Caribbean Cruise Line Will Settle Robocall Class Action Lawsuit

Several cruise marketing companies in a class action lawsuit alleging potential customers were hounded with unwanted robocalls in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) told a federal judge they reached a proposed settlement.

Lead plaintiffs alleged in their class action lawsuit that Caribbean Cruise Line, and its subsidiary marketing companies, used an automated dialing system to contact millions of consumers with an advertising message offering them a free cruise if they participated in a survey.

Defendant cruise companies, including Caribbean Cruise Line Inc., The Berkley Group Inc., and Vacation Ownership Marketing Tours Inc., told U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kennelly that they reached an agreement to settle the claims.

Under the terms of the agreement, each company will pay between $56 million and $76 million.

According to settlement documents, money will be awarded to Class Members based on the number of claims and will be paid out in four installments.

The first installment will be paid after preliminary approval and the others will follow over the course of a year.

At a minimum, the defendants are expected to pay a total of $56 million and the maximum will be $76 million.

A list of nearly one million people have been cleared to receive a settlement award. Additionally, those not on the cleared list who can prove they received the robocalls will also be entitled to an award.

The parties to the class action lawsuit will need to submit a signed settlement agreement to the court by Sept. 26.

If approved, the settlement will resolve the class action, which has been pending for four years.

In the class action lawsuit, plaintiffs alleged that they received calls on their mobile phones offering a free cruise.

Although the cruise companies argued the calls were to obtain survey responses, the plaintiffs claim that they were actually meant to sell travel packages, cruises, and other vacation products.

The plaintiffs received several rulings in their favor, including a motion for partial summary judgment in April.

The judge ruled that the survey calls made by a nonprofit, Economic Strategy Group, violated the law even though they concerned a public opinion poll, rather than offering something for sale.

Additionally, the judge ruled in favor of the class action lawsuit plaintiffs, finding that the TCPA provided them a substantive right.

The defendants had also moved to dismiss the case because they argued that they were unaware the marketing companies were making robocalls.

They lost that motion as well.

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

The Class is represented by Jay Edelson, Rafey S. Balabanian and Eve-Lynn J. Rapp of Edelson PC and Jonathan I. Loevy, Scott R. Rauscher and Michael I. Kanovitz of Loevy & Loevy.

The Caribbean Cruise Line TCPA Class Action Lawsuit is Birchmeier, et al. v. Caribbean Cruise Line Inc., et al., Case No. 1:12-cv-04069, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

UPDATE: The Caribbean Cruise Line Robocalls Class Action Settlement is now open! Click here to file a claim. 

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If you were contacted on your cell phone by a company via an unsolicited text message (text spam) or prerecorded voice message (robocall), you may be eligible for compensation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

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