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Carnival Cruise Lines - Damaged Luggage

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Keith of Pembroke Pines FL (1/15/04):
I am a high school science teacher and I booked a cruise last summer on the Carnival Imagination to go to Cozumel right after school ended. I had booked it with the intention of going scuba diving that week. With that in mind I brought along all my scuba diving equipment. The equipment was in my bag when I checked it in at the port. Before checking in the equipment was in perfect condition. Most of it had been used only several times.

When I received my bag in the room later that night I found that my equipment had been severely damaged and is now unusable. My dive computer, which I paid $820 for, was smashed and so was my regulator, which I had paid $445 for. Furthermore I found that the bag itself had been severely damaged. Not only was the gear and the bag damaged, but I had secured several items in very hard plastic cases to protect them from damage. The case for the dive computer and the case for my scuba mask were both smashed to pieces.

The extent of the damage and the measures I took to prevent it show me that the damage caused was unnecessary and due to extreme negligence on their part. When I went to the service desk to claim the damages they wrote me a letter stating the damaged that were incurred.

As a result of this damage I was unable to go scuba diving on my trip. When the cruise ended I called the customer relations phone number I was given and spoke to a person by the name of Ronnie Delgado. This person told me that Carnival does not claim responsibility for damaged belongings and there is nothing I can do. At this point I started to find the names of other people in the company to call hoping someone higher up could help me. I spoke to Christina Rubio and eventually Vicki Freed who is the senior vice president of sales and marketing. Both told me the same thing, that I signed a contract upon embarkation which cleared Carnival of any liability for damaged belongings and that I would not be reimbursed.

I filed a claim in Miami Small Claims Court. I had hoped to go to the preliminary hearing and be able to speak with someone in person, who could negotiate a settlement, but a lawyer was sent with no other representative and he told me the same thing as everyone else. I am currently awaiting the trial date to determine if I am due compensation.

I am worried about this contract, which does clearly state that Carnival is not responsible for damaged belongings. I do not know if this contract will hold up in front of a judge legally, but in fairness I believe they owe me new scuba gear. I spent a lot of money on my gear and do not have enough to replace it. I have not been able to dive since June. The new scuba season is going to begin soon and I would like to be able to go diving.

In legal terms I am not sure that I can win, but in all fairness I believe that they owe me new diving gear. They broke it and they should pay for it. If I damage a friend�s belongings, it would be my responsibility to pay for them to be replaced. It is not fair that this rule does not apply to large corporations.

A contract is a contract -- but a contract can't protect either party against a claim of negligence. It will be interesting to hear how this case turns out.

Lori of Kapaa HI (12/1/03):
We are very lucky that our father gets us all together once a year and takes us on a cruise with Carnival. This year was our 8th cruise. My Dad and 2 sisters complained that our cabins weren't deluxe as promised by the person in Miami but my younger sister and I decided to keep peace within our family of 5.

We did and we had fun until we docked in Galveston and got off the boat and my younger sister's suitcase was missing. This was Carnival Elation Cruise leaving Galveston Tx 11-16-03 returning 11-23-03 We were in room V-3. I am very disappointed with Carnival about my sister's suitcase that had approx. $1200.00 worth of stuff in it plus the sentimental value things that her immediate family has given her throughout 23 yrs of marriage.

To this day Carnival has not found her suitcase and still is not willing to admit it was their fault and pay her back or find her suitcase.

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