An Indiana appeals court has upheld the South Florida "small print" venue provision buried in a Carnival Cruise Lines' ticket. A woman filed suit against Carnival in her home state of Indiana alleging that as a cruise passenger she became ill because the Carnival ship she was on was going too fast.
Doris Beard sued Carnival claiming "due to the speed of the ship I became very sick, my body swayed terrible on the ship I had bleeding, which I had not has [sic] in three years. The ship was moving so fast everyone on board became sick, even the workers," according to a court document.
Carnival's attorneys requested that the case be dismissed based on the "small print" venue clause in its ticket, contending that lawsuits against the company by passengers are required to be filed South Florida, where the cruise line is based.
Although the cruise line's motion was denied by the Indiana small claims court, the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the decision finding that the small claims court "erred." The end result is that the woman can re-file her lawsuit in South Florida, assuming that she is still within the one-year statute of limitations.
Most cruise lines, particularly those based in South Florida departing from the Port of Miami or Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, have provisions for venue and the statute of limitations printed in their tickets. Frequently, this language is buried somewhere in the middle of the ticket in fine print with language straight out a law school text book.
"Venue" is the legal term for where a lawsuit must be filed and a "Statute of Limitations" deals with the time period in which a passenger must file suit. Carnival's ticket limits venue to the federal court in South Florida and has a one year statute of limitations. The courts have enforced these provisions, which can be quite onerous for a passenger seeking legal redress against Carnival for injuries or damages, particularly when they are living out of the South Florida area. This impediment is the intended effect of incorporating this language in small print buried somewhere in the ticket.
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