Blue World Travel of San Francisco has
taken its case against Norwegian Cruise Line to county court in
Miami in an effort to recover losses that the agency blames on
customer dissatisfaction with two disastrous Blue World charters of
NCLs Pride of Aloha in August 2004.
The back-to-back
weeklong charters occurred soon after the Pride of Aloha entered
service and during a period when the ship experienced severe
staffing problems and service snafus.
As a result, the
clients brought two class actions against their agency in San
Francisco County Superior Court, in which they said the two
sailings were characterized by a wide range of unsanitary
conditions in public spaces, sleeping rooms and, especially, the
kitchens and bathrooms.
Service, they
continued, was slow and poor; food ranged from dull and boring to
inedible; and staff ranged from harried to rude, at times to the
point of making racist remarks to passengers. They also alleged
that there were not enough life jackets in rooms, and that other
safety precautions were inadequate.
Facing huge
monetary claims for problems it said were NCLs responsibility, the
agency filed suit against NCL in California but was forced to bring
its action to Florida. The redrafted charges were filed last month
in the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County.
Blue World is
seeking recovery of losses, damages and indemnification against any
adverse court decisions that might arise from the passengers class
actions.
NCL declined to
comment on the latest filing because the matter is still pending in
the courts.
To contact the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail
to Nadine Godwin at [email protected].