Prior Incidents in the Royal Caribbean Catacombs Lounge

Posted by HolzbergLegal | February 7, 2012

I read with great interest the sad story of the passenger, Massachusetts Resident, Barbara Wood, who died falling down the stairway in the Catacombs Lounge on Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas this past week. I was shocked to read this since we had an almost identical case several years ago, after the Liberty’s first sail. Fortunately our client did not die but suffered severe traumatic brain injuries. We have extensive photographic history, discovery, including our own engineer’s reports and measurements regarding how dangerous these stairs actually are. The photographs seen on my friend, colleague, and frequent co-counsel, Jim Walker’s blog, cruise law news, brought back the memories and lessons of this case.

The stairs are visually deceptive, in my opinion, and that of our engineer, and in fact, when leaving the darkened Catacombs Lounge at night (also known, ironically, as The Crypt), coming from cloaking darkness to this sea glass distortion of the steps, and severe front-to-back depth measurements of the first few stairs, makes this a trap waiting to ensnare an unknowing happy passenger.

If anybody has any information on this incident or similar incidents, as well as the family members of the victim or witnesses, please call us. This prior notice of our claim, may prove a key element of any future litigation involving the Wood family.