Kentucky Passenger Sues Carnival Cruise Line After Leg Breaks Through Rotten Boardwalk on Progreso Shore Excursion
Ellen Henderson, a resident of Kentucky, has filed a maritime personal injury lawsuit against Carnival Corporation and unidentified shore excursion operators in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Filed on October 14, 2026, under Case No. 1:26-cv-27209-JEM, the complaint alleges that Henderson suffered severe and lasting injuries to her right leg and knee when a deteriorated wooden boardwalk gave way beneath her during a Carnival-sponsored shore excursion in Progreso, Mexico, while she was a passenger aboard the Carnival Valor.
Carnival Valor Passenger Injured at Silcer Beach Club in Progreso Mexico Due to Deteriorated Wooden Decking
According to the lawsuit, the incident took place on October 16, 2025, while Henderson was sailing aboard the Carnival Valor out of New Orleans, Louisiana. While on board the vessel, Henderson selected and purchased a shore excursion marketed and sold by Carnival as the Open-Top Bus City Tour and Beach with Lunch and Drinks. The excursion included guided transportation, a city tour, and a stop at Silcer Beach Club in Progreso, Mexico. Henderson booked the excursion directly through Carnival aboard the ship rather than arranging a tour independently with a local operator, relying on the cruise line’s representations that the excursion was part of the curated cruise vacation experience.
Upon arriving at Silcer Beach Club, the local excursion guide dropped off the passengers and departed to retrieve another group, leaving no Carnival personnel on site to supervise or assist guests. After swimming in a pool with her grandson, Henderson held his hand and walked toward a food vendor. As she stepped up approximately two steps onto a pedestrian wooden boardwalk within the private beach club property, her right leg suddenly broke completely through a compromised wooden board. Her leg became trapped and dangled through the broken opening in the decking. Following the fall, a nearby vendor reportedly remarked that the broken wooden board was rotten. Henderson alleges that neither Carnival nor the local excursion operators provided any warning signs, verbal cautions, or barriers indicating that the boardwalk contained weakened or decaying wood.
Lawsuit Alleges Longstanding History of Deteriorating Wooden Walkways in Progreso and Failure to Inspect Excursion Premises
The complaint asserts that the local excursion operators and Carnival knew or reasonably should have known about the hazardous condition of the wooden boardwalk prior to the incident. To illustrate the prevalence of decaying wooden infrastructure in the region, the lawsuit references multiple published news reports in local Yucatan media outlets documenting dangerous, deteriorating wooden decking along public waterfront walkways in Progreso between 2023 and early 2025. These reports detailed broken boards, open holes covered only by makeshift cones or boxes, hurricane-related structural damage, and prior tourist falls and injuries. While the complaint notes that these published reports specifically concerned public promenades rather than the private boardwalk inside Silcer Beach Club, they are cited to highlight the widespread and foreseeable nature of weather-worn wooden decking hazards in the port area.
Beyond regional conditions, Henderson alleges that Carnival failed to fulfill its duty to properly vet, inspect, and monitor the shore excursion venue. The lawsuit contends that Carnival should have discovered the unsafe boardwalk conditions through its initial approval process, mandatory annual site inspections, safety history reviews, and evaluations of prior passenger complaints. By failing to identify the rotten decking or require the local operator to repair the pedestrian walkway, Carnival allegedly invited passengers into an uninspected and unreasonably dangerous environment beyond the point of disembarkation without issuing any warnings.
Plaintiff Requires Surgery and Nerve Treatment Following Progreso Beach Club Boardwalk Collapse
Immediately following the accident at Silcer Beach Club, Henderson was transported back to the Carnival Valor for medical evaluation in the shipboard medical center. The ship doctor performed X-rays, noted no bone fractures at the time, placed her right leg in a brace, and instructed her to obtain comprehensive medical care upon returning home. Carnival subsequently refunded the cost of the shore excursion ticket and waived her onboard medical fees.
Once back in Kentucky, Henderson sought emergency and follow-up care at Bowling Green Medical Center, followed by extensive primary care and orthopedic evaluations. Diagnostic MRI imaging revealed a significant hematoma and a torn right meniscus. According to the complaint, Henderson endured persistent swelling, a palpable knot, severe pain, numbness, tingling, and burning sensations in her lower extremity. Due to the severity of her injuries, she underwent surgical intervention on May 15, 2026, to remove the hematoma, and later required ongoing pain management procedures, including a trial nerve ablation. The lawsuit states that she has incurred approximately 22,000 dollars in lost earnings to date, alongside mounting medical bills and a permanent reduction in her quality of life.
Complaint Asserts Negligent Retention, Failure to Warn, Apparent Agency, and Joint Venture Claims Against Carnival
Henderson brings five distinct counts in her federal complaint, targeting both the unnamed shoreside excursion entities and Carnival Corporation directly. Against the excursion operators, she alleges direct negligence for failing to maintain, repair, or replace the rotted pedestrian decking and failing to warn guests of the structural trap. Against Carnival, she asserts claims for negligent retention of an unfit excursion operator, negligent failure to warn of foreseeable shoreside hazards, negligence based on apparent agency, and negligence based on a joint venture relationship.
In support of the apparent agency and joint venture theories, the complaint details how Carnival marketed the Progreso tour using its corporate branding, operated an onboard excursion desk to answer passenger questions, discouraged guests from booking independent tours outside of Carnival, and handled all ticketing, fee collection, and receipts exclusively. Henderson asserts that she reasonably believed the excursion operators were agents or partners of the cruise line and that she would not have participated in the tour had she known Carnival disclaimed responsibility for the safety of the beach club premises. Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges that Carnival and the local operators shared control, proprietary interests, profits, and losses from the ticket sales, rendering them jointly and severally liable for the injuries she sustained.
Contact a Cruise Ship Shore Excursion Injury Lawyer Today if You Were Hurt on a Defective Tour or Boardwalk
Cruise passengers who suffer serious injuries during cruise-sponsored shore excursions due to collapsed boardwalks, rotten decking, or poorly maintained resort facilities may be entitled to significant financial compensation under federal maritime law. Even when accidents occur off the vessel at private beach clubs or foreign ports of call, cruise lines like Carnival have a legal duty to warn passengers of known hazards and exercise reasonable care when selecting and retaining tour operators.
If you or a loved one suffered a leg, knee, or orthopedic injury during an unsafe cruise line shore excursion, our experienced maritime injury attorneys can help you investigate the incident and hold the responsible parties accountable. Contact us now to speak with a dedicated cruise ship shore excursion lawyer about your legal options.
Disclaimer: Our firm does not represent the plaintiff in this case and is not involved in the litigation. The information provided is a summary of allegations based on publicly available court filings. We make no representations about the truth of these allegations, are not commenting on the merits of the case, and are not predicting any outcome.
