Carnival reaches class action settlement over millennium cruise

A class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of Carnival Cruise Lines passengers whose voyage celebrating the arrival of the new millennium was cut short by equipment failure was settled against the Miami, Florida-based cruise operator with the unusual awarding of $5 million in free cruises.

“They’re actually getting more than a 100 percent recovery because we now obtained for them a full seven-day cruise,” said Miami attorney David Mishael. “This is a win-win for class members.”

Under the terms of the settlement, approximately 2,460 passengers on the Carnival Paradise cruise in December of 1999 will each receive a one-week cruise that embarks from any port in the U.S. other than in Alaska. The total value of award is $5.7 million.

Mishael and D. Michael Campbell, an attorney from Winter Haven, Florida, who filed the original class-action suit, received attorney fees of $1.75 million in the judgment, bringing the value of the settlement to nearly $7.5 million. Vouchers for the free cruises will be mailed to passengers in December, and need to used in the next two years.

Under the terms of the settlement, the cruise line did not admit liability. “We are pleased to have reached a resolution in the matter,” commented a spokeswoman for Carnival Cruise Lines, Jennifer de la Cruz. The attorney for the defense, Curtis Mase, of Miami-based Mase Lara & Eversole, declined to comment.

Thanks to www.law.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

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