Cruise Lines Are Sued Over Port Charges

Carnival Corp., Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and other cruise lines are the target of lawsuits alleging they inflated port fees as a way of charging passengers more than advertised fare prices.

The suits, which seek class-action status, were filed Tuesday in California, Florida and Washington and seek more than $100 million in refunds, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said.

The cruise lines named in the suit are Carnival’s Carnival and Holland America cruise lines, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises Inc., NCL Holding AS’s Kloster Cruise Ltd., Princess Cruises Inc. and Renaissance Cruises Inc.

Dean Witter Reynolds Inc.’s cruise line analyst Paul Mackey said the lawsuits are baseless because passengers are told about the charges, which also may include tugboat fees and power hookups at the dock.

“These charges are clearly spelled out. Ever read a cruise line ticket? It goes on for pages,” Mackey said.

The companies contacted about the suit declined to comment.

Joseph Lipofsky, an attorney for New York-based Zwerling, Schachter, Zwerling & Koppell, the lead law firm in the suit, said the cruise lines allegedly inflate fees because fierce competition has forced operators to slash prices on base rates.

Port of call charges range from $60 a passenger in Bermuda to $1 in some Caribbean islands, but cruise line operators usually charge each passenger between $140 and $150 for each port call, Lipofsky said.

“Our estimation is that 50 percent of the total amount collected for port charges is not a direct pass through but just a way for them to cover their overhead,” he said.

The cruise industry defends the fees, noting that every cruise line lists the port charges and fees in its brochure for every itinerary.

Referring to governments, Cindy Colenda, president of the International Council of Cruise Lines in Washington, said, “All of them see cruise passengers as easy targets.”

The council cites more than 50 such governmental charges, in addition to the port taxes that go as high a $60 a passenger in Bermuda.