A cruise passenger from Florida has sued Carnival for $5 million, claiming that he badly burned his feet on one of its ship’s hot pool decks.
Jorge Luis Alverio Nunez was aboard the Carnival Magic ship in May 2025 when he suffered from second-degree burns on the soles of his feet “within seconds” of walking barefoot on the Lido deck, according to a lawsuit filed earlier this month.
Nunez, who allegedly sustained the burns while walking about 20 steps from the pool to his lounge chair, is arguing that the cruise line’s deck was “unreasonably and dangerously hot.”
“While a passenger may reasonably expect an exterior deck surface exposed to sunlight to become warm, [Nunez] could not reasonably anticipate that the deck surface had reached temperatures capable of causing severe second-degree burns within seconds of ordinary contact,” the lawsuit said, per news outlets KTVB and NBC 6.
A spokesperson for Carnival told The Independent that it does not comment on pending litigation.
Carnival had been warned by the manufacturer of the pool deck as early as 2014 that it could “become dangerously hot,” according to the lawsuit.
The cruise line also allegedly failed to take measures to address the issue, such as replacing the deck with a safer material, posting warning signs about the hot surface, monitoring deck temperatures, cooling the surface, providing shade, or requiring passengers to wear shoes on the deck.
Nunez is seeking more than $5 million in damages after sustaining a “life changing injury” that requires continued “extensive medical treatment,” according to the lawsuit.
He also allegedly suffered mental anguish and lost earnings.
The lawsuit claims at least 25 Carnival guests have been burned in similar incidents in the six years before Nunez’s injury.
Another 42 passengers had filed their own complaints about the heat on Carnival decks during the same period, according to the lawsuit.
Two passengers had suffered burns “so bad that the passengers each required amputation of the foot and leg up to below the knee,” the lawsuit said, citing two previous cases.
