Royal Caribbean's actions related to Hurricane Harvey are under scrutiny after a cruise passenger who said she and others were forced into the hurricane's path filed a lawsuit against the company.
Passengers, who were due to sail from Galveston, Texas, on Aug. 27, allegedly were pressured into traveling to Houston, where the nearest major airport is located, or risk losing the ability to get a refund on their tickets, CBS News reported.
The suit was filed by Canadian Nikki McIntosh who said passengers' lives were put at risk because Royal Caribbean failed to reschedule their cruise timely.
"Consequently, hundreds of passengers were subjected to days of danger, terror and trauma as a result of being forced to travel into the path of a category 4 hurricane," the lawsuit said.
The 20-page suit filed in Florida details email updates from Royal Caribbean starting on Thursday, Aug. 24 reassuring passengers that they were still running according to schedule.
On Friday, Aug. 25, the Port of Galveston closed to all vessels and suspended waterfront operations. The port remained closed until Aug 31.
Despite this, passengers continued to receive updates from Royal Caribbean saying they were still on schedule, the lawsuit said. By late Saturday night, they sent an update that the cruise would be delayed.
On Sunday, the passengers were offered a refund, but according to the suit, by this time many passengers had already traveled to Houston and were now stuck in Texas with many of the roads in the area being closed.
Royal Caribbean eventually canceled the trip on Sunday, Aug. 27. The plaintiff claims that the cruise line's unwillingness to offer refunds or cancel the trip sooner is what pressured many passengers into traveling to the area.
When the Port of Galveston shared news of the cancellation on Facebook, one user commented that she was already stranded in the city.
TheStreet co-founder and former hedge fund manager Jim Cramer said the lawsuit against Royal Caribbean isn't likely to affect the company's shares too much, saying their CEO is resourceful enough to "reinvent themselves."
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