Carnival Triumph Fallout: What Are Cruise Passengers’ Rights?

Passengers leave the Carnival Triumph cruise ship after reaching the port of Mobile, Ala., Feb. 14. (Reuters)

After five days adrift in the Gulf of Mexico with no working toilets, sewage oozing down walls and no air conditioning in their cabins, passengers on the Carnival Triumph cruise ship were offered a full refund, reimbursed on-board expenses, a free flight home, a free future cruise and a check for $500.

And, Carnival tweeted, they could keep the ship-issued bathrobes.

The 3,000-plus passengers might classify it meager compensation, even with the bathrobes, for an ordeal that began earlier this month with an engine-room fire that left the Triumph dead in the water. But it’s a lot more than Carnival is obligated to pay based on its ticket-contract agreement with passengers.
Cruise passengers have few rights, even fewer than airline passengers, and little hope to recover costs or damages in court.

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