Hall v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.

Decision Date21 July 2004
Docket NumberNo. 3D03-2132.,3D03-2132.
Citation888 So.2d 654,2004 AMC 1913
PartiesLawrence W. HALL, Appellant, v. ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES, LTD., Appellee.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

Romano, Eriksen, Cronin & Mullins and Michael D. Eriksen (West Palm Beach), for appellant.

McIntosh, Sawran, Peltz, Cartaya & Petruccelli and Louise H. McMurray and Robert Peltz, Miami, for appellee.

Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and GERSTEN and WELLS, JJ.

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied December 13, 2004.

SCHWARTZ, Chief Judge.

This is an appeal from an order dismissing an amended complaint which alleged that the plaintiff, a paying passenger on the defendant's cruise ship, was injured on the high seas when, after having been served alcohol by the vessel's employees to and obviously past the point of intoxication, he staggered from a lounge, and while unable to look after himself fell down two flights of open stairways.

The order under review is erroneous and must be reversed because the complaint clearly stated a cause of action for breach of the defendant's duty to exercise reasonable care for the safety of its passengers, as is established by the general maritime law1 applicable here, see Kermarec v. Compagnie Generale Transatlantique, 358 U.S. 625, 79 S.Ct. 406, 3 L.Ed.2d 550 (1959); The Moses Taylor, 4 Wall. 411, 71 U.S. 411, 18 L.Ed. 397 (1866); Carlisle v. Ulysses Line Ltd., 475 So.2d 248 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985), in both (a) overserving the plaintiff, Kludt v. Majestic Star Casino, LLC, 200 F.Supp.2d 973 (N.D.Ind.2001); Bay Casino, LLC. v. M/V Royal Empress, 199 F.R.D. 464 (E.D.N.Y.1999); Quinn v. St. Charles Gaming Co., 815 So.2d 963 (La.App.2002), writ denied, 813 So.2d 412 (2002); Guinn v. Commodore Cruise Line Ltd., 1997 WL 164290 (S.D.N.Y.1997), and (b) failing to protect him from his (albeit self-imposed) disability. The City of Panama, 101 U.S. 453, 25 L.Ed. 1061 (1879); Chan v. Society Expeditions, Inc., 123 F.3d 1287 (9th Cir.1997), cert. dismissed, 522 U.S. 1100, 118 S.Ct. 906, 139 L.Ed.2d 921 (1998); Holmes v. Oregon & California Ry. Co., 5 F. 523 (D.Or.1881).2 This holding necessarily results also in a reversal of the separate (but substantively redundant) count which alleges a breach of the applicable contract of carriage between the passenger and the carrier. Carlisle v. Carnival Corp., 864 So.2d 1 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003).

Reversed.

1. We disagree with the minority position that the issue may be governed by the dram shop act of the forum state. Cf. Meyer v. Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc., 1994 WL 832006 (N.D.Cal.1994); Voillat v. Red & White Fleet, 2004 WL 547146 (N.D.Cal.2004). As is said in Robert D. Peltz, The Myth of Uniformity in Maritime Law, 21 Tul. Mar. L.J. 103 (1996):

The first lesson that every law student studying Admiralty I learns is that, although most maritime suits may be filed in state court, they are nevertheless governed by substantive maritime law to maintain the uniformity which is...

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8 cases
  • Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. v. Cox
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • April 9, 2014
    ...609, 611–12 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001). See also Carnival Corp. v. Carlisle, 953 So.2d 461, 464 (Fla.2007); Hall v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., 888 So.2d 654, 654 n. 1 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004); Hopkins v. The Boat Club, Inc., 866 So.2d 108, 110–11 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004). Federal maritime law follows the......
  • In re Carnival Corporation, No. 01-05-01154-CV (TX 1/27/2006), 01-05-01154-CV.
    • United States
    • Texas Supreme Court
    • January 27, 2006
    ...219 (N.D. Cal. 1959). Allison cites Huntley v. Carnival Corp., 307 F.Supp. 2d 1372 (S.D. Fla. 2004); Hall v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., 888 So. 2d 654 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2004); and Carlisle v. Carnival Corp., 864 So. 2d 1 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2003), pet. granted, 904 So. 2d 430 (Fla. ......
  • In re Carnival Corp.
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Appeals
    • April 6, 2006
    ...F.Supp. 219 (N.D.Cal. 1959). Allison cites Huntley v. Carnival Corp., 307 F.Supp.2d 1372 (S.D.Fla.2004); Hall v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., 888 So.2d 654 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.2004); and Carlisle v. Carnival Corp., 864 So.2d 1 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.2003), pet. granted, 904 So.2d 430 (Fla.2005). T......
  • Doe v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., Case No. 11-23323-CIV-GOODMAN
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida
    • December 21, 2011
    ...could plausibly put a reasonable defendant on notice of the impending danger to the plaintiff. Third, in Hall v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., 888 So. 2d 654 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004), the Third DCA held that the plaintiff could sue the vessel owner after employeeson the ship served him alcohol p......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
2 books & journal articles
  • Chapter § 1.03 TRAVEL ABROAD, SUE AT HOME
    • United States
    • Full Court Press Travel Law
    • Invalid date
    ...1999); Their v. Lykes Brothers, Inc., 900 F. Supp. 864, 866 (S.D. Tex. 1995). State Courts: Florida: Hall v. Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., 888 So. 2d 654 (Fla. App. 2004).[543] See § 3.03[3] infra.[544] See § 3.03[3][b][i] infra.[545] See § 3.03[3][c][iii] infra.[546] See § 3.03[8][a] infra.[547......
  • Chapter § 3.02 CRUISE SHIPS
    • United States
    • Full Court Press Travel Law
    • Invalid date
    ...Ninth Circuit: Meyer v. Carnival Cruise Lines, 1995 A.M.C. 1652 (N.D. Cal. 1994). State Courts: Florida: Hall v. Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., 888 So. 2d 654 (Fla. App. 2004).[342] See Black, A Brief Legal Analysis Of New 'All You Can Drink' Offerings On Cruise Ships, Maritime Law Association, C......

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