Employees of cruise ships have two very important rights if they’re injured during their work or during their time on the ship. The first is called Maintenance and Cure, the second is called Jones Act negligence. Maintenance and Cure says that if an employee is working on a cruise ship and they are injured, they are entitled to have their medical expenses paid and to have their cost of living paid for by the cruise ship company until they reach maximum medical improvement. What that means is they are entitled to subsidized living expenses for as long as their injury persists.
In addition, if the cruise ship company is negligent or if any employee of the cruise ship company is negligent and that cause the accident, the employee would be entitled to damages including pain and suffering, medical expenses, loss of income into the future, inconvenience and disfigurement damages. Those are very important rights that every cruise ship employee based out the United States has, and it’s important that you preserve your rights if you’re injured while working on a ship.
