On February 21, 2011, the cruise ship Majesty of the Seas owned by Royal Caribbean left port in Miami, with “Jane Doe” (ficitious name to protect her confidentiality) with her father and friends.

The cruise ship docked in the city of Nassau, Bahamas on February 23rd. Upon arriving ashore, Jane and her friends went to ‘Senor Frogs’, a popular bar in a neighborhood called the ‘Woods Rogers Walk’, which is near the famous Straw Market not far from the dock itself. Disturbingly, upon leaving the bar to head back to the cruise ship, 24 year old Jane was brutally attacked. As a result, she sustained serious injuries. She looked for help from passers-by. One, who pretended to be a good Samaritan, sexually assalted and raped Jane (a second time!). She made her way to a local hospital in Nassau, and ultimately flew home to Canada.

The Bahamas, and particularly, Nassau, has a relatively high crime rate. In fact, according to a 2007 United Nations report on crime and violence, the Bahams has the ‘highest incidence of rape in the Caribbean’.   In 2009, the Bahamas recorded 87 murders. Personally, I have heard too many accounts of cruise ship passengers being raped, robbed, and assaulted there.

Cruise ship companies have an obligation to warn passengers of crime potential and history in the ports into which the cruise ship sails. While the US State Department actually does warn visitors to the Bahamas of such dangers, cruise ships often do not. Here is exactly what the US Department of State warns:

“CRIME: The Bahamas has a high crime rate… the US Embassy has received reports of assaults, including sexual assaults, in diverse areas such as in casinos, outside hotels, or on cruise ships. In several incidents the victim had reportedly been drugged.”

Clearly, the safety of cruise ship passengers should be a major concern to the cruise companies. Too many women have been sexually raped and battered after leaving the bar, despite the fact that it is such a short distance from the ship itself. Regardless, cruise lines do not provide security at the port, nor do they adequately warn their passengers of these very real dangers.

Cruise ships have a legal responsibility to use reasonable care in caring for the passengers on their vessels. This includes the duty to warn them of dangers in the ports of call where they dock. This is particularly the case when the cruise ships sell and promote excursions into the countries themselves.

Here is a video of an interview of a victim of armed robbery which occurred in Nassau, Bahamas, in November, 2009. He was a cruise ship passenger who purchased a tour from the cruise ship:

For questions about this article or any other aspect of personal injury, feel free to contact me directly at RJaffe@lcjLawFirm.com or 516.358.6900.

Richard Jaffe, Esq.
Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe, LLP
www.lcjLawFirm.com
516.358.6900