Seven cruise companies and the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association were named in a lawsuit alleging that the cruise lines colluded and levied unreasonably high fuel surcharges.
Royal Caribbean Cruises, Carnival Corp., Norwegian Cruise Line, Ambassadors International, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Silversea Cruises and Oceania Cruises were named in the complaint, filed by New York-based law firm Labaton Sucharow.
The suit was filed on behalf of Jason Ablelove, a New York resident who claimed that the cruise lines participated in "a conspiracy to fix, raise, maintain and/or stabilize energy surcharge prices ... purportedly designed to compensate defendants for increased fuel costs."
The suit seeks class action status based on anyone that purchased a cruise ship ticket after Jan. 1, 2008, and paid a fuel surcharge.
The lawsuit was filed shortly after the Florida attorney general's office said it was reviewing the legality of the fuel surcharges. Triggered by more than 150 consumer complaints filed with the state's attorney general's office since November, the office is reviewing whether the cruise lines can retroactively impose fuel surcharges on passengers and whether the appropriate disclosures about the surcharges were made to consumers at the point of sale.
To contact reporter Johanna Jainchill, send e-mail to [email protected].