Royal Caribbean Seeks Dismissal of Hurricane Harvey Class Action

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is seeking dismissal of a class action lawsuit from a passenger who says the cruise line waited too long to cancel a cruise due to Hurricane Harvey.

The cruise line purportedly waited until the very last minute to cancel a cruise scheduled to embark from the Texas Gulf Coast just as Hurricane Harvey was making landfall.

Plaintiff Nikki McIntosh says the late cancellation left hundreds of passengers, many of whom had traveled to the area from elsewhere, stranded in the path of the storm.

According to Royal Caribbean’s motion for dismissal, provisions in McIntosh’s cruise ticket contract bar her from bringing this class action lawsuit. Each passenger’s cruise ticket contract contains language waiving the passenger’s right to bring class action claims against the cruise line.

Royal Caribbean says this waiver was successfully used to dismiss another class action lawsuit eight months ago by the same judge hearing the current case. Two other federal courts in Florida have enforced similar class action waivers.

The cruise line also points to language in the cruise ticket contract that purports to give Royal Caribbean broad discretion to cancel or reschedule a cruise for whatever reason, at any time, and without prior notice. The language allows Royal Caribbean to cancel without incurring any liability to passengers.

Royal Caribbean also argues that McIntosh fails to state what harm she suffered, or how Royal Caribbean’s conduct caused that harm. Her claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress should be dismissed because none of the cruise line’s conduct rises to the level of “outrageous conduct” required for such a claim.

McIntosh filed this Royal Caribbean class action lawsuit in September. She was a ticketed passenger for a Royal Caribbean cruise scheduled to embark from Galveston, Texas on Aug. 27, 2017.

Days before the scheduled departure, Hurricane Harvey was in the Gulf of Mexico and was moving towards the Galveston area. Passengers were allegedly told that if they chose to skip the cruise, they would lose the entire price of their ticket and would not be entitled to a refund.

As the hurricane approached, Royal Caribbean repeatedly assured ticketed passengers the cruise would depart from Galveston as scheduled – even after authorities closed the Port of Galveston to all ship traffic. Then the date of departure was pushed back to Aug. 28.

It was not until Aug. 27, the day before the rescheduled departure, that Royal Caribbean offered a refund to passengers who could no longer take the cruise. Later that same day, Royal Caribbean cancelled the cruise and told passengers they would be entitled to a full refund.

McIntosh is seeking to represent a Class of persons who had tickets for the same cruise and who traveled to Galveston area during Hurricane Harvey. She estimates at least 500 passengers are in the proposed Class.

She is represented by attorneys Michael A. Winkleman and Marc E. Weiner of Lipcon Margulies Alsina & Winkleman PA.

The Royal Caribbean Harvey Cruise Class Action Lawsuit is McIntosh v. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Case No. 1:17-cv-23575, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

UPDATE: On March 6, 2018, Royal Caribbean argued that a class action lawsuit lodged against it in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey should be dismissed.

UPDATE 2: On Jan. 4, 2019, after a year of back and forth, a magistrate judge recommended to a Florida court that a Royal Caribbean class action lawsuit not be dismissed.