability to stay afloat for 90 minutes.....how do you stay afloat for 90 minutes when you were so drunk "you slipped and fell overboard"?

 

The staff did nothing for her injuries? She had broken bones, and internal injuries according to her claim. The ship is not designed to deal with broken bones and internal injuries, they are there for cuts, bruises, sea sickness etc. She is upset that they did not call life flight for her, why so she could hype up the incident and have traumatic stress from being in the helicopter, she was upset that they diverted to Key West, maybe Carnival should present her with a bill for the detour that they took to get her dumba$$ back to a port.

[deladypilot]

Personal Responsibility, but I guess she never heard of that. She drank to much, climbed over somehow (because I have found no way to just "Fall" off a balcony, they spend thousands of dollars and much time saving her stupid butt and she wants them to pay.

 

I personally think Carnival needs to file suit against her for the cost of the rescue operation. She is lucky I wont be on this jury.

 

Now we do not hear the women actually say, its hard for her to return to the see, only the commentator, but we for sure do not hear her say is that it will be hard for her to drink again.