MOBILE, Ala. -- The first lawsuit was filed Friday by one of thousands
of passengers trapped aboard a Carnival cruise ship adrift in the Gulf
of Mexico for the past five days.

After disembarking in Mobile early Friday, Cassie Terry, 25, of Lake
Jackson, Texas, hired attorneys Wayne Collins and Brent Allison in the
Houston area, who filed the lawsuit in federal court in Miami.

The suit charges Carnival with failing to provide a seaworthy ship and
sanitary conditions, describing the ship as "a floating toilet, a
floating petri dish, a floating hell."

Vance Gulliksen, a Carnival spokesman, said officials had not seen a
copy of the lawsuit late Friday and could not comment about it. Terry
could not be reached for comment.

Terry also claims in the lawsuit to have suffered physical and emotional
harm during the cruise, including anxiety, nervousness and the loss of
the enjoyment of life.

"Plaintiff was forced to endure unbearable and horrendous odors on the
filthy and disabled vessel, and wade through human feces in order to
reach food lines where the wait was counted in hours, only to receive
rations of spoiled food," says the lawsuit, which Allison provided to
the Los Angeles Times.

The lawsuit also claims that during the "horrifying and excruciating tow
back to the United States," the ship listed several times, "causing
human waste to spill out of non-functioning toilets, flood across the
vessel's floors and halls, and drip down the vessel's walls."

Terry planned to seek legal advice before she even got off the ship,
Allison said. After she reached shore, she called her husband and he
contacted the attorneys, Allison said.

Allison said Terry was thankful to be home but felt sick and planned to
see a doctor.

The Carnival Triumph had left Galveston, Texas, a week ago Thursday for
a four-day Mexican cruise, but it became stranded in the gulf after an
engine fire Sunday. Investigators on Friday were still trying to
determine what caused the fire.

*Allison said he specializes in maritime law. His firm represented
relatives of one of the victims of the deadly wreck off Italy last year
of the Costa Concordia, a cruise ship operated by a subsidiary of
Carnival. That case was eventually transferred to Florida, he said.*

Allison said he was hearing from other Triumph passengers Friday who had
heard of his work with the Costa Concordia and were exploring possible
lawsuits.

http://tinyurl.com/cfb6k7k


Blech!


--
I'm a *Liberal* because I knew the militant christian fundamentalist
racist militaristic xenophobic corporate oligarchy wasn't going to work
for me.

On 2/16/13 11:54 AM, wrote:
On Sat, 16 Feb 2013 10:28:38 -0500, "F.O.A.D." wrote:


MOBILE, Ala. -- The first lawsuit was filed Friday by one of thousands
of passengers trapped aboard a Carnival cruise ship adrift in the Gulf
of Mexico for the past five days.
This will be a case to watch. They will have to prove some kind of
gross negligence to get around the somewhat iron clad waivers you sign
when you buy a ticket.
This is the country to do it tho. The US may be the only place in the
world where having a signed waiver is no guarantee that you can be
sued for exactly what the plaintiff waived.



Are these sort of like the waivers you "agree to" when the parking
garage takes your car into the bowels of the earth and bangs up the
fenders, in that they are not really waivers at all, and the garage
owners/operators have to pay for the repairs?

I think it is a fair assumption that when you board a cruise ship, the
engine room isn't going to catch on fire, and that if there is an
emergency, the crew is competent to handle it.

--
I'm a *Liberal* because I knew the militant christian fundamentalist
racist militaristic xenophobic corporate oligarchy wasn't going to work
for me.

On 2/16/2013 12:50 PM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 2/16/13 11:54 AM, wrote:
On Sat, 16 Feb 2013 10:28:38 -0500, "F.O.A.D." wrote:


MOBILE, Ala. -- The first lawsuit was filed Friday by one of thousands
of passengers trapped aboard a Carnival cruise ship adrift in the Gulf
of Mexico for the past five days.
This will be a case to watch. They will have to prove some kind of
gross negligence to get around the somewhat iron clad waivers you sign
when you buy a ticket.
This is the country to do it tho. The US may be the only place in the
world where having a signed waiver is no guarantee that you can be
sued for exactly what the plaintiff waived.



