Any ocean marine underwrwiters out there — how ironclad are cruise ship’s passenger contracts in general? Based on the Costa Concordia, it appeared very, very difficult to sue. But that was in Europe for a European cruise ship.
This was in North America with a North American ship with the majority of passengers being American. Any guesses on how that might change it?
In the US, the passengers have the right to sue, but that doesnt mean they will collect anything. It will be interesting to see if the “class” is certified. Given the liberal tilt of most judges, the case may proceed, the lawyers on the defense side will make the most $$ on an hourly basis and the plaintiffs will eventually settle with the cruise line, which wants to avoid additional bad publicity. The passenger with the broken leg/ankle may be able to show significant damages, but the rest should take the $500 and free cruise in the future.
I’m suffering mental and physical anguish having to listen to the whining and complaining. Things can break without any warming or way to prevent it. I’ve taken four Carnival cruises and was pleased with all of them. Take the refund, a free future cruise, and the $500 and quit wasting the courts time.
The ONLY beneficiary in a class action suit is the attorney – period.
Going this route, the per-passenger “award” will be less than that offered by the cruise line…..unless, of course, the attorney takes a lower fee. Riiiiiiiiiiight.
Good luck to them. I took a Carnival cruise a few years ago.First of all, the Carnival rep my travel agent spoke with for pricing, etc, quoted a price, which, after a check of my budget, I decided I could manage. When my travel agent called to book my trip, a different Carnival rep informed her that the price was now nearly $200 more than quoted – an hour earlier.
I decided to go ahead & book anyway & my agent called a supervisor for Carnival & was told that my booking would be upgraded as compensation for the “misunderstanding”. I was to have a single cabin.
When I got to the ship, I was assigned to a double cabin – not the promised single cabin.
While I enjoyed most of the trip – the stops in the Bahamas, at least, I was not happy with being lied to regarding the accomodations & the price.
I wrote to Carnival and my travel agent wrote & called them. Neither of us ever, to this day, received a reply – not even a form letter. I would never, ever cruise with Carnival again.
jet: From a cruise we took last year, we learned that cruise lines change their pricing depending on how the reservations for each cruise are selling. It was suggested that, after booking a reservation, you check with the cruise line several times before the cruise’s reservation deadline and you might be eligible for a lower price for your trip.
Several years ago I booked a Carnival cruise well in advance. When I was advised of my cabin, they bumped me up 7 service levels. Don’t know how that works, but was pleased with the results.
Why didn’t Carnival ask for assistance to get those people off the ship when it became apparant that it wasn’t going anywhere? They could have sent another ship or large boats to get those people off instead of just drifting around at sea for 5 days. That would be my compliant, GET ME OFF THIS VESSEL NOW!
problem is exacerbated by fact that the Israeli ownership of the whole Carnival cabal care only about the almighty $ buck. This ship had problems, was having problems, Carnival knew it & STIOLL sent the damn thing out with these unfortunate passengers
A lot more info needs to be disclosed but the fuel leak that caused the fire apparently had nothing to do with the earlier electrical issue they had. A coincidence that two unrelated problems occurred within a short period of time or is this demonstrating a lack of maintenance on Carnival’s part? I don’t fault them for wanting to maximize profits as long as it does not impact safety. Carnival has made cruises affordable to a segment of the population that otherwise could not afford cruises. I am hopeful they can make whatever changes are needed to assure the public that they offer a safe product.
It appears the vessels cargo is not happy. I.e., we have several thousand unhappy passengers.
Several members of the legal industry and the owners are preaching, “It is useless to sue?”
They conveniently ignore there are a considerable number of members of the legal industry who consider the passengers do have a claim and are prepared to sue.
Hence, we can sit back and enjoy the show.
Any ocean marine underwrwiters out there — how ironclad are cruise ship’s passenger contracts in general? Based on the Costa Concordia, it appeared very, very difficult to sue. But that was in Europe for a European cruise ship.
This was in North America with a North American ship with the majority of passengers being American. Any guesses on how that might change it?
If I remember correctly all of Carnival’s ships are flagged out of Liberia. North America has noting to do with it.
In the US, the passengers have the right to sue, but that doesnt mean they will collect anything. It will be interesting to see if the “class” is certified. Given the liberal tilt of most judges, the case may proceed, the lawyers on the defense side will make the most $$ on an hourly basis and the plaintiffs will eventually settle with the cruise line, which wants to avoid additional bad publicity. The passenger with the broken leg/ankle may be able to show significant damages, but the rest should take the $500 and free cruise in the future.
I’m suffering mental and physical anguish having to listen to the whining and complaining. Things can break without any warming or way to prevent it. I’ve taken four Carnival cruises and was pleased with all of them. Take the refund, a free future cruise, and the $500 and quit wasting the courts time.
The ONLY beneficiary in a class action suit is the attorney – period.
Going this route, the per-passenger “award” will be less than that offered by the cruise line…..unless, of course, the attorney takes a lower fee. Riiiiiiiiiiight.
Good luck to them. I took a Carnival cruise a few years ago.First of all, the Carnival rep my travel agent spoke with for pricing, etc, quoted a price, which, after a check of my budget, I decided I could manage. When my travel agent called to book my trip, a different Carnival rep informed her that the price was now nearly $200 more than quoted – an hour earlier.
I decided to go ahead & book anyway & my agent called a supervisor for Carnival & was told that my booking would be upgraded as compensation for the “misunderstanding”. I was to have a single cabin.
When I got to the ship, I was assigned to a double cabin – not the promised single cabin.
While I enjoyed most of the trip – the stops in the Bahamas, at least, I was not happy with being lied to regarding the accomodations & the price.
I wrote to Carnival and my travel agent wrote & called them. Neither of us ever, to this day, received a reply – not even a form letter. I would never, ever cruise with Carnival again.
jet: From a cruise we took last year, we learned that cruise lines change their pricing depending on how the reservations for each cruise are selling. It was suggested that, after booking a reservation, you check with the cruise line several times before the cruise’s reservation deadline and you might be eligible for a lower price for your trip.
Several years ago I booked a Carnival cruise well in advance. When I was advised of my cabin, they bumped me up 7 service levels. Don’t know how that works, but was pleased with the results.
Why didn’t Carnival ask for assistance to get those people off the ship when it became apparant that it wasn’t going anywhere? They could have sent another ship or large boats to get those people off instead of just drifting around at sea for 5 days. That would be my compliant, GET ME OFF THIS VESSEL NOW!
However, the other ships were filled with passengers as well. If one of them capsized from being overloaded, the outcome would be much worse.
problem is exacerbated by fact that the Israeli ownership of the whole Carnival cabal care only about the almighty $ buck. This ship had problems, was having problems, Carnival knew it & STIOLL sent the damn thing out with these unfortunate passengers
A lot more info needs to be disclosed but the fuel leak that caused the fire apparently had nothing to do with the earlier electrical issue they had. A coincidence that two unrelated problems occurred within a short period of time or is this demonstrating a lack of maintenance on Carnival’s part? I don’t fault them for wanting to maximize profits as long as it does not impact safety. Carnival has made cruises affordable to a segment of the population that otherwise could not afford cruises. I am hopeful they can make whatever changes are needed to assure the public that they offer a safe product.
It appears the vessels cargo is not happy. I.e., we have several thousand unhappy passengers.
Several members of the legal industry and the owners are preaching, “It is useless to sue?”
They conveniently ignore there are a considerable number of members of the legal industry who consider the passengers do have a claim and are prepared to sue.
Hence, we can sit back and enjoy the show.