I “met” Mr. Walker, aka @cruiselaw, early on in my tweeting career. He intrigued me by practicing such an interesting and unusual area of law. Over the last few months I have watched him launch his blog, tweet about it, and populate it with great posts about various aspects of cruise ships, cruise lines, and cruise law that are well written pieces. I learn something new about cruises every day, sometimes more than I want to know. He recently tweeted a new post “ten reasons not to cruise” and we at Paralegal Associates just had to respond to just an interesting post.

Ah spring, time to think about booking that lovely cruise.

Before you respond to all the idyllic advertising images appearing in the media, and take the plunge, be aware that there is a “dark side” to the cruise business.  You may want to become aware of some “off-brochure” facts ahead of signing the contract.

Cruise Law News is in the midst of daily postings that will comprise the series, “Ten Reasons Not To Cruise”. This series is an effort by nationally prominent admiralty and maritime personal injury attorney Jim Walker, who publishes the blog, to educate us about some of the dangers that can turn your ideal adventure into a nightmare.

The current postings are enough to make any prudent person take notice.

Parents may believe that their children will be safe aboard ship.  Oh yeah, read post number one:  Cruise lines are a perfect place to sexually abuse children.  Mr. Walker has handled many cases of such abuse; he knows what he is talking about.  By the way, until the legislation gets through Congress, Walker points out that cruise lines are currently under no obligation even to report crimes aboard ship.

Ok, maybe you think you are not at risk personally.  Read post number two:  Cruise ships are a perfect place to commit a crime, and get away with it! The outrageous way shipboard crimes, and the evidence, are handled by cruise corporations as “risk management problems”, needs immediate Congressional and DOJ attention.  This is a must-read story!

Besides the possibility of personal crime, the third post discusses the years-long criminal behavior of cruise corporations dumping illegal oil- tainted waste into the oceans and at environmentally sensitive areas; and about their years of lying to authorities about the crimes.  Jim Walker asks whether you really want to spend your hard-earned vacation dollars on a bunch of convicted corporate felons, when there are so many beautiful national parks to visit, staffed by environmentalists who care about preserving these areas.  Think about this, please!

You can see the complete series titles posted at the Cruise Law News site.  Here are samples:

No. 6:  If The Cruise Ship Doctor Kills You, Too Bad

No. 9:  Bunker Fuel-Nasty Tar Sludge-Polluting A Town Near You!

No. 10:  Cruise Lines Avoid All U.S. Taxes- Where Is Liberia?

The other titles are equally eye-opening and serious.

Jim’s discussions are backed up with media reports on these subjects, case references, and his extensive experience as an attorney practicing in this area.

I urge you to follow this important series today.

Disclosure:  Mr. Walker is a client of Paralegal Associates, which did not in anyway influence our decision to respond to his post or choose him as our #FollowFriday