New York residents have probably been following the news of the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster with great interest. But here's some more unusual news involving a cruise ship; a woman died after a slip and fall accident aboard a Royal Caribbean Cruise ship.

The 47-year-old woman was on a five-day cruise aboard the Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas. Early Monday morning, she was leaving the cruise ship's nightclub when she slipped and fell down a staircase. She hit her head in the fall and was taken to the ship's infirmary, but it seems there was nothing there that medical professionals could do to save her. She was pronounced dead shortly before 3 a.m.

Although foul play is not suspected in her death, the FBI and local authorities are investigating because that is standard procedure. Authorities say that all early indications seem to show that her death was an accident.

As this woman's unfortunate death is further looked into, it is likely that investigators will be trying to determine what caused her fall. She was leaving a nightclub; had she had too much to drink? She fell down a staircase; was the staircase too steep, improperly lit or wet? These are among the many factors that people look to in slip and fall accidents. If it is determine that the cruise ship's staff or its designer was to blame for the woman's fall, there may be a lawsuit filed by the woman's family. In cases where people are hurt or killed because a property owner did not exercise the requisite care, the injured party or his or her estate can sometimes recover funds to be used to address the financial consequences of the accident.

Source: The Taunton Daily Gazette, "Middleboro woman dies after fall on cruise ship," Jan. 30, 2012