Emily Sortor  |  November 4, 2019

Category: Legal News

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.

carnival cruise shipA cruise line telemarketing class action lawsuit that ended in a $12.5 million class action settlement was granted final approval last week.

The settlement deal was reached between customers and Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., and Norwegian Cruise Lines, along with a travel agency named Resort Marketing Group.

Customers claimed that the companies violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by sending robocalls to individuals without their consent.

According to the Royal Caribbean class action lawsuit, Resort Marketing Group operated the autodialing system used by the three cruise lines to send their spam calls. 

Since the proposed settlement deal received preliminary approval, claims for benefits have already come flooding in. Bloomberg reports that 274,851 valid claims have been filed, making the average amount given to Class Members around $22.

Class representatives asked for around a third of the total settlement amount. After the lead plaintiff’s $25,000 award and administrative costs were deducted, this amount totaled $3.15 million. 

Final approval was granted by U.S. District Judge Andrea R. Wood who determined that the attorneys’ fees were fair because the TPCA class action lawsuit took around eight years, and involved serious litigation before a settlement deal was reached.

The approval for the Royal Caribbean class action settlement was granted even though 31 objections against it were filed, including two objections that sought separate awards and attorneys’ fees. However, Judge Wood denied these two requests, says Bloomberg. 

Additionally, some of the opposition concerned supplemental documentation that became required of claimants after it was announced that payouts could be several hundred dollars. The supplemental documentation was reportedly a way to ward off potentially fraudulent claims for Royal Caribbean class action settlement benefits. Judge Wood determined that this documentation was indeed valuable as a safeguard against fraud, despite protestations to the contrary.

This final approval follows a preliminary approval granted in July 2017. The cruise lines spam calls class action lawsuit was filed by Phillip Charvat who claimed that Resort Marketing Group sent thousands of robocalls to people who did not consent to receive them, on behalf of the three cruise companies: Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., and Norwegian Cruise Lines.

Allegedly, the spam calls were placed using an autodialer that allowed the travel agent to call many numbers at once.

Additionally, Charvat says that the calls featured a recorded message. According to the cruise lines class action lawsuit, these elements represented violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits businesses from sending messages using autodialers, especially robocalls, without the recipients’ consent.

Will you benefit from the Carnival robocall class action settlement? Let us know in the comments below.

The call recipients are represented by Matthew McCue of the Law Office of Matthew P. McCue, Alexander Burke of Burke Law Offices and Edward Broderick and Anthony Paronich of Broderick & Paronich PC.

The Royal Caribbean Class Action Lawsuit is Philip Charvat v. Elizabeth Valente, et al., Case No. 1:12-cv-05746, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

UPDATE: On Aug. 13, 2020, Top Class Actions viewers started receiving long-awaited checks in the mail from the Carnival Cruise, Royal Caribbean telemarketing class action settlement worth as much as $25.02! Congratulations to everyone who filed a valid claim and got PAID!

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.

GET A FREE CASE EVALUATION NOW

 

Read More Lawsuit & Settlement News:

Wish.com Advertising Texts Class Action Settlement

Florida Insurance Companies Blamed for Inefficient Handling of Hurricane Claims

Oasis Energy Ringless Voicemail Class Action Settlement

IED Attacks Made Deadlier by Funding from Iran

We tell you about cash you can claim EVERY WEEK! Sign up for our free newsletter.


165 thoughts on$12.5M Carnival Cruise Settlement Gets Final Approval

  1. Vicki F says:

    My home phone and cell phone were subjected to the robocalls, I submitted the proof of both- now to find out its worth possibly $22 – is that for each line ? or is it really going to end up being $5 – unbelievable for the amount of call I received from them and the proof I had . and robocalling doesn’t stop – many companies still do it, I had to continually block, report them , spam and buy apps to protect my cell phone number to block them, which in my opinion started because of this , it never ended , till this day I still get robo-calls — what is this proving.. nothing — $900 WAS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

  2. Glo says:

    I haven’t heard a word about this settlement. I did produce necessary documents to prove my, claim on 5/18/2018 and…HAVE NEVER HEARD ANOTHER WORD. Sounds like bull to me.

  3. Fooled Again says:

    Yes, If they contacted you as they contacted me you’re fine. It’s those who claim they should have been a part of the suit, and who had to send relevant information who are then ones who may or may not have been added to the suit. This process also delayed the case for about a year. If they had contacted you it would have through email. Many of these class action tort cases are designed to always favor the lawyers. I will opt out of any more of these tort case. It’s always a joke on us.

    1. Godwinjennifer@ymai says:

      I submitted all the required documents 3 times just to make sure everything was received. I have a copy of all of the claim #s as well. I didn’t receive any response and still haven’t received a response. So what happens to those of us who submitted the documents in time and have the claim numbers showing proff that we submitted our claims in time?

  4. DP says:

    I had joined this class action suit after my mobile phone # had been found within the list. That was in 2017. I never received any updates till i looked up the status of the class action suitl Will I be receiving a payment if I never received the request for phone number verification? Is there a place to check?

  5. Cheryl Tubbs says:

    I knew it was to good to be true. They took too long, I knew something was up!! Add me…?

  6. Ralph Frey says:

    I had joined this class action suit after my landline phone # had been found within the list. That was in August 2017. But never heard anything else. And I never received any notice about further verification needed to be submitted. Will I be receiving a payment if I never received the request for phone number verification? I there a place to check? I have my original claim form number.

  7. Melody says:

    The fact that the lawyers get 9 of the 12 million is absolutely rediculious along with the fact it took 8 years to do. They milked the system. Maybe we should have a class action suite against them.

    1. Nicki says:

      Amen! What a shame! After MANY calls, we certainly qualified. After jumping through hoops to stay in the lawsuit only to find out the lawyers get the majority is disgusting! So the $22 estimated to be received… is that PER CALL or PER CLAIM? I just can’t wait (enter sarcasm).

  8. DAVID says:

    closed

  9. Cindy Wallace says:

    Please add me

    1. David says:

      closed

      1. Unconscientious Objector says:

        Soooooo, you mean I cannot join an action eight years after it was initiated and has already reached final settlement?

        Ok, well, how about if I scroll around all over this site, and find a few more actions that I know that I qualify for as a class member. As soon as I type the phrase “add me” in the comments, I am good, right? I will then get my check in 6 to 8 weeks from that point, right?

        1. Mr Burns says:

          Exactly! Well said. I laugh every time I see those. Never going to end. LOL!

  10. mhironimus says:

    I am getting calls TODAY for this, what can I do about this? It seems like the deadline to claim this has passed, but the phone calls have not stopped. Is there any recourse for people like me?

1 2 3 13

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. By submitting your comment and contact information, you agree to receive marketing emails from Top Class Actions regarding this and/or similar lawsuits or settlements, and/or to be contacted by an attorney or law firm to discuss the details of your potential case at no charge to you if you qualify. Required fields are marked *

Please note: Top Class Actions is not a settlement administrator or law firm. Top Class Actions is a legal news source that reports on class action lawsuits, class action settlements, drug injury lawsuits and product liability lawsuits. Top Class Actions does not process claims and we cannot advise you on the status of any class action settlement claim. You must contact the settlement administrator or your attorney for any updates regarding your claim status, claim form or questions about when payments are expected to be mailed out.