Carnival served a woman too much alcohol, jury says; awards her $300K
The woman fell down a flight of stairs after taking 14 shots of tequila at six different bars aboard the cruise liner over an eight-hour period.
A federal jury in Miami has awarded a woman $300,000 after finding that Carnival Cruises overserved her alcohol during a 2024 cruise out of Long Beach.
South Florida jurors ruled in favor of Diana Sanders, a 45-year-old nurse from Vacaville last week, according to media reports.
The lawsuit filed by Sanders said that she had sailed aboard the Carnival Radiance out of Long Beach to Baja California in early January 2024. On Jan. 4, Sanders said that bartenders aboard the ship served her 14 shots of tequila in about eight hours, according to the Associated Press.
People Magazine reported that she'd gotten the drinks at six different bars: BlueIguana Cantina, the Serenity Bar, the Red Frog Rum Bar, the Radiance Casino Bar, the Winners Luck Bar and the Bar @ Sportsquare.
Sometime around midnