Disney Cruise Line Passengers Suing Over Claims They Contracted COVID-19 On Board
Disney Cruise Line is currently facing four federal lawsuits from Utah and Arizona passengers who claim that they contracted the coronavirus during sailings on the Disney Fantasy las March. This is right before the cruise business docked during the pandemic.
According to the piece in The Orlando Sentinel the passengers report feeling sick while on board. Each of lawsuits were filed on March 2nd.


Image Credit: Disney Cruise Line
As of going to print, a Disney Cruise Line spokeswoman is denying the claims made in the lawsuit. Cynthia Martinez said in a statement, “We disagree with the allegations and will respond to them in court. No guests or Crew reported symptoms of Covid-19 while aboard the Disney Fantasy during the March 7, 2020, sailing,” Cynthia Martinez said in a statement. “Disney Cruise Line communicated health and safety information with guests in advance of and during their sailing and had numerous protocols in place at the time.”
According to the piece in the Sentinel, the lawsuits highlighted the fact that Disney refused to let guests cancel or reschedule even if they had autoimmune disease or compromised health conditions. Those filing the lawsuit said they had no option but to travel on their sailing which in this instance ran from March 7-14th.
According to Disney, they were giving passengers on said sailing the option of taking a 100% cruise credit if needing to cancel anytime up to 24 hours before the sailing.
The passengers also argue that buffets were still in service as was group entertainment though Disney Cruise Line says that buffets were cancelled on March 12th.
There are four plantiffs involved in the suit the Orlando Sentinel named the plaintiffs as Arizona residents Judy Parkin and Krystal Skinner and Utah residents Kailee Taylor and Scott and Jana Olsen.
It should be noted that for those opting to sail during the initial onset of COVID-19, Disney did have a disclaimer on their website outlining that by sailing with Disney Cruise Line guests assumed all risks related to COVID-19 exposure.
In the Olson lawsuit it was claimed that their child had to be admitted to the ICU on March 16, 2020 with high fever and breathing difficulties. According to the filing, the child had an autoimmune disease. The child and both parents reportedly tested positive for COVID-19.
In the Skinner Lawsuit, one of their children also had an autoimmune disease and had body aches, fever, chills and a cough. The other Skinner child suffered from asthma, migraines, high fever and difficulty breathing.
On March 8, 2020, the day after the Disney Fantasy set sail, the US Department of State announced that all Americans should not travel on cruise ships. That marked the start of what would be a 15 month closure of Disney Cruise Line considering they have now canceled sailings through May of this year.
This is a story that we’ll continue to follow closely here at MickeyBlog, readers are encouraged to keep checking back with us for further news and updates.
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Source: Orlando Sentinel