If the parties cannot resolve the case, it will proceed to trial in the Federal Court of Australia on March 1, 2022.
Shine Lawyers filed the class action in July 2020 on behalf of passengers or their families and the estates of those who died over the handling of the COVID-19 outbreak on board Ruby Princess, which sailed on a round cruise from Sydney on March 8 last year.
It is alleged that the outbreak of coronavirus on Ruby Princess, which docked on March 19, 2020, resulted from a failure to take appropriate measures to ensure that passengers were safe and protected from contracting the virus on the ship.
Australian Consumer Law
It is alleged this failure constitutes breaches of the cruise owner and operator’s duty of care to its passengers and of the consumer guarantees and other provisions of Australian Consumer Law.
There are more than 1,000 registrants in the class action.
Exclusion sought
Meanwhile, it is understood that Carnival has filed an application to be heard May 20 and 21 in the Federal Court to exclude all overseas group members from the class action on the basis that they signed up to different contract terms to Australian and New Zealand passengers when they bought their tickets.
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