Cruise Ship Injury Deadlines

How short a ticket can make the time to give notice and to sue

The statute sets the floor: “The owner, master, manager, or agent of a vessel transporting passengers or property between ports in the United States, or between a port in the United States and a port in a foreign country, may not limit by regulation, contract, or otherwise the period for” (46 U.S.C. § 30526(b)) giving notice or suing, as its two paragraphs set out.

For notice of the injury: “giving notice of, or filing a claim for, personal injury or death, in the case of seagoing vessels, to less than 6 months after the date of the injury or death, or in the case of covered small passenger vessels, to less than two years after the date of the injury or death;” (46 U.S.C. § 30526(b)(1))

For a lawsuit: “bringing a civil action for personal injury or death, in the case of seagoing vessels, to less than one year after the date of the injury or death, or in the case of covered small passenger vessels, to less than two years after the date of the injury or death.” (46 U.S.C. § 30526(b)(2))

Which vessels it covers: “This section applies only to seagoing vessels, but does not apply to pleasure yachts, tugs, towboats, towing vessels, tank vessels, fishing vessels, fish tender vessels, canal boats, scows, car floats, barges, lighters, or nondescript vessels.” (46 U.S.C. § 30526(a))

No cruise line's ticket was read for this page, so it does not say what any ticket sets. Your ticket can set its own deadlines, and the section says it cannot set them earlier than these floors. Read the ticket's terms on notice and on suits, and keep a copy.

A covered small passenger vessel

The longer floors apply to a covered small passenger vessel, which the chapter defines by reference to the small passenger vessels of section 2101, carrying “not more than 49 passengers on an overnight domestic voyage;” (46 U.S.C. § 30501(1)(A)) and “not more than 150 passengers on any voyage that is not an overnight domestic voyage;” (46 U.S.C. § 30501(1)(A)) The definition also “includes any wooden vessel constructed prior to March 11, 1996, carrying at least 1 passenger for hire.” (46 U.S.C. § 30501(1)(B))

If you are not sure which kind of vessel it was, the tool counts the seagoing floors, the shorter ones.

If the notice deadline was missed

The section does not make a missed notice the end of a claim in every case: “When notice of a claim for personal injury or death is required by a contract, the failure to give the notice is not a bar to recovery if” (46 U.S.C. § 30526(c))

First, “the court finds that the owner, master, or agent of the vessel had knowledge of the injury or death and the owner has not been prejudiced by the failure;” (46 U.S.C. § 30526(c)(1)) Second, “the court finds there was a satisfactory reason why the notice could not have been given;” (46 U.S.C. § 30526(c)(2)) Third, “the owner of the vessel fails to object to the failure to give the notice.” (46 U.S.C. § 30526(c)(3))

For a minor, a person who is mentally incompetent or a wrongful death claim: “If a claimant is a minor or mental incompetent, or if a claim is for wrongful death, any period provided by a contract for giving notice of the claim is tolled until the earlier of” (46 U.S.C. § 30526(d)) either “the date a legal representative is appointed for the minor, incompetent, or decedent's estate;” (46 U.S.C. § 30526(d)(1)) or “3 years after the injury or death.” (46 U.S.C. § 30526(d)(2))

Whether any of those reaches your claim is a question for a lawyer. Give the notice your ticket requires as soon as you can, in the way it requires, and keep a copy.

The maritime period where no ticket term shortens it

The general maritime period reads: “Except as otherwise provided by law, a civil action for damages for personal injury or death arising out of a maritime tort must be brought within 3 years after the cause of action arose.” (46 U.S.C. § 30106)

For a claim against the United States as a vessel's owner or operator, the Suits in Admiralty Act sets its own period: “A civil action under this chapter must be brought within 2 years after the cause of action arose.” (46 U.S.C. § 30905) The Jones Act page on this site counts that one.

The tool counts the maritime period from the date of the injury. The section counts from when the cause of action arose, which can be later and is not earlier, so the date shown is the earliest that period can end.

What a cruise ticket cannot take away

A ticket cannot excuse negligence: “The owner, master, manager, or agent of a vessel transporting passengers between ports in the United States, or between a port in the United States and a port in a foreign country, may not include in a regulation or contract a provision limiting” (46 U.S.C. § 30527(a)(1)) either “the liability of the owner, master, or agent for personal injury or death caused by the negligence or fault of the owner or the owner's employees or agents;” (46 U.S.C. § 30527(a)(1)(A)) or “the right of a claimant for personal injury or death to a trial by court of competent jurisdiction.” (46 U.S.C. § 30527(a)(1)(B))

And: “A provision described in paragraph (1) is void.” (46 U.S.C. § 30527(a)(2))

There is one carve-out, for emotional harm on its own: “Subsection (a) does not prohibit a provision in a contract or in ticket conditions of carriage with a passenger that relieves an owner, master, manager, agent, operator, or crewmember of a vessel from liability for infliction of emotional distress, mental suffering, or psychological injury so long as the provision does not limit such liability when the emotional distress, mental suffering, or psychological injury is” (46 U.S.C. § 30527(b)(1)) “the result of physical injury to the claimant caused by the negligence or fault of a crewmember or the owner, master, manager, agent, or operator;” (46 U.S.C. § 30527(b)(1)(A)), “the result of the claimant having been at actual risk of physical injury, and the risk was caused by the negligence or fault of a crewmember or the owner, master, manager, agent, or operator; or” (46 U.S.C. § 30527(b)(1)(B)) “intentionally inflicted by a crewmember or the owner, master, manager, agent, or operator.” (46 U.S.C. § 30527(b)(1)(C))

And a limit on that carve-out: “This subsection does not limit the liability of a crewmember or the owner, master, manager, agent, or operator of a vessel in a case involving sexual harassment, sexual assault, or rape.” (46 U.S.C. § 30527(b)(2))

What to bring to a cruise ship injury lawyer

Bring the ticket and its terms and conditions, the booking confirmation, any report you made on board and its number, the names of crew and other passengers who saw what happened, photographs of the place and of the injury, the ship's medical records and every record of treatment after the voyage, and a note of the dates.

Bring the dates this tool counts too, and any notice you gave the cruise line with the date you gave it. A lawyer can read the ticket's own terms against the floors quoted above.

What this page does not cover

It does not read any cruise line's ticket, so it does not say where a ticket requires a suit to be filed or what notice it requires. It reads no court decision. It does not cover a crew member's claim, which the Jones Act page covers, or a death at sea, which runs on a statute this page did not read.

It quotes the statute as the 2024 edition of the United States Code prints it, after the 2022 renumbering, and a later change is not reflected until this page is updated.