Posted September 1, 2026 by cruise ship attorney, Joel Barnett
If you have been injured on a cruise ship, you may be wondering what happens after you hire a cruise ship injury attorney.
Will the cruise line offer you a settlement? How much compensation might you receive? Will your attorney file a lawsuit? How long will the process take? And perhaps most importantly, what should your lawyer actually be doing for you?
These are reasonable questions.
Hiring a cruise ship attorney does not guarantee a particular settlement or verdict. No responsible lawyer can promise a specific result before investigating the facts of a case. However, when you hire an attorney who regularly handles cruise ship injury claims, you should expect your lawyer to do much more than simply send a letter to the cruise line.
Your attorney should investigate what happened, preserve important evidence, determine who may be responsible, protect your legal rights, handle communications with the cruise line and its attorneys, pursue appropriate compensation, and explain your options throughout the process.
At Waks and Barnett, P.A., also known as CruiseLawyers.com, our attorneys have represented injured cruise passengers and crew members for more than 35 years. We understand the unique legal and practical issues involved in cruise ship injury claims and work to help our clients pursue the best possible outcome based on the facts of their individual cases. We also have a successful track record of positive settlements and verdicts.
What Should a Cruise Ship Attorney Do After You Hire Them?
Every case is different, but an experienced cruise injury attorney should begin by learning as much as possible about your accident and your injuries.
That includes more than simply asking what happened.
Your attorney may want to know:
- Where did the accident occur?
- What cruise ship and cruise line were involved?
- When did the accident happen?
- What caused the accident?
- Were there witnesses?
- Was the accident reported to the cruise line?
- Did you receive medical treatment onboard?
- What treatment have you received since returning home?
- Have you missed work?
- Did the cruise line or its representatives contact you?
- Did you provide a recorded statement?
- Have you received a settlement offer?
- What documentation or photographs do you have?
Your attorney should also review the applicable cruise ticket contract and identify deadlines and other requirements that could affect your claim.
Cruise injury cases can involve short deadlines and specific contractual requirements, making early legal advice particularly important.
Your Attorney Should Investigate Your Accident
One of the most important things a cruise ship lawyer can do is investigate the circumstances surrounding your injury.
The cruise line may already have begun its own investigation. That does not mean the cruise line’s investigation is designed to protect your interests.
Your attorney may investigate:
- The location where the accident occurred
- The condition that caused your injury
- Surveillance video
- Photographs and videos
- Witness statements
- Crew member testimony
- Incident reports
- Medical records
- Inspection and maintenance records
- Prior complaints or incidents
- Cruise ship policies and procedures
- The identity of potentially responsible parties
For example, if you slipped on a wet deck, your attorney may need to determine where the water came from, how long it was present, whether crew members knew about it, whether anyone had previously reported the condition, and whether reasonable steps were taken to address the hazard.
The goal is to build an evidence-based understanding of what happened—not simply rely on the cruise line’s version of events.
Your Lawyer Should Work to Preserve Important Evidence
Evidence can disappear quickly after a cruise ship accident.
Surveillance footage may not be retained indefinitely. Passengers return home. Crew members move between ships. Physical conditions can change. Records can become more difficult to obtain.
For that reason, evidence preservation can be one of the most important early steps in a cruise injury case.
Depending on the circumstances, your attorney may seek to preserve or obtain surveillance footage, photographs, maintenance records, incident reports, witness information, medical records, and other evidence relevant to your claim.
The sooner an attorney becomes involved, the more opportunities there may be to identify evidence before it is lost.
Your Attorney Should Determine Who May Be Responsible
The cruise line may be the obvious potential defendant, but it is not necessarily the only party that could have legal responsibility for an injury.
Cruise ships can involve numerous businesses and independent operators, including:
- Restaurants
- Bars
- Shops
- Medical providers
- Excursion operators
- Entertainment companies
- Contractors
- Concessionaires
- Equipment operators
- Other third-party businesses
An experienced cruise ship attorney should look beyond the obvious explanation and determine whether another person or company contributed to your accident.
