Florida, sued Princess Cruise Lines
MIAMI, Fla. — A couple from Broward County, Florida, sued Princess Cruise Lines for gross negligence after the couple was marooned in the bay off of San Francisco, California, on a cruise ship contaminated by the novel coronavirus. The cruise ship eventually docked in Oakland, California, but not before the couple was exposed to COVID-19. According to CNN, two passengers, along with nineteen crew, received a positive test for COVID-19. The couple filed a lawsuit in the federal court in Los Angeles, California. In the court filings, the plaintiffs state that Princess Cruise Lines had two passengers who tested positive for COVID-19 before allowing the plaintiffs and 2,000 more passengers to come aboard. The suit also claims that 60 people from the previous voyage remained onboard, thereby exposing unwitting passengers to the lethal virus.
The married couple who are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit boarded the Grand Princess on February 21, 2020. About 2,000 other passengers boarded on the same date. Not one of the passengers received any COVID-19 screening. Moreover, the cruise operator did not endeavor to warn any of the boarding passengers that two travelers from the ship’s previous voyage were positive for COVID-19. Additionally, the incoming passengers received no warning that 60 people from the previous voyage were staying on board.
The cruise line did not tell anyone whether those 60 people were tested or not. Princess Cruise Lines sent an email to travelers from the previous trip, notifying them about the COVID-19-positive passengers.
The plaintiffs said that they would have gotten off of the ship in Hawaii when it arrived in Honolulu on February 26, 2020, if they had known about the positive tests from the previous voyage.
The plaintiffs argued that they were in grave danger from suffering a physical injury. Additionally, they said they both suffered from severe emotional distress because of their situation. They also argued that the cruise line did nothing even though another vessel in its fleet was trapped in Japanese waters with 700 people positive for COVID-19.
