Rape of U.S. Citizens on Foreign Flagged Cruise Ships

As recently as 1999 Carnival Cruise Lines admitted in court that back in 1999 some of its crew members physically assaulted and fellow crew members 108 times from 1993 to 1998. Twenty-two of those sexual assaults were out and out rapes, with at least 16 of them involving crew members on cruise ship passengers. The remaining assaults had to do with crew members who assaulted fellow crewmen. If you or someone you know was raped on a Princess or Carnival Cruise Liner, or other foreign flagged cruise ships, you should retain experienced cruise ship rape attorneys.

Where Do I File my Cruise Ship Lawsuit?

Where do I file my cruise ship lawsuit depends upon many factors. Taking a cruise ship vacation means a great time to have fun and adventure for anyone. But accidents and even cruise ship rape by a crew member are all too common. So if you can't stop injuries and other damages while on a cruise ship you may need to sue.

Many don't understand that the applicable laws imposed on cruise ship operators are considerably different than other personal injury lawsuits due to applicable contract law provisions and applicable admiralty maritime law.

And even if you weren't a direct , it is necessary to understand the different rules and regulations for those you care about who were involved in the cruise ship accident and how to navigate through the cruise ship litigation processes of cruise ship personal injury lawsuits.

Naturally, you must confer with a cruise line accident lawyer with vast experience in strategies to take to obtain justice and monetary compensation.

Here are a few important factors you should know:

Contract of Adhesion - Most cruise ship passenger tickets are non-negotiable and are established once the passenger purchases his or her cruise ship ticket.

Here are the most important things about these passenger tickets:

• Choice of law - Cruise line companies operate from many "ports of call" throughout the world. Most cruise lines have contract stipulations that state what laws of a country applies to the cruise ships to resolve any potential future conflicts.

• Forum selection - The forum selection pitfall is a stipulation the court will use to determine the state, but not exact the actual court location where your case would ultimately be filed and heard by a judge or jury. The stipulation is a lawful principle that allows you and the ship via the contract to resolve specific venues or locations.

• Shortened Statutes of limitations Due to Contract Law - The statute of limitations concerning maritime incidents on the waterways is normally 3 years. But the cruise lines, such as Princess, for example, will do just about anything to shorten that time. And what's worse, you will normally have an even shorter time, like 6 months to serve a written claim for damages before you can actually sue. So you will see this in your contractual stipulation indicated on your passenger tickets.

If you were hurt on a cruise ship, you probably have shortened the Statute for the filing a lawsuit against a cruise ship. This means you need to seek expert legal advice. Stipulations like this significantly effect whether or not you will get a just settlement.

Sometimes courts can find the terms of the contract unfair, or even illegal if they purport to limit negligence of the cruise ship operator. You only need to find cruise ship injury litigation lawyers who know what to tell you when you ask "where do I file my cruise ship lawsuit"? Remember that Princess almost always requires a suit be filed in Los Angeles, LA.