Two years ago, I wrote about the prospect of suing Carnival for the infamous Triumph “poop cruise” where an engine room fire knocked out the propulsion to the cruise ship and left the passengers and crew members with no air conditioning, over-flowing toilets, and other disgusting conditions.
“Unless you have a serious physical injury or physical illness, families on the disabled cruise ship face an uphill climb proceeding with a lawsuit against Carnival for the inconvenience and unpleasant circumstances they suffered last week,” I said in an article Carnival Triumph Cruise From Hell: Here Come the Lawsuits!
You can hear my prediction two years ago that any lawsuits against Carnival will be unsuccessful. Listen to my radio interview with WGN (Chicago) Radio.
Well, the first verdicts are in. A Florida federal judge recently awarded a combined $118,500 in damages to 27 Carnival Cruise Line passengers from Texas who sailed on the ill-fated cruise ship from Galveston. U.S. District Judge Donald Graham (a conservative Bush appointee) zipped 6 of the passengers who will now be faced with Carnival’s motions to tax costs against them.
Three passengers received $15,000 each and the remaining 24 passengers who did obtain compensation received varying amounts averaging less than $3,000 each. After deducting attorney fees and costs, and considering the passengers had to come to Miami for trial and incur lodging and travel expenses, they’re lucky if they didn’t lose money. There were 10 lawyers from Texas listed for the plaintiffs.
Although a financial disaster for the passengers’ attorneys, the case did reveal that Carnival knew that there were dangerous problems on the cruise ship due to its shoddy maintenance. The Triumph was essentially a ticking time bomb ready to catch on fire, Court ordered Carnival records demonstrated.
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Photo Credit: CNN