Are these sort of like the waivers you "agree to" when the parking
garage takes your car into the bowels of the earth and bangs up the
fenders, in that they are not really waivers at all, and the garage
owners/operators have to pay for the repairs?

I think it is a fair assumption that when you board a cruise ship, the
engine room isn't going to catch on fire, and that if there is an
emergency, the crew is competent to handle it.


You know what happens when Harry makes an assumption.

In article ,
says...

On Sat, 16 Feb 2013 10:28:38 -0500, "F.O.A.D." wrote:


MOBILE, Ala. -- The first lawsuit was filed Friday by one of thousands
of passengers trapped aboard a Carnival cruise ship adrift in the Gulf
of Mexico for the past five days.
This will be a case to watch. They will have to prove some kind of
gross negligence to get around the somewhat iron clad waivers you sign
when you buy a ticket.
This is the country to do it tho. The US may be the only place in the
world where having a signed waiver is no guarantee that you can be
sued for exactly what the plaintiff waived.

I'll also bet that those that were told, here, we're going to give you a
refund, and a voucher for a future cruise, and reimburse you for your
expenses, just sign here, are unknowingly signing away their rights to
sue.

On 2/16/13 1:19 PM, iBoaterer wrote:
In article ,
says...

On Sat, 16 Feb 2013 10:28:38 -0500, "F.O.A.D." wrote:


MOBILE, Ala. -- The first lawsuit was filed Friday by one of thousands
of passengers trapped aboard a Carnival cruise ship adrift in the Gulf
of Mexico for the past five days.
This will be a case to watch. They will have to prove some kind of
gross negligence to get around the somewhat iron clad waivers you sign
when you buy a ticket.
This is the country to do it tho. The US may be the only place in the
world where having a signed waiver is no guarantee that you can be
sued for exactly what the plaintiff waived.

I'll also bet that those that were told, here, we're going to give you a
refund, and a voucher for a future cruise, and reimburse you for your
expenses, just sign here, are unknowingly signing away their rights to
sue.



It won't take much of a tort lawyer to bust through that nonsense.

--
I'm a *Liberal* because I knew the militant christian fundamentalist
racist militaristic xenophobic corporate oligarchy wasn't going to work
for me.

On 2/16/2013 2:13 PM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 2/16/13 1:19 PM, iBoaterer wrote:
In article ,
says...

On Sat, 16 Feb 2013 10:28:38 -0500, "F.O.A.D." wrote:


MOBILE, Ala. -- The first lawsuit was filed Friday by one of thousands
of passengers trapped aboard a Carnival cruise ship adrift in the Gulf
of Mexico for the past five days.
This will be a case to watch. They will have to prove some kind of
gross negligence to get around the somewhat iron clad waivers you sign
when you buy a ticket.
This is the country to do it tho. The US may be the only place in the
world where having a signed waiver is no guarantee that you can be
sued for exactly what the plaintiff waived.

I'll also bet that those that were told, here, we're going to give you a
refund, and a voucher for a future cruise, and reimburse you for your
expenses, just sign here, are unknowingly signing away their rights to
sue.



It won't take much of a tort lawyer to bust through that nonsense.



Ahhh, but it will. Carnival will have the best MARITIME legal defense
team, at their service.

On 2/16/13 4:26 PM, Gogarty wrote:
In article om,
says...


On 2/16/2013 2:13 PM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 2/16/13 1:19 PM, iBoaterer wrote:
In article ,
says...

