PR: Reports: Toddler slips from grandfather's arms on cruise ship, falls 150'

[hoosierdoc]

Family and child are coming home

pretty clear they will be suing the cruise line. As someone who works in an industry with a parental-style responsibility for others it’s very difficult to interact with someone who is planning to sue. Such a tragic situation that unfortunately will drag out for years, unless royal Caribbean pays a few million to end it. Abrupt child loss sucks beyond belief. I can’t imagine having to continually deal with protracted issues for years beyond just grief and healing

 

[HoughMade]

...and there it is.

[h=1]Mother of Indiana girl who fell to her death on cruise ship says family will sue Royal Caribbean: ‘To lose our baby this way is just unfathomable’[/h]


https://www.chicagotribune.com/subu...HNiiirx-26mpg3eVVo6niI_Oi9_4MdL3EXGQm9OtJeu7Q

 

[femurphy77]

Denial. Vengeance. Righteousness. Cash.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

...and there it is.

Mother of Indiana girl who fell to her death on cruise ship says family will sue Royal Caribbean: ‘To lose our baby this way is just unfathomable’




https://www.chicagotribune.com/subu...HNiiirx-26mpg3eVVo6niI_Oi9_4MdL3EXGQm9OtJeu7Q

I am at least a little bit sympathetic to them. I mean, if you were in a high rise office building, with literal walls of glass, would your expectation be that none of those glass panels would be open? Mine would be. Yet in that wall of glass on the ship, that was the one and only panel that was open? They claimed it was for ventilation (or so I heard on the news this morning). So... cruise ships don't have air conditioning? They have to open one single window for ventilation? I dunno... Maybe they could put a screen in it if they have to have it open.

Now of course this all presupposes that events happened just as the family has described, and absent any security footage or other eye witnesses, I guess we can't know that. I just know that if I were going to have an open window, 11 stories up, I'd make it pretty difficult for anyone to get near.

 

[churchmouse]

Did anyone do a blood alcohol on Grampa...???

 

[JettaKnight]

...and there it is.

Mother of Indiana girl who fell to her death on cruise ship says family will sue Royal Caribbean: ‘To lose our baby this way is just unfathomable’




https://www.chicagotribune.com/subu...HNiiirx-26mpg3eVVo6niI_Oi9_4MdL3EXGQm9OtJeu7Q

Speaking as an RCL shareholder, they can pound sand, as far as I'm concerned. I highly doubt the bottom of that window is any lower than the top of the railing around the deck. I guess the best case is that RCL pays a small sum to get it over with, and the family can move on a lay the blame on RCL.


Of course, I get it - blame a big, faceless corporation rather than accept the horrifying reality that your own family's negligence resulted in this tragedy. I'm sure it helps them deal with the loss. Isn't blame one of those steps of grieving?



Also, that's one huge sea vessel.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Did anyone do a blood alcohol on Grampa...???

Good question. I've not heard one way or another.

 

[JettaKnight]

Did anyone do a blood alcohol on Grampa...???

Have you seen the prices for alcohol on those boats?


If he's like me, then he was more sober then than any other time - I took a vacation from alcohol while my wife made ride on that stupid boat.

 

[HoughMade]

There is security footage- not released to the public.

The window was high enough that no one could just wander out of it. The bottom panel is fixed. Also, there was a railing, the distance from the window, I don't know but it looks like a foot to 18", so someone could not simply walk up and lean out the window.

I have all the sympathy in the world for them and there may be other factors, but I have a hard time understanding how the grandfather could not see the window was open from less than an arms-length away. Sympathy, even empathy....but that has never gotten in the way of how I evaluate a lawsuit. I don't know enough to come to a firm conclusion, but I'm a little skeptical about the cruise line's liability.

 

[femurphy77]

Reading some of the comments in the most current version of the article indicates that the window bottoms are 4 feet above the deck, behind a railing and are NOT in a children's play area. Commenters also stated that windows are tinted green and very obvious (to most at least) that they are open. Having never been on this boat I don't know. I believe in one of the initial stories it said that Gpaw was holding the child OUT OF THE WINDOW when he lost his grip.

None of it really matters at the end of the day though as the child is still dead.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Speaking as an RCL shareholder, they can pound sand, as far as I'm concerned. I highly doubt the bottom of that window is any lower than the top of the railing around the deck. I guess the best case is that RCL pays a small sum to get it over with, and the family can move on a lay the blame on RCL.


Of course, I get it - blame a big, faceless corporation rather than accept the horrifying reality that your own family's negligence resulted in this tragedy. I'm sure it helps them deal with the loss. Isn't blame one of those steps of grieving?



Also, that's one huge sea vessel.

The difference being that one knows that the top rail is open to the outside, and one should expect that if a person is sitting or climbing on the top rail of the deck, there's a distinct possibility that they could fall overboard. Why weren't any of the other windows open? I'm kind of playing devil's advocate here of course, but I think some questions are valid.

 

[Expat]

HM posted what I was asking about while I was typing and folding laundry.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I'd not seen those pics Hough. I do see the railing now, although it's difficult to tell how far from the window it is. I would think that if there is indeed video, it will be presented in court by the cruise line if the suit goes to court, and should remove all doubt as to what actually happened.

 

[JettaKnight]

I can't help but think that this sort of thing is the reason I can't open a window in a hotel room.


Here in the office we have huge rotating windows that have a three foot wide, and eight feet high opening that's no more that two feet above the floor.

Old school.

 

[femurphy77]

I can't help but think that this sort of thing is the reason I can't open a window in a hotel room.


Here in the office we have huge rotating windows that have a three foot wide, and eight feet high opening that's no more that two feet above the floor.

Old school.

 

[JettaKnight]

The grandfather has been charged with homicide.

https://www.wane.com/news/indiana/grandfather-charged-in-puerto-rico-cruise-ship-death/

 

[femurphy77]

The grandfather has been charged with homicide.

https://www.wane.com/news/indiana/grandfather-charged-in-puerto-rico-cruise-ship-death/

Heard that this morning, other than drastically reducing the responsibility of RCL no purpose will be served.

 

[printcraft]

Where is the always follow the money guy?

If there was no lawsuit this would not be happening.
The local .gov down there is protecting a huge revenue stream.

 

[Hkindiana]

Heard that this morning, other than drastically reducing the responsibility of RCL no purpose will be served.

The “purpose” that will be served is to set an example that there ARE repercussions for stupidity/bad decisions, and just maybe someone will think twice before doing the same thing. Do you think that the parents who ‘“accidentally” leave their children in hot cars to die, should not be prosecuted, because “no purpose will be served”?

 

[HoughMade]

The “purpose” that will be served is to set an example that there ARE repercussions for stupidity/bad decisions, and just maybe someone will think twice before doing the same thing. Do you think that the parents who ‘“accidentally” leave their children in hot cars to die, should not be prosecuted, because “no purpose will be served”?

There's that.

I'm neither here nor there on criminal charges in this case. I see how what happened fits the definition of a negligent homicide, but whether I would charge or not I don't know. It seems to me that he was at least negligent, if not reckless.

I do, however, believe that a lawsuit against the cruise line is absurd and there should be consequences for that. "Grandpa killed my kid, give me money." I am not known for empathy to begin with and the lawsuit reduced any sympathy I had by a large percentage. I actually have more sympathy for the grandfather.