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Class action filed after ‘cruise from hell’ into cyclone
A class action has been launched against Carnival after a P&O cruise sailed from Brisbane into the path of a category 5 cyclone, leaving passengers terrified as the ship took on water.
Lauren Croft
In May 2017, P&O’s Pacific Aria sailed from Brisbane to Nouméa, New Caledonia, in the midst of Cyclone Donna and progressively worse and rough sea conditions.
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Now, a legal claim has been launched by Brisbane firm Carter Capner Law against P&O’s parent company Carnival for damages and a refund of fares.
Lead plaintiff and passenger Debrah Jackson said she was under the impression the cruise would be a “stress-less” experience and a “dream holiday”, but she found the opposite to be true after heading for a cyclone at sea.
According to the statement of claim, the Australian government warned holiday-makers to change their plans, stating on the DFA internet site that they “advise Australians to reconsider travel to Vanuatu due to the likely impact of the cyclone”.
The cruise was set to depart Brisbane on 5 May, visit Noumea, Lifou Island and Port Vila and have three days in total at sea before returning on 12 May.
At the time that the cruise departed Brisbane, Cyclone Donna had been classified as a category 3 cyclone, with the ship’s route taking it directly into the eye of the storm. The cyclone was upgraded to a category 4 cyclone on 7 May and category 5 on 8 May.
Carter Capner Law director Peter Carter said passengers were given no pre-boarding cancellation option as they joined the vessel for their seven-day South Pacific cruise to Noumea and Vanuatu.
“Before departure, a cyclone warning had been issued for Vanuatu as it had a forecast that the category 3 cyclone was heading in the direction of Noumea,” he said.
When arriving in Noumea, the passengers were allowed to disembark the ship; however, most businesses were closed and locked down due to the cyclone. On 8 May, the cruise left for Brisbane but did not visit Lifou Island or Port Vila or any other port on its return voyage.
On the voyage back, according to the statement of claim, passengers said “the severity of the seas caused furniture to move, tables to overturn and the ship to list and to stay in a listing position for about an hour” and that this was “very frightening” as the ship continued to take on water.
“This was truly a cruise from hell, with many passengers so scared they confined themselves to their cabin,” Mr Carter said.
Passengers reported restaurant crockery thrown across the gully, meals tossed off the restaurant tables, bottles of wine and spirits falling off the shelves and flying across the deck, and seawater sloshing down corridors and into some cabins.
Additionally, most of the facilities were closed on the voyage back, with live performances cancelled and the environment being “unpleasant”.
“At the time the ship departed from Brisbane [Carnival] knew, or a reasonable and prudent cruise operator in the position of [Carnival] would have known, of the existence of Cyclone Donna,” the statement of claim noted.
In addition, Carnival would have known that “passengers’ enjoyment of the cruise would be reduced because of the weather” and that it would not be a “pleasurable, recreational, relaxing or fun” experience and therefore, the cruise operator failed to “exercise due care and skill” in supplying a service.
As such, the class action claim seeks to recover damages from P&O for disappointment, frustration, discomfort and distress and a refund of the cruise fare paid by each passenger.
