Carnival to pay $2.4m settlement over P&O ‘cruise from hell’

A settlement has been reached in a class-action lawsuit over a cruise that left Brisbane and sailed into the path of a category 5 cyclone.

Carnival will pay more than $2.4 million after reaching a settlement with passengers for what their lawyers described as a “cruise from hell”.

P&O’s ship Pacific Aria departed Brisbane on May 5, 2017 for a seven-day cruise and sailed into the path of category 5 Cyclone Donna. Carnival is the cruise line’s parent company.

Firm Carter Capner Law filed a class-action lawsuit against the company in 2023, which ended in the multimillion settlement finalised on Thursday.

Lead plaintiff Debrah Jackson argued on behalf of passengers that the cruise undertook its journey when a cyclone existed or was forming in and about the ship’s intended path.

“The vessel encountered rough conditions which had the consequence that many activities aboard the vessel were curtailed, facilities were closed, ports that were intended to be visited were not, the enjoyment of the cruise was not as desired and, generally, the cruise was a rather unpleasant experience,” the Judgement read.

Water violently sloshes about in the on-board pool during the so-called ‘cruise from hell’.

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Carnival denied it did not appropriately provide services for the cruise because the ticket terms rejected any guarantee that the ship would run to any particular itinerary due to “obvious vicissitudes of sea voyages”.

Carnival also asserted that at the time the Pacific Aria left the port in Brisbane, there was a reasonable anticipation that it could undertake an appropriate voyage. It denied any liability.

Following mediation, Carnival agreed to pay $2,416,000 to resolve the case.

Carnival will pay a $2.4 million settlement but it denied any liability.

The sum includes covering Carter Capner Law’s legal fees, capped at $1 million, a GST of $100,000 on those fees, and $100,000 will go to costs associated with administration of the settlement.

It leaves passengers with the remaining $1,216,000 – receiving about double the cost of their ticket for the cruise.

They are to receive $944 to refund the cost of the cruise ticket and about $900 as additional compensation for “distress and disappointment”. The lead plaintiff is owed an extra $2000.

The class action was filed on behalf of passengers on P&O’s Pacific Aria that sailed from Brisbane to Noumea in May, 2017.

Justice Roger Derrington said the settlement was likely to be a better outcome for the passengers than if the matter proceeded to trial.

In a statement following the Judgement published on Thursday, Carter Capner Law director Peter Carter said he always had confidence in the claim

“By sailing into the path of Cyclone Donna without giving passengers the opportunity to cancel and obtain a full refund, it subjected passengers to a miserable seven days,” he said.

Carnival declined to comment further when contacted by news.com.au.