On Sat, 16 Feb 2013 10:28:38 -0500, "F.O.A.D." wrote:


MOBILE, Ala. -- The first lawsuit was filed Friday by one of thousands
of passengers trapped aboard a Carnival cruise ship adrift in the Gulf
of Mexico for the past five days.
This will be a case to watch. They will have to prove some kind of
gross negligence to get around the somewhat iron clad waivers you sign
when you buy a ticket.
This is the country to do it tho. The US may be the only place in the
world where having a signed waiver is no guarantee that you can be
sued for exactly what the plaintiff waived.

I'll also bet that those that were told, here, we're going to give you a
refund, and a voucher for a future cruise, and reimburse you for your
expenses, just sign here, are unknowingly signing away their rights to
sue.



It won't take much of a tort lawyer to bust through that nonsense.



Ahhh, but it will. Carnival will have the best MARITIME legal defense
team, at their service.

MARITIME! That's the word, that's the word. Maritime or admiralty law is a
whole different kettle of fish from ordinary tort law. They actually don't
need all those signed waivers. Once you set foot on their ship you surrender
your tort rights. It's their ball game.


Uh-huh. So, admiralty law precludes findings of negligence, eh?


--
I'm a *Liberal* because I knew the militant christian fundamentalist
racist militaristic xenophobic corporate oligarchy wasn't going to work
for me.

In article ,
says...

In article ,
says...

MARITIME! That's the word, that's the word. Maritime or admiralty law is a
whole different kettle of fish from ordinary tort law. They actually don't
need all those signed waivers. Once you set foot on their ship you
surrender
your tort rights. It's their ball game.


Uh-huh. So, admiralty law precludes findings of negligence, eh?

I did not say that. What it may well do is limit liability.

There is precedence here. Another ship in the Pacific had a fire and drifted
for five days. How did those cases turn out? Also, Concordia, suits filed,
ships arrested then released.

Harry should take a look at what maritime law is doing for the victims
of the Costa Concordia.

http://www.cruiselawnews.com/tags/costa-concordia/

On 2/17/2013 1:28 AM, wrote:
On Sat, 16 Feb 2013 19:56:50 -0500, Gogarty
wrote:

In article ,
says...

MARITIME! That's the word, that's the word. Maritime or admiralty law is a
whole different kettle of fish from ordinary tort law. They actually don't
need all those signed waivers. Once you set foot on their ship you
surrender
your tort rights. It's their ball game.


Uh-huh. So, admiralty law precludes findings of negligence, eh?

I did not say that. What it may well do is limit liability.

There is precedence here. Another ship in the Pacific had a fire and drifted
for five days. How did those cases turn out? Also, Concordia, suits filed,
ships arrested then released.

This is America. The lawyers may not be able to do anything about the
ship and crew but they will the Carnival front office. That is a land
based US business and they will say it was negligent corporate
decisions that were responsible for the accident and the problems in
the cleanup.

Whether they get away with it is anyone's guess but what do the
lawyers have to lose? Only their time.
In most of those other countries, loser pays. That cuts down on
frivolous suits a bit


This incident will only serve to make future potential cruise ship
passengers more aware that they have very few, if any, rights aboard
cruise ships. When **** happens, there is not a whole lot you can do
about it. Carnival is probably more worried about bad publicity than
compensating their passengers.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_2697774.html

On Sat, 16 Feb 2013 11:54:53 -0500, wrote:

On Sat, 16 Feb 2013 10:28:38 -0500, "F.O.A.D." wrote:


MOBILE, Ala. -- The first lawsuit was filed Friday by one of thousands
of passengers trapped aboard a Carnival cruise ship adrift in the Gulf
of Mexico for the past five days.
This will be a case to watch. They will have to prove some kind of
gross negligence to get around the somewhat iron clad waivers you sign
when you buy a ticket.
This is the country to do it tho. The US may be the only place in the
world where having a signed waiver is no guarantee that you can be
sued for exactly what the plaintiff waived.

That's what makes this a great ****in country. No amount of bull****
you sign can sign away your basic rights.