Comments on: That’s just splendid! Carnival refunds dead passenger’s fare

By: barbie45

barbie45 — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:41:37 +0000

After reading this story several times Ihave come to the come to the conclusion that carnival was very fair in refunding her money;there are so many variables why a cruise to reach her mother ; what was a 95 year old woman doing in an area without a medical support team; how nice to take a cruise instead of a flight which is well no comment; carnival bowed to pressure from your intervening ; also if she she had to sue anyone try aaa ; obviously it failed to keep her informed and may have sold her the incorrect insurance; donnot blame carniva,which as a cruise line Iam ot partial to.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:08:14 +0000

CLARIFICATION FOR SECTION 7D I’m also no lawyer, but I’m pretty sure you’ve misunderstood this section to mean that Carnival gets to keep her money. What it’s talking about is that if a cruise has to be canceled before you’ve gone on the cruise, they’re not liable for refunding any airline tickets you may have already purchased to get you to the port or other prepaid expenses for the trip like a car rental or a 3rd party shore excursion. There is surely a different section that talks about their policy regarding the actual cruise fare you’ve paid to Carnival–whether they give you a refund or Carnival credit, etc.

By: Joel Wechsler

Joel Wechsler — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:37:36 +0000

@Joe Farrell Regardless of the fact that a cruise passengers rights seem limited, the reality is that thousand of people cruise without problems and the cruise lines, at least the reputable ones, are pretty good about dealing with unexpected itinerary changes. As to the ships themselves, you are sadly misinformed. New cruise ships are cioming on;ine on a regular basis and the older ones are regularly refurbished, at least by the better companies.
@kweed Any reputable travel agent should be selling insurance from one of the handful of reliable companies, such as Access America or TravelGuard and advising his/her clients about coverage for such things as pre-existing conditions.

By: Sahsa

Sahsa — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 05:20:44 +0000

I have a few problems with this complaint, first of all this woman was 95 or possibly 94 living out of the country for whatever reasons, but needing the care that she probably received through her medicare benefit so she in reality cannot travel and should be living in closer proximity to her medical providers however, it is the cruise companies fault that she died? Somehow we have become a country that cannot or will not assume any responsibility for our own actions. This in my opinion is the primary reason that we are in such trouble in so many ways.

By: Bela Fleck

Bela Fleck — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:52:24 +0000

Yes, but…the contract is subject to the same set of laws as your basic airline carriage of contract, I believe. Doesn’t Maritime Law kick in only once you’re in international waters? And aren’t we talking about the contract and whether or not it’s been fulfilled here? My cruise contract says NOTHING about it being governed by Maritime Law and that jurisdiction for any lawsuits is the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami or in the instance of a federal case, a federal court in Miami-Dade County ONLY.

Of course, the contract also states you can only sue for personal injury, illness or death caused by Carnival’s negligence. All else must proceed through mandatory arbitration, with no alternatives, no appeals, no class action suits, and a lousy track record of wins for the individual.

By: Carver Farrow

Carver Farrow — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:22:57 +0000

@Bela

Be that as it may, cruise ships and the activities on board are governed by maritime and/or admirality law, a body of law that 999 out of 1000 attorneys, myself included, are completely ignorant about.

The point is that most disputes are civil actions, even if the state still segregates them by type of civil action. Martime and admiralty actions are not civil actions and therefore the operate under their own set of laws which are usually very different from the legal framework which most of us are familiar with. In fact, though a state court may try these cases, it is supposed to apply the maritime or admiralty law.

By: Bela Fleck

Bela Fleck — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:18:57 +0000

Let me rephrase that first line to say “Cruise lines do not operate under a different set of laws.”

By: Bela Fleck

Bela Fleck — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:18:05 +0000

Cruise ships do not operate under a different set of laws. For most major lines we’re familiar with, their headquarters are located right here in the good ol’ U.S. of A – often somewhere in Florida, like Miami. Only the ships themselves are foreign-flagged and not subject to US law.

By: Eric Smith

Eric Smith — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:26:49 +0000

Amen, Joe! I would never take a cruise. It’s probably the only mode of transportation where you have fewer rights than on a plane. At least on a plane, they have to get you to your destination, or refund your money.

If airlines could play by the cruise industry’s rules, Delta could dump you in Pheonix and leave you swim to Hawaii, and not have to return one red cent.

By: Carver Farrow

Carver Farrow — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 07:38:23 +0000

I concur with Joe’s analysis. Cruise ship law seems akin to the law of the wild west.

@Sirwired.

You would be correct if this were a regular contract. However,cruise ships operate under a different set of laws so you cannot apply generally accepted legal principles when dealing with cruise ships.