Lawsuits Claim Cruise Line Passengers Soaked

Cruise companies are overbilling customers with inflated “port charges” and pocketing the difference, said lawyers attempting to get class-action status for their lawsuits in three states.

The port charges raise per-ticket prices by between $100 and $150, and as much as half of that may be unnecessary, plaintiffs’ lawyers contended in the lawsuits against seven cruise companies.

The lawsuits were filed Tuesday in state courts in Florida, Washington and California.

The cruise companies sued were: Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Kloster Cruise (now doing business as Norwegian Cruise Line) and Celebrity Cruises, all in Miami; Renaissance Cruises in Fort Lauderdale; Princess Cruise Lines in Los Angeles, and Holland America, a part of Carnival, in Seattle.

The cruise industry denied that it pads port charges and argued the charges are clearly disclosed to passengers.