Cruise ships are meant to be a place of rest, relaxation and romance. However, just as with any other location, accidents can and do happen, often resulting in injury. Injuries can occur from wet floors, falling down stairs or even falling over the side of the ship. Food poisoning or a rampant virus on a cruise ship could also be considered injury. The laws applied to cruise ship injuries are dependent on where the ship is when the injuries occur. If the ship is in the navigable waters of the U.S. and within the territorial waters of a coastal state like Florida then U.S. laws of that state would apply. However, if the ship s outside state territorial waters, typically three miles from land then general maritime law applies to the ship. Maritime law states that ship owners owe a duty of reasonable care to their passengers. Basically, passengers on cruise ships can bring a suit for injury the same as if they had been injured elsewhere by a third party. There are attorneys who specialize in maritime law and handle cruise ship injury cases.