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Passengers from a Celebrity cruise line voyage have filed a class action lawsuit claiming that an “alarming lack of caution” exposed them to the coronavirus.
Fred and Marlene Kantrow allege in the Celebrity Cruises coronavirus lawsuit that the company’s failures resulted in at least 45 infections and two deaths among the 2,500 or so passengers and 750 crew members of the Celebrity Eclipse.
“There are likely hundreds more positive COVID-19 cases and/or deaths related to the subject voyage given that there was limited and/or non-existent testing performed aboard the vessel and immediately thereafter when passengers disembarked the vessel without proper screening before returning to their home states/countries,” the plaintiffs maintain.
Based on an email sent Feb. 5 to ticketed passengers, the Celebrity cruise line recognized the risks of coronavirus long before the plaintiffs’ March voyage, the lawsuit states.
Among other things, the email outlined “precautionary steps” such as barring passengers who demonstrate flu-like symptoms or whose recent travel included China, Hong Kong or Macau.
In mid-February, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued specific guidelines for ship operators such as the Celebrity cruise line to prevent and deal with the coronavirus onboard.
That memo included identifying and isolating individuals showing symptoms, as well as others with high-risk exposure to those individuals; and denying boarding to anyone showing symptoms.
And yet, according to the Celebrity Cruises coronavirus lawsuit, “while on land and before allowing passengers to board the vessel therefrom, Celebrity (and/or its agents) failed to adequately screen passengers for known and/or objective COVID-19 symptoms (i.e. fever, dry cough, shortness of breath, etc.).”
On March 2, the lawsuit states, the first Celebrity Eclipse passenger complained of symptoms consistent with COVID-19.
Still, “Defendant did not thereafter — or at any time during the subject voyage — enact quarantine and/or physical distancing measures amongst passengers and/or crew members aboard the vessel. Instead, in an alarming lack of caution, Defendant continued to operate the vessel as normal, allowing a ‘full schedule of entertainment, activities and dining options’ aboard the vessel.”
These included buffet meals, a large celebratory gathering on deck March 21, and other events onboard where social distancing was all but impossible, the lawsuit notes.
On March 15, officials in Chile denied the Celebrity Eclipse the ability to dock there as planned based on concerns that its passengers and crew might have COVID-19.
The Celebrity cruise line vessel then headed toward San Diego.
In a letter to passengers that day, the lawsuit maintains, Celebrity Eclipse Capt. Leonardos Palaiokrassas “actively attempted to pacify passengers in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak aboard the vessel by offering them complimentary alcoholic beverages and otherwise downplaying the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak that was ravaging the vessel, its passengers and crew during the subject voyage, such as by lying to passengers that even as late as March 28, 2020, ‘[a]ll guests onboard remain healthy and happy.’”
On March 30, the Celebrity Eclipse docked in San Diego. Passengers were allowed to disembark “in tight groups” and go home, but the crew were ordered to stay on board in quarantine, according to the Celebrity Cruises coronavirus lawsuit.
A week later, news reports and other sources revealed that at least two passengers had died after developing COVID-19 aboard the Celebrity Eclipse, and that about 45 others had contracted the virus during that voyage, the lawsuit states.
The plaintiffs allege general negligence, failure to warn, and negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
“It was the duty of Defendant to provide Plaintiffs and all others similarly situated with reasonable care under the circumstances,” they maintain. “Defendant and/or its agents, servants, and/or employees breached its duty to provide Plaintiffs with reasonable care under the circumstances.”
They are demanding a jury trial in hopes of being awarded “all damages recoverable under the law,” claiming that Celebrity’s conduct “was so outrageous in character, and so extreme in degree, that it goes beyond all possible bounds of common decency, and can be regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilized community.”
Similar class actions are also under way against other cruise lines, including Princess and Costa.
Were you exposed to COVID-19 on board a cruise ship? Let us know in the comment section below.
The plaintiffs are represented by Jason R. Margulies, Michael A. Winkleman, Jacqueline Garcell and L. Alex Perez, all of Lipcon Margulies Alsina & Winkleman PA.
The Celebrity Cruise Line Class Action Lawsuit is Fred Kantrow and Marlene Kantrow, et al. v. Celebrity Cruises Inc., Case No. 1:20-cv-21997, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
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