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This settlement is closed!
Please see what other class action settlements you might qualify to claim cash from in our Open Settlements directory!
UPDATE 3:
- TCA viewers reported receiving settlement payments of $575 as of early mid-June 2021.
- Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got paid!
UPDATE 2:
- The motion to distribute remaining settlement funds to claimants was approved May 20, 2021.
- Let Top Class Actions know when your check arrives!
UPDATE:
- On May 6, 2021, a motion for approval of distribution of remaining settlement funds was filed.
- Top Class Actions will let our viewers know as soon as we learn the court has granted approval.
After four years of intense litigation, Caribbean Cruise Line has agreed to settle a TCPA class action lawsuit alleging the company and its co-defendants sent unwanted robocalls to plaintiffs and Class Members without prior express consent in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
Caribbean Cruise Line and its co-defendants,Vacation Ownership Marketing Tours Inc., the Berkley Group Inc. and Economic Strategy Group, were sued for violating the TCPA by allegedly robocalling millions of individuals with offers for free cruise trips.
Under the terms of the Caribbean Cruise robocall settlement, the companies will pay between $56 million and $76 million, to settle claims of the approximately one million person Class who received the unwanted robocalls from the defendants between 2011 and 2012.
In May 2012, plaintiffs Grant Birchmeir and Stephen Parkes filed their proposed TCPA class action lawsuit against Caribbean Cruise Line and the other named defendants alleging they were illegally contacted on their cell phones or landlines from CCL and its subsidiary marketing companies between August 2011 and August 2012.
Specifically, the class action complaint alleges that Caribbean contacted consumers through the transmission of pre-recorded messages (robocall) without prior express written consent for the purpose of soliciting the sale of a cruise – a violation of the TCPA.
The plaintiffs contend the offer of a “free” cruise package from CCL in exchange for taking a political survey was a “scam.”
“Not only is the ‘free’ cruise not free, the survey is simply a marketing tool with no legitimate political basis,” the plaintiffs wrote in their complaint.
The TCPA strictly prohibits the use of automated telephone equipment for solicitation or telemarketing purposes.
Generally, the act makes it unlawful “to initiate any telephone call to any residential telephone line using an artificial or prerecorded voice to deliver a message without the prior express consent of the called party” except in emergencies or in circumstances exempted by the Federal Communications Commission.
The law allows any “person or entity” to bring an action to enjoin violations of the statute and/or recover actual damages or statutory damages ranging from $500 to $1,500 per violation.
Class Members who wish to exclude themselves or object to the terms of the settlement must do so by Jan. 23, 2017.
Who’s Eligible
The settlement Class consists of “any person who received (1) one or more telephone calls made by, on behalf of, or for the benefit of the Defendants, (2) purportedly offering a free cruise in exchange for taking an automated public opinion and/or political survey, (3) which delivered a message using a prerecorded or artificial voice, (4) between August 2011 and August 2012, (5) and your (i) telephone number appears in Defendants’ records of those calls and/or the records of their third party telephone carriers or the third party telephone carriers of their call centers or (ii) your own records prove that you received the calls—such as your telephone records, bills, and/or recordings of the calls.”
Click here to find out if your phone number appears in the defendants’ records.
Potential Award
up to $500 per call.
“Each Class Member who submits a valid claim can get a payment of $500 per call, unless the total of payments per call (plus payment of all costs and fees) would exceed $76 million.
In that case, each settlement Class Member who submits an approved claim would be entitled, per call, to a pro rata share of the total settlement fund (after payment of all costs and fees) based on the total number of calls resulting from valid claims.”
The exact amount Class Members will receive depends on the total number of valid and timely claims that are received by the settlement administrator.
Proof of Purchase
“The Claim Form requires you to provide basic contact information and affirm that between August 2011 and August 2012 you received a call that used a prerecorded or robotic voice offering a free cruise in exchange for taking a public opinion and/or political survey.
If your telephone number is not in defendants’ records, regardless of which option you choose you will need to provide documentation, including a telephone bill showing that you received the call, a recording of the call, a caller ID record of the call, a screenshot of the call, or some other form of documentation evidencing your receipt of the call.”
Claim Form Deadline
02/01/2017
Case Name
Birchmeier, et al. v. Caribbean Cruise Line Inc., et al., Case No. 12-cv-04069, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Final Hearing
02/23/2017
UPDATE: On March 2, 2017, the court granted the Caribbean Cruise TCPA settlement final approval. Let Top Class Actions know when you receive a check in the comments section below or on our Facebook page.
