There is a
video done 3 years ago by a guest on the same boat (different trip), same deck along the window area (not sure if it's the exact same side as the incident occurred on but the deck is symmetrical so the other side would be the exactly the same). This video completely blows all the family's arguments out of the water.
1 - they claim that there was no way of knowing the window was open. Video you can clearly see even from a distance from the way the glass is tinted that the dark windows are glass and the open windows are dramatically lighter. Possibly at night, this might be difficult to see, but not on a sunny afternoon.
2 - that this was a "hazard located in a children's play area". While you can see a splash pad off to the left it's quite some distance from the windows. The windows are clearly in a seating/lounge area, and in fact, there are mostly adults relaxing here and hardly if any children playing because there's nothing to play on/with in the sheltered seating area.
3 - that she didn't "fall from his arms". the video turns to the side while in the window frame and you can see exactly how narrow the rail they claim he set her on is. There is no way any rational person would put a wobbly 2 year old on a rail like that and not hold onto them for fear of even just having a foot slip and fall down hurting herself on the rail itself. Claiming specifically that she didn't "fall from his arms" never really helped their case to begin with. They way they said it on tv, it sounds like they want you to believe he just set her there and let go to lean on the glass, expecting the glass to hold her up. Still highly irresponsible even if the window was closed.
4 - That she wanted to be "lifted so she could bang on the glass". The fact the video shows windows along the floor she was more than capable of banging on from floor level without being set on the rail also doesn't help their argument. Especially combined with the publicly released photos of her at the hockey rink, on the floor at the glass, not being held up by anyone. Why the sudden need to be held to bang on the glass if she never had to before?
Even with this video aside, the family basically shot their civil lawsuit in the foot by claiming she had been intentionally set on the railing. This clearly violates
Royal Caribbean's guest conduct policy, last revised Nov 2018 prior to the incident. The policy that all guests receive a copy of clearly states on the top of Page 2:
"Unsafe Behavior: Sitting, standing, lying or climbing on, over or across any exterior or interior railings or other protective barriers, or tampering with ship’s equipment, facilities or systems designed for guest safety is not permitted. Guests may not enter or access any area that is restricted and for the use of crew members. Any other unsafe behavior, including failure to follow security instructions, is not permitted."
They admit that they engaged in unsafe behavior in violation of the ship's rules of conduct. Even if you argue that they probably didn't read them, the ships always have a safety briefing before departure that includes things like evacuation information and warnings not to climb on rails because of risk of falling overboard.
This was definitely a tragedy, but the fact they were so willing to fly straight to the media and tell their story there but not give an official statement to investigators after the initial questions at the time of the incident raised huge red flags for me. Even if it was nothing more then a horrible accident, they went way to defensive and started threatening way to loudly they were going to sue way to fast.
jmho though
