Cases involving injuries to cruise ship passengers may include injuries, deaths, missing passengers who apparently fell in the ocean, passengers being hit by falling objects, food poisoning, being thrown by rough seas due to the neglect of the captain and nearly every other conceivable type of injury possible on land can exist on cruise ships. Injuries also occur when passengers leave the ship to visit ports of call. Cruise ships arrange and promote tours, trips, scuba, fishing and other activities and sometimes they do not check out or monitor the safety of these companies that provide the services the cruise ship sells to the passengers.
Avalon, or Avalon Bay, is the only incorporated city on Santa Catalina Island of the California Channel Islands. Besides Avalon, the only other center of population on the island is the small unincorporated town of Two Harbors. Avalon was first settled in pre-modern times by members of the Gabrielino/Tongva tribe. From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, several different developers tried to develop Avalon into a resort destination community, but most went bankrupt. In 1919, William Wrigley, Jr. gained control of Avalon. Wrigley oversaw much of the development of Avalon, including the construction of the landmark Catalina Casino. At the beginning of the 21st century, Avalon remains primarily a resort community. Most of the waterfront is dominated by tourism-oriented businesses. The older parts of the town on the valley floor consists primarily of small houses and two and three-story buildings in various traditional architectural styles. There are also several large apartment complexes nestled in the hills on either side of the valley, so that they are not obvious in most postcard photos of Avalon.