Cruise Line Lawsuits
The Florida Third District Court of Appeals recently held that a cruise line’s forum selection clause that requires a cruise passenger lawsuit to be filed exclusively in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida is enforceable. Leslie v. Carnival Corp., 33 FLW D 105 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1-2-08) In this case, the passenger’s primary objection was that the forum selection clause stripped them of their constitutional right to a jury trial and instead provided for a jury trial in federal court, only with the consent of both parties. It is important to note that the court noted that this forum selection clause now appears in nearly all commercial passage contracts currently issued by Carnival to its fare paying customers. Please keep this in mind when you take a cruise out of Port Canaveral.
North Brevard
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