Passengers describe 'sewage running down the walls' and people acting like 'savages'

[jberryhill]

103. Let's put it this way

If your business relies on limiting liability in the process of hauling thousands of people around, you get pretty good at it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/world/europe/cruise-lines-use-law-and-contracts-to-limit-liability.html?_r=0

Such forceful criticism of the captain may be intended to help the company avoid liability under international agreements like the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims. The convention is referred to on the Web site of the International Maritime Organization as “a virtually unbreakable system of limiting liability” for the owners of ships after accidents.

That limitation on liability can be set aside in cases of egregious acts by the vessel’s owner, in the language of the convention, if “it is proved that the loss resulted from his personal act or omission, committed with the intent to cause such a loss, or recklessly and with knowledge that such loss would probably result.”

...

Cruise contracts are notoriously restrictive regarding the rights of passengers, and Costa’s 6,400-word contract is no exception. The Costa contract sharply limits the kinds of lawsuits that can be brought, where those suits can be brought and how much the company can be made to pay. All such provisions have been upheld in the courts of the United States, he said.


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One of the only holes ever - and I mean ever - punched in that armor is a case that went up to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2005 over whether the cruise line could be held liable for the rape of a passenger by an employee. And the ONLY reason the 11th Circuit remanded is because the cruise line raised a key defense too late.

Treaties trump state long arm statutes.