Identifying every potentially responsible party can be particularly important when the facts of an accident are complicated.
Your Attorney Should Handle Communications With the Cruise Line
After an accident, the cruise line or its representatives may contact you.
You may be asked for additional information about what happened. You may receive forms to complete. You may be asked to provide a statement or discuss your injuries.
Once you have hired an attorney, your lawyer should handle appropriate communications with the cruise line and its representatives on your behalf.
This can be particularly valuable because the cruise line’s interests are not necessarily the same as yours.
The cruise line will have its own claims professionals, insurance representatives, and attorneys evaluating the accident. Having an experienced lawyer on your side can help ensure that your interests are represented throughout the process.
Your Attorney Should Evaluate the Value of Your Claim
Another important result you should expect from your cruise ship attorney is a realistic assessment of your potential claim.
That does not mean your lawyer should immediately give you a dollar figure.
The value of a cruise injury claim can depend on many factors, including:
- The severity of your injuries
- Whether your injuries are permanent
- Past medical expenses
- Future medical treatment
- Lost wages
- Loss of future earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Disability or impairment
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- The strength of the evidence
- The likelihood of establishing liability
- The defenses raised by the cruise line
- The applicable law and terms of the passenger contract
Two people can suffer similar accidents and ultimately have dramatically different claims.
For example, a passenger who suffers a minor ankle sprain may have a very different claim from someone who suffers a fractured hip requiring surgery and months of rehabilitation.
An attorney should evaluate the entire picture rather than assigning a value to a case based solely on the type of accident.
You Should Expect Your Attorney to Pursue a Settlement
Many cruise ship injury claims are resolved through settlement rather than a trial.
After investigating the claim and gathering appropriate evidence, your attorney may present a demand to the cruise line or its representatives seeking compensation for your injuries and losses.
The cruise line may accept the demand, reject it, make a counteroffer, request additional information, or deny the claim entirely.
Negotiations can take time.
Your attorney should explain the offers you receive and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your case so that you can make an informed decision about whether to accept an offer.
A settlement should not be accepted simply because the cruise line has offered money.
The important question is whether the proposed settlement reasonably reflects the damages, risks, evidence, and potential outcome of your particular case.
What If the Cruise Line Denies Your Claim?
A denied claim does not necessarily mean the case is over.
Cruise lines and their insurers may dispute liability for a variety of reasons. They may argue that the cruise line did not know about a dangerous condition, that the passenger was responsible for the accident, that another company was responsible, or that the passenger’s injuries are not as serious as claimed.
Your attorney should explain why the claim was denied and determine whether additional evidence or legal action may be appropriate.
Depending on the circumstances, that could mean continuing negotiations, providing additional evidence, pursuing another form of dispute resolution, or filing a lawsuit.
The appropriate strategy depends on the facts and the requirements of the applicable passenger contract.
You May Eventually Need to File a Lawsuit
Not every cruise injury claim ends up in court. But a lawsuit may become necessary when the cruise line refuses to offer fair compensation or denies responsibility for the accident.
If litigation becomes necessary, your attorney should be prepared to take the case through the litigation process.
That may involve:
- Filing the complaint
- Serving the appropriate parties
- Conducting discovery
- Obtaining documents
- Taking depositions
- Working with medical or other experts
- Responding to motions
- Negotiating throughout the litigation
- Preparing the case for trial
- Presenting the case to a judge or jury when necessary
The possibility of litigation can also affect settlement negotiations. A cruise line that knows an attorney is prepared to take a case to court may approach negotiations differently than it would when dealing directly with an injured passenger.
How Long Will a Cruise Ship Injury Case Take?
There is no universal timeline for a cruise ship injury case.
Some claims may be resolved relatively quickly. Others can take months or longer, particularly when injuries are serious, liability is disputed, multiple parties are involved, or litigation becomes necessary.
Your attorney may need to wait until your medical condition becomes clearer before determining the full extent of your damages.
