Cruise Ship Coronavirus Lawsuits Begin

Cruise ship passengers who have been affected by various coronavirus outbreaks have seen their lives significantly affected. Thousands of travelers have been confined to the vessels under quarantine, not only unable to leave the ships but unable to leave their staterooms for days and weeks on end. Now, a Florida couple is suing a major cruise line for its handling of a recent coronavirus contagion. 

CNN.com reports that Broward County residents Ronald and Eva Weissberger have filed suit against Princess Cruise Lines, seeking over $1 million in compensation. The couple was among those who contracted coronavirus aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship, which docked in Northern California this week. 

The complaint accuses Princess of negligently sailing “knowing that the ship was infected from two previous passengers who came down with symptoms of COVID-19, and had sixty-two passengers on board.”

The suit claims that on February 25, Princess notified previous passengers that they may have been exposed to coronavirus while aboard the ship, but did not warn the ship’s current passengers of the danger. The Weissbergers said that, had they known of the danger, they would have left the cruise when the ship docked at Honolulu on February 26. 

In a statement, Princess defended its response to coronavirus (COVID-19) aboard its ships and claimed that it had not been served with the lawsuit.