UPDATE: On March 23, 2017 a notice of appeal to the Caribbean Cruise TCPA settlement was filed. Claims will not be paid until all appeals are exhausted. We appreciate your ongoing patience. Top Class Actions will continue to provide updates as we learn more.
UPDATE 3: According to the settlement website on August 7, 2019, the court has approved a motion to distribute $200 to class members with approved claims. It is not known how quickly checks will be mailed, but it is estimated in a few weeks. The case is till not resolved, and a second distribution will be taking place at a later date. Top Class Actions will continue to provide updates as we learn more.
UPDATE 4: UPDATE: On August 25, 2019, Top Class Actions viewers started receiving checks in the mail from the Caribbean Cruise Line Robocall TCPA Class Action Settlement worth $200.00! Congratulations to everyone who filed a valid claim and got PAID!
Settlement Website
Claims Administrator
Caribbean Cruise Line Class Action
c/o Kurtzman Carson Consultants
PO Box 43435
Providence, RI 02940-3435
1-844-343-1477
Class Counsel
Jay Edelson
Rafey S. Balabanian
Eve-Lynn J. Rapp
EDELSON PC
Scott R. Rauscher
Michael I. Kanovitz
Jonathan I. Loevy
Arthur R. Loevy
LOEVY & LOEVY
Defense Counsel
Brian Patrick O’Meara
FORDE LAW OFFICES LLP
Counsel for The Berkeley Group Inc.
M. Peebles Harrison
ROSE HARRISON & GILREATH PC
Counsel for The Berkeley Group Inc.
Richard W. Epstein
Jeffrey A. Backman
GREENSPOON MARDER PA
Counsel for Caribbean Cruise Line Inc. and Vacation Ownership Marketing Tours Inc.
Timothy A. Hudson
TABET DIVITO ROTHSTEIN LLC
Counsel for Caribbean Cruise Line Inc. and Vacation Ownership Marketing Tours Inc.
Join a Free TCPA Class Action Lawsuit Investigation
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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95 thoughts onCaribbean Cruise Line Robocall TCPA Class Action Settlement
Thanks ?
Check received on Boston 8/26.
Recieved my check in Iowa 9/27
8/27
UPDATE WITH IMPORTANT JUNE 7, 2019 DEADLINE: Many Class Members previously received a notice that Defendants were challenging the number of calls for which the Class Member should recover. As explained in that notice, a Special Master was appointed to decide those challenges, and Class Members were invited to provide additional support for their claims and/or to request a hearing with the Special Master. The Special Master recently issued his ruling on the parties’ challenges in this case. Every Class Member who provided supplemental support for their claims or who requested a hearing received the number of calls for which they were originally given credit. Put differently, if you responded to Defendants’ challenges by providing Class Counsel or the Class Administrator with additional evidence, or if you requested a hearing, then Defendants’ challenges were rejected with respect to your claim (other than for a small number of claimants who were specifically contacted by the Special Master within the past month or so and did not respond). Defendants’ challenges were successful with respect to certain other claims, meaning that those claims were reduced in response to Defendants’ challenges. CLASS MEMBERS HAVE THE RIGHT TO APPEAL THE SPECIAL MASTER’S DECISIONS. IF YOU WISH TO APPEAL, THE DEADLINE FOR DOING SO IS THIS FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 2019. YOU MAY APPEAL BY FILING AN OBJECTION WITH THE DISTRICT COURT. CLASS COUNSEL IS AVAILABLE TO HELP ANSWER QUESTIONS REGARDING THE PROCEDURES FOR OBJECTING.
Waiting to hear when I get my settlement. I still have not heard anything except it is being challenged.
Any updates
Please add me
Any one pleas update they say additional information as to the timing and amount of payments by the end of the year 2018 we are in 2019 pleas let you us know ???????
So basically the settlement all went to the attorneys?
From 630.000 to 50.000 how a bout timing and amount of payments ? Any one know pleas update?
I got a check today for 200 dollars stating this is the first installment.
This the latest update on this lawsuit:
UPDATE: The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the Court’s Final Approval Order in August 2018. The time for parties to ask the United States Supreme Court to review the case has not yet passed. Until that date passes, the Court’s Order is not “Final”, as defined in Section 1.20 of the Settlement Agreement, and payments will not issue until the Court’s Order is Final. In addition, pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, the Special Master has been asked to rule on various challenges to claims. The parties and the Special Master are working to complete that process as quickly as possible. We hope to have additional information as to the timing and amount of payments by the end of the year.