For example, if doctors believe that additional surgery or long-term treatment may be necessary, it may be difficult to accurately evaluate the full value of the claim immediately after the accident.
Patience can therefore be important.
The goal should not simply be to resolve the claim as quickly as possible. The goal should be to reach an appropriate resolution while protecting your legal rights.
What Results Should You Expect From Your Cruise Ship Attorney?
Ultimately, the most important result is not a particular dollar amount.
You should expect your attorney to:
Protect Your Legal Rights
Your lawyer should identify applicable deadlines and contractual requirements and make sure that important legal steps are taken on time.
Investigate Your Accident
Your attorney should work to determine what happened, why it happened, and who may be responsible.
Preserve Important Evidence
Your lawyer should identify evidence that may be important to your claim and take appropriate steps to preserve or obtain it.
Deal With the Cruise Line
You should not have to navigate the cruise line’s claims process by yourself. Your attorney should handle appropriate communications and negotiations on your behalf.
Evaluate Your Damages
Your lawyer should help determine the full extent of your losses rather than focusing only on the medical bills you have received so far.
Pursue Fair Compensation
Your attorney should work toward obtaining the best possible result supported by the facts and law of your case.
Explain Your Options
Perhaps most importantly, you should understand what is happening with your case and what choices you have at important stages of the process.
Can a Cruise Ship Attorney Guarantee a Settlement or Verdict?
No.
No ethical attorney can guarantee that a cruise line will settle your claim or promise that you will receive a specific amount of money.
The outcome of a cruise injury case depends on the evidence, applicable law, the extent of your injuries, the cruise line’s defenses, and many other factors.
Be cautious of any attorney who promises a specific result before conducting a thorough investigation.
Instead, look for an attorney who can explain the strengths and weaknesses of your case and give you an honest assessment of your legal options.
What About the Settlement Amounts You See on a Law Firm’s Website?
You may see cruise injury attorneys advertising past settlements and verdicts on their websites.
Past results can demonstrate that a law firm has experience handling serious cruise injury claims, but they should not be treated as a prediction of what your case will be worth.
For example, CruiseLawyers.com has reported past recoveries involving injuries such as head injuries, spinal injuries, and serious falls. Those results illustrate the types of cases the firm has handled, but every case has different facts, injuries, evidence, and legal issues.
A lawyer should evaluate your individual circumstances rather than promising that your case will produce a result similar to someone else’s.
Why Experience With Cruise Ship Injury Cases Matters
Cruise ship injury claims are different from many ordinary personal injury cases.
Maritime law may apply. Passenger ticket contracts can contain important provisions concerning deadlines, venue, arbitration, and litigation. Cruise lines have experienced claims departments and defense attorneys. Evidence may be located onboard a ship or controlled by a company operating internationally.
That is why experience with cruise injury cases can matter.
Waks and Barnett, P.A., has represented injured cruise passengers and crew members for more than 35 years. The firm is based in Miami and focuses on cruise ship and maritime injury claims involving major cruise lines.
Our attorneys understand the importance of investigating a claim early, preserving evidence, determining who may be responsible, and pursuing compensation through negotiation or litigation when appropriate.
What Should I Expect After Hiring a Cruise Ship Attorney?
You should expect your attorney to become your advocate.
That means investigating your accident, communicating with the cruise line, protecting important evidence, evaluating your injuries and losses, explaining the legal process, negotiating for appropriate compensation, and pursuing litigation when necessary.
You should also expect honesty.
A good cruise ship attorney will not promise that your case will settle for a particular amount or guarantee that you will win. Instead, your lawyer should explain the risks and opportunities involved and help you make informed decisions as your case develops.
If you were injured on a cruise ship, you should not have to figure out the process alone.
Waks and Barnett, P.A. has been representing injured cruise passengers and crew members for more than 35 years. If you have questions about a cruise ship injury or want to understand your legal options, contact our experienced cruise ship injury attorneys for a confidential case review.