JAGheel

As a passenger, you agreed that only a court in Dade County Florida would have jurisdiction.

 

From the contract every passenger agrees to:

 

© Except as provided in Clause 13 (d) below, it is agreed by and between the Guest and Carnival that all disputes and matters whatsoever arising under, in connection with or incident to this Contract or the Guest’s cruise, including travel to and from the vessel, shall be litigated, if at all, before the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami, or as to those lawsuits to which the Federal Courts of the United States lack subject matter jurisdiction, before a court located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, U.S.A. to the exclusion of the Courts of any other county, state or country.

 

(d) Any and all disputes, claims, or controversies whatsoever, other than for personal injury, illness or death of a Guest, whether brought in personam or in rem or based on contract, tort, statutory, constitutional or other legal rights, including but not limited to alleged violation of civil rights, discrimination, consumer or privacy laws, or for any losses, damages or expenses, relating to or in any way arising out of or connected with this Contract or Guest’s cruise, no matter how described, pleaded or styled, between the Guest and Carnival, with the sole exception of claims brought and litigated in small claims court, shall be referred to and resolved exclusively by binding arbitration pursuant to the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York 1958), 21 U.S.T. 2517, 330 U.N.T.S. 3, 1970 U.S.T. LEXIS 115, 9 U.S.C. §§ 202-208 (“the Convention”) and the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. §§ 1, et seq., (“FAA”) solely in Miami-Dade County, Florida, U.S.A. to the exclusion of any other forum. Guest hereby consents to jurisdiction and waives any venue or other objection that may be available to any such arbitration proceeding in Miami-Dade, Florida.

And such clauses by cruise lines have been invalidated by courts before. Much of it is there to scare you away from trying to go the court route and just accept whatever pittance they are offering.

....... or maybe because they want to do the right thing for their customer.

Or to get as much positive PR as is possible given the circumstances. With Valor, Triumph, and now Liberty Carnival is developing a bad reputation.

But I think you are forgetting something. That hospital is in the United States, and is subject to US Law.

 

The ship is registered to a foreign nation, and is not subject to the laws of the United States for many things.

 

If you were to sue Carnival, I believe their first defense would be "we are not a United States business. The plaintiff will need to sue us in the Bahamas", or wherever the ship is registered.

 

Even though this fire took place in US territory, I believe that you would be hard pressed for a court to take action on any compensation based on jurisdictional issues.

 

Again, though, there is a big difference between legal liability and "doing what is right" to keep your current and future cruise passengers happy and to keep PR looking good.

 

But good luck demanding more than you are offered....

 

Robert

None of that defense would work. First, Carnival is an American corporation, headquartered in Miami. It also markets its cruises to American residents and embarks at American ports. All 50 states plus the federal government would accept jurisdiction. The cruise lines get sued in the US pretty regularly, and jurisdiction is never an issue. In fact, courts have also tossed out the arbitration clauses snuck in the contracts as well. They give more in compensation than the contract requires to placate customers and keep it out of courts, because their contracts have not held up very well to judicial scrutiny.

Ha Ha 300 persons per minute! and in a driving rain on some arrivals. Grand Cayman Tourism Ministry please take note: just build a pier for once and for all and be done with it.

With the environmental impact a pier would have on their reef system it will never happen.

Florida just declared a state of emergency. Will that effect flights or the ports?

The ports are still open though on a state of heightened readiness. Bridges will lock down 8 hours before anticipated arrival of tropical storm force winds, which will probably result in port closures.

JAGheel, I'm curious, have you gone on this yet? I would love to know how this turned out for you. Thanks!

Not yet, my cruise sets sail on the 29th. I'll let you know once I get back.

Chairs, shower/changing facilities, etc. are not free even if beach access is. That excursion includes those things, along with the iced tea and lemonade.

You are also receiving access to the resort with chairs, facilities, etc.

Hi all, are there lockers at the port area? With the timing of our Stingray excursion we will likely have to do our shopping beforehand, and we'd rather not take our purchases on the excursion with us. Are there lockers at the port we could put our stuff in?

I'm confused here. How can paying an extra $90 to get $70 be coming out ahead?

If it was me, I'd put the extra $90 in my pocket. Take it onboard with me, and have $90 of extra money on my cruise.

They are paying 90 to get 160.

We were on Royal Caribbean out of Galveston the week of June 7th, and we took the ship-sponsored New River and Lamanaii ruins tour. We loved it, the bus ride wasn't bad (about a hour each way) and the boat ride on the river was a treat by itself! The ruins are impressive, and the feel is very much jungle-ly. It was a great tour.

 

We are considering another cruise with some friends next April, on Carnival this time. They'd like to take this same tour but so far I've been unable to find it on their tour offerings listing.

 

Has anyone on the boards taken this tour as a Carnival-sponsored shore excursion? If so, can you tell me how it's titled so I can find it?

 

Thanks in advance!

Carnival does not do a Lamanai excursion. I decided to give it a whirl with Elio.

Looking for recommendations between these two trips. Wife and I really like the idea of the boat ride that comes with each of these. Seeing pictures of both sites, I prefer the look of Lamanai, but I have heard that it is very tight time wise. Is the extra "coolness" factor worth the risk? I do have priority tendering so I can be on the first tender off the boat. Any thoughts? And for those recommending Lamanai any recommendations on providers?

Yay!!!! I will be leaving on my first cruise in 15 days!!!! I understand that cell phone communication is very expensive, but was wondering if anyone has used WhatsApp or Viber? I have used both apps to speak with my SO while he is in the middle east and have never incurred any charges.

 

Thanks!

WIFI isn't free onboard, so you would have to pay for that. How much depends on the ship and which internet program it has.

Funny... I don't remember the last time I saw a thread about how the price of Bread, Milk, Eggs, Oil, Gas, Beets, Corn, Salsa, Beef, Chicken, Pork, whatever... went up... But as soon as Carnival raises their prices, it's a national tragedy about them gouging us....:rolleyes:

 

Alcohol is optional... wait until you get home and get yourself blitzed for 10% of the cost.. If you must get drunk.

Those food staple prices might go up, but they are pretty reasonable. Alcohol prices on a cruise are starting to leave the realm of reasonable, so people are voicing concern. Some people also can't get drunk at home (work obligations, etc.) so vacation is their one chance to cut loose.

I'm dumb, what do you use the cards for?

To pay for things. Just like any other gift card. Fare, excursions, on-board expenses, etc.

Nice! Any limit to how many you can buy?

Yes. You can only use the coupon once per account.

Thanks for the heads up. That'll help pay for Cheers.

It might help if people knew which port? Many have zoos and semi-subs.

For dinner? Shorts are pretty much not ok except at the buffet or on the first night of the cruise. For lunch that would be fine.

I'd say it's worth it if you have more than one tender port.

 

 

Yes, and their response will be too simply raise the base rates, effectively making you pay for goods and services that you don't need or even want. I would prefer to keep the base rates low, and CHOOSE to pay a little extra for those things that I want. But that's just me.

If you want super cheap fares with nothing included just take ferries from point to point. Then you get the added bonus of creating your own itineraries. Cruising is supposed to be all-inclusive. You pay a bunch of money upfront so that you don't have to sit there and think about cost and stress about your vacation budget while you are on the vacation.

You will have to stay at home forever ))) Trust me on any cruise line on any ship there is always some parents who does not care about diaper-pool rule((:mad:

Which is why I am sure MSC is making a killing with it's new pay 18+ area/pool on ships like the Divina. I know my wife and I will be partaking so we can avoid the rugrats and get in some relaxation.