Today the Internet is a buzz regarding Royal Caribbean’s much touted $65 million dollar settlement with Rolls Royce – the manufacturer of the "Mermaid pod-propulsion system" on Celebrity Cruises’ Millennium-class ships. The pods were installed on four Celebrity ships – Millennium, Summit, Infinity and Constellation.
Royal Caribbean sent out a new release today on PR NewsWire regarding the settlement on the eve of a trial scheduled in Miami.
Royal Caribbean’s lawsuit against Rolls Royce started in 2003.
The allegations were ugly.
Royal Caribbean asserted that Rolls Royce engaged in fraud, misrepresentations, negligence, and unfair trade practices. Royal Caribbean’s lawsuit sought $300 million, but then inflated the damages to beyond $700 million.
Then Carnival got into the fun. In 2008, it filed a 45-page lawsuit against Rolls-Royce and other defendants, leveling 11 charges including fraudulent misrepresentation, deceptive and unfair trade practices, breach of warranty, false advertising and negligence.
Rolls Royce counterclaimed, alleging that there was a conspiracy to interfere with its business.
But today, Royal Caribbean announced a "suitable and amicable resolution."
Celebrity Cruises’ CEO Daniel Hanrahan says: "we look forward to continuing our alliance with 
Rolls-Royce for many years to come . . . Rolls-Royce has one of the best reputations for reliability, and guests and travel agents should feel confident in Rolls-Royce’s assurances of the reliability of the Mermaid pods."
Rolls-Royce’s President of Marine Business John Paterson says: "we are not only satisfied to have reached a solution with Celebrity Cruises, but that we have been able to improve and enhance the Mermaid pod’s reliability . . . we look forward to the opportunity to continue contributing to Celebrity’s high operating standards now, and in the future."
A love fest.
Its amazing what $65 million can buy . . .
Credits:
Pod propulsion diagram Rolls Royce
Cruise Inc. CNBC