SAN FRANCISCO --
For a second time, passengers on the Pride of Alohas early Hawaiian
cruises have filed a class action accusing their agency, Blue World
Travel here, of negligence and breach of contract, alleging that
the product fell short of its billing as a luxury cruise.
The agency had
arranged for two back-to-back charters on the Norwegian Cruise Line
ship for dates last August, soon after the Pride of Aloha entered
service and during a period when the ship experienced staffing
problems.
Passengers on the
second cruise filed a class action in January, complaining about
the food and services and asserting that the agency had failed to
warn about, or fix, problems that had surfaced on the first
cruise.
Both actions were
filed in San Francisco County Superior Court.
The plaintiffs,
between 4,000 and 4,300 people who paid $2,000 to $2,500 each for
their trips, seek full refunds, damages to be determined at trial
and an injunction to prevent the agency from engaging in unlawful,
unfair, fraudulent and deceptive business practices.
In response to
the first suit, Blue World filed a cross complaint against NCL. Its
attorney, Alexander Anolik, said Blue World would do likewise in
response to the second suit.
Meanwhile, NCL
sued Blue World in U.S. District Court in Miami over venue. Since
the agency contract stipulated that all disputes be litigated in
Dade County, Fla., NCL asked that all litigation be moved to the
Florida court.
To contact
the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Nadine Godwin
at [email protected].