Jennifer Hagel Smith and Royal Caribbean Reach Settlement in Missing Honeymooner George Smith case
In a rather stunning development Jennifer Hagel Smith, the wife of missing 
honeymooner George Allen Smith IV has reached a settlement with Royal Caribbean Cruise line. The terms of the settlement are subject to approval by a Connecticut probate court.
Royal Caribbean International and Jennifer Hagel Smith have reached an agreement settling any potential claims regarding the death of her husband George Smith IV. The company entered into this agreement to provide closure and move forward.
The terms of the settlement are subject to approval by a Connecticut probate court. Royal Caribbean will continue in its good faith efforts to ensure Ms. Hagel Smith has access to all information regarding her husband’s disappearance. (Yahoo News)
What a crock this settlement is on both the part of Royal Caribbean and Jennifer Hagel Smith. This nonsense occurs constantly on cruise ships and nothing is ever done because the victims of crimes or families of the victims settle for monetary amounts rather that effecting change. Maybe Jennifer Hagel Smith can explain to George Smith’s family how a settlement honors her husband. Royal Caribbean in typical fashion come out with a BS PR statement:
“She has handled herself well under the most trying of circumstances and we applaud her constructive approach to resolving this matter — so much so that our company will also match a contribution by Ms. Hagel Smith to a charity of her choosing. We believe this agreement will help Jennifer to move forward in her life, while honoring the memory of her beloved husband.”
Funny, Royal Caribbean was not saying this same comment when Jennifer Hagel Smith sued them. I can only imagine how the family of George Smith is taking this news. I can almost count on the fact that they will not settle for a financial gain. They will honor their son by helping pass legislation so this does not happen again to others.
Statement form Jennifer Hagel Smith 
Does anyone else have a problem with the wording, “Jennifer Hagel Smith is pleased to announce that she has reached a comprehensive settlement”? Is please? Its a grim settlement to the death of your husband, not your wedding announcement. Geez.
Jennifer Hagel Smith is pleased to announce that she has reached a comprehensive settlement with Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. following the disappearance of her husband, George Allen Smith IV, on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in July 2005.
Royal Caribbean has agreed to provide Jennifer with additional access to substantial information and documents in order to assist her in obtaining answers regarding George Smith’s disappearance last summer. She will be permitted to review all relevant vessel logs, security reports, door activity (“lock- link”) reports, photographs, security tapes, correspondence to and from the FBI and other law enforcement authorities, as well as all statements of passengers and crew members obtained by the cruise line. This information will be provided upon completion of the settlement. A similar offer is readily available to the Smith family. (News Flash to Royal Caribbean … I hardly doubt the mother and father will want money for their dead son.)
Royal Caribbean will pay a financial settlement. The proposed settlement will be presented to the Court of Probate, District of Greenwich, in the State of Connecticut for the Court’s consideration and approval.
…
“This has been the most difficult and challenging year of my life,” said Jennifer. “I will always love George and cherish our time together. I feel blessed to have such a strong network of loyal family, friends and supporters who have provided me with such tremendous strength and encouragement. They have walked and sometimes carried me through this heartbreaking time. I am forever grateful.”
“My discussions with Royal Caribbean have been very open, as well as extremely productive and informative. This journey has always been a matter of principle for me, and I know that George would be proud of what has been accomplished thus far, in good faith, as we continue to seek answers. I appreciate Royal Caribbean’s cooperation, sincerity and efforts moving forward, which I believe will play a major role in helping all of us find closure. The memory of George will always live on in my heart, that of our families and everyone who knew him.”
Go here for Reward and tips information as to what happened to George Smith.
This was such a tragedy — life will never be the same for this family.
I saw this article and hoped that maybe George Smith III will make a difference.
http://www.cruisecommunity.com/ShowStory.asp?ID=9885
Lawmaker to introduce crime reporting bill
27/6/2006
Rep. Christopher Shays plans to introduce legislation on Wednesday that would specify how crimes on cruise ships are reported.
The legislation is titled the Cruise Line Accurate Safety Statistic Act, the Associated Press reports.
Shays, who has led two congressional subcommittee hearings on cruise ship safety, has said he is not convinced the statistics on crimes reported by the cruise industry are accurate.
The Connecticut lawmaker’s constituents include the family of missing honeymooner George Smith.
Comment by sharon | June 30, 2006
Now posted at http://www.safecruise.blogspot.com
Friday, June 30, 2006
Royal Caribbean Tries to Divide & Conquer Families of Victims by Settling Only With George Smith’s Widow and Not Entire Family
Royal Caribbean (RCCL) seeks to divide and conquer critics and families of victims by not settling with George Smith’s entire family. If they really cared about the families of victims and future passengers, they would settle with all of his family and one time and “they” would offer a reward for information that would help solve George Smith’s death. They do not seem to care if it is solved. Mr. Fain from RCCL said on Fox News last night that he is not sure when the last time RCCL and the FBI communicated about the case.
Cruise lines have little or no legal obligation to settle because they are not regulated. RCCL is incorporated in Liberia and for many years they flagged their ships in Liberia. A country with a dysfunctional legal court system and no regulations or laws to protect cruise line employees, customers, or stockholders. The Cruise lines have poured millions of dollars into lobbying efforts, at times using lobbyist closely connected to Jack Abramoff and we know what kind of tactics he used. That along with many thousands of dollars of campaign contributions have kept congress from passing any meaningful regulations.
Remember, they are giant gambling operations. Kind of like a floating crap game. And I have never known anyone who ran a crap game to be concerned with those gambling. Its used to be the only thing you could lose is your life, but with over 50 individuals missing or gone overboard, fires, and viruses since the year 2000, you could lose your life or health. Imagine if Disney World had 50 disappearances and/or deaths in the last 6 years. The only significant actions taken by the cruise lines in the last year was to spend more money on public relations efforts and issue new sets of talking points to their employees answering the phone when the subject of safety and security come up. The only thing the cruise lines care about is the bottom line. They do like to suck as much money from their customers as they can. They also suck as much blood, sweat, and tears from their employees as possible by offering low wages and few benefits.
Comment by SafeCruise | June 30, 2006
I hope George’s parents and sibling(s) sue her for some of the money…
I know they would want George back.. but this is WRONG.. she did NOT deserve any $$$
Comment by Cathy | July 10, 2006
[...] The minute Jennifer Hagel Smith signed her name to the Royal Caribbean Cruise settlement; we were waiting for the other shoe to drop. It was only a matter of time before the family of missing honeymooner, George Allen Smith IV, went ballistic and after Jennifer Hagel. Personally, I do not blame them one bit. The once united Smith & Hagel family vs. Royal Caribbean cruise lines is over. Although it would appear that the Smith family may have had their suspicions regarding Jennifer Hagel as to what she may have known regarding their son’s disappearance; Jennifer’s actions of settling all but sealed the deal for this family feud to erupt. [...]
Pingback by Jennifer Hagel Smith Settlement with Royal Caribbean has caused a family feud with Smith’s » Scared Monkeys Missing Persons Site | July 12, 2006
This was an accident pure and simple. There was no murder, sex or drugs involved.
George apparently engaged in drunken behavior throughout much of his brief honeymoon. Carousing with people other than his wife into the early morning hours, even staying out all night. Brides expect their husbands to be attentive to them during their honeymoon. George acted like this was a frat-party. Six days into the cruise, Jennifer was totally fed up with this behavior. She retaliated with her own drunken behavior, setting in motion a tragic series of events culminating in George’s death. George was no doubt a nice person with many fine characteristics. Tragedy can happen, especially when alcohol is involved.
Jennifer is no doubt generally a very nice person, however she has refused to accept any responsibility for her behavior. Instead, screaming foul play and spending her time on talk shows attempting to salvage her reputation by shifting blame to the cruise line and others. Her phony “can’t remember ploy” is painfully obvious. She remembers everything very well. The Smith family has aided Jennifer in this subterfuge by screaming murder when no murder has occurred. The fact that Jennifer has settled the case is de facto recognition that George’s death was an accident. The cruise line has elected to give her a monitary settlement to get the case off it’s back. This is sad because they are no way at fault. Don’t expect anything to come out of the information the cruise line is supposed to turn over to Jennifer. This is just another face saving ploy. The cruise line’s information has already been for the most part made public. Any additional information is simply going to support the case for accident.
I expect the FBI will soon close this case now that Jennifer has settled and moved on with her life. No charges will be filed. Any other disposition would be a miscarriage of justice.
There was no murder involved with this case. Do you really think that these 4 young men, who escorted George back to his room, on vacation with their families, are going to kill someone? Of course not.
As far as George is concerned, when left alone in his room, he simply became very distraught and angry, suspecting his new wife was having an affair in another man’s room. Remember, earlier in the evening, Jennifer was intoxicated and openly flirting with other men. She must have been very angry and frustrated with her husband to engage in this behavior. George noted this and confronted her at the bar. An angry exchange occurred and she kicked him in the genitals and stormed out of the disco. This behavior was witnessed by several people. Two of the men who escorted George back to his room believed that she had left with the casino manager and this was probably conveyed to him. To make matters worse, they were unable to find her after a brief search. While returning George to his room after the search, the couple in the next room heard someone in a kind voice asking George to “settle down”. You can bet that George was very concerned about his wife’s where-abouts and who she was with. He apparently was able to keep his anger in check while his friends were with him. However, when they left, his anger rose up and he began hitting his fist on the walls and furniture causing a minor injury and accounting for the small amount of blood found in the room. He probably looked in cabinets and drawers for a first aid kit or bandaids. The couples next door thought the room was being trashed and that furniture was being thrown against the wall, but later nothing was found amiss. Why? Because you don’t move walls. Mr. Hyman, next door, heard nothing that sounded like a struggle. No shouting or cursing, only some loud voices and arguing, probably discussing what happened to Jennifer. These people were highly intoxicated. George finally went out on the balcony to cool off, placed a chair near the railing, sat on the railing and fell over backwards in his intoxicated state. Probably landing on his head, causing a scalp laceration, serious bleeding, and eventually falling into the sea.
Comment by RGEE | July 12, 2006
There are some big puzzles to this tragic case. Most women who drink as Jennifer allegedly did have to use the bathroom. Before she got up to go to the spa, didn’t she use the bathroom ? If so, wouldn’t she have seen some blood or whatever in there? She may still have been quite disoriented from the night before. I still think it was foul play, but there are a few things that don’t add up with the bride. Why would a man on his honeymoon sleep elsewhere? Will this poor family ever have the answers they need. No one has mentioned the money they supposedly had in the stateroom. What happened to it?
Comment by Patricia Learnard | July 22, 2006
If George had just disappeared from the ship, that would be one thing. The behavior of Jennifer the night before, flirting, disappearing, not looking for George is strange. If she had just been drinking too much, so be it; but she gets up the next day, doesn’t look for her groom, shows up 2 hours early for a spa appt. I always felt she knew more than she was telling George’s family. If I had been on television after my husband disappeared, I couldn’t be so calm. Would be begging anyone who had been on that cruise ship for answers. The last straw–when she betrays George’s family after they all planned to sue RC together, so she and the family could try to get some answers. Suddenly his family is notified that the bride has settled. This sort of closes the door as far as his family ever getting any answers. Don’t know whether she had anything to do with the whole thing, but definitely think she knew more and stinks for settling with RC. What a smack in the face for George’s family. Guess money is more important.
Comment by Linda | October 15, 2006