Categories | Lawsuits & Litigation Article

Caribbean Cruises Right Into A Lawsuit

March 8th, 2017 • Lawsuits & Litigation • 2 minute read
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Author Sara E. Teller

Caribbean Cruises Right Into A Lawsuit

A federal judge in Illinois signed off on the $76 million settlement deal finalizing a class action lawsuit against Caribbean Cruise Line on Thursday.  The lawsuit had alleged that the cruise line placed millions of unsolicited robocalls to market free cruise tips.  This marketing spree was in violation from the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.  In 2012, the Federal Communication Commission began to require telemarketers to obtain prior written consent from consumers before robocalling them, to do away with “established business relationship” as an exemption and to provide an opt-out alternative during each robocall.

Image Courtesy of CruiseMates.com

Ultimately, anyone who received one or more of the automated phone calls was included in the class action lawsuit, which alleged that the survey was a “scam” and no more than a “marketing tool with no legitimate political basis.”  Those that fell for the gimmick were immediately transferred to a Caribbean Cruise Line customer service representative.  This individual further duped the caller into booking a free cruise while the representative up sold pricey accommodations if the individual agreed to attend a sales presentation for the resort condominium complex owned by the Berkley Group, a Florida-based co-defendant. If the individual agreed, by the end of the call, he or she was booked for a cruise and a sales presentation which was anything but “free”.  The answers to the political questions were simply disregarded. Caribbean Cruise Line doesn’t even operate its own ships.  The representatives instead booked callers on Celebration Cruise Line.  The two are based in the same office building in Fort Lauderdale and have a close working relationship. Anyone who received the calls is eligible to receive several hundred dollars per call until the funds are exhausted.  If a number is not listed in the defendant’s records, the claimant can still provide a phone bill or other piece of evidence to certify inclusion in the class.Sources:$76M Cruise Robocall Class Settlement Gets Final ApprovalThat 'free cruise' robocall could get you up to $500 as part of $76M settlement
Sara E. Teller

About Sara E. Teller

Sara is a credited freelance writer, editor, contributor, and essayist, as well as a novelist and poet with nearly twenty years of experience. A seasoned publishing professional, she's worked for newspapers, magazines and book publishers in content digitization, editorial, acquisitions and intellectual property. Sara has been an invited speaker at a Careers in Publishing & Authorship event at Michigan State University and a Reading and Writing Instructor at Sylvan Learning Center. She has an MBA degree with a concentration in Marketing and an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, graduating with a 4.2/4.0 GPA. She is also a member of Chi Sigma Iota and a 2020 recipient of the Donald D. Davis scholarship recognizing social responsibility. Sara is certified in children's book writing, HTML coding and social media marketing. Her fifth book, PTSD: Healing from the Inside Out, was released in September 2019 and is available on Amazon. You can find her others books there, too, including Narcissistic Abuse: A Survival Guide, released in December 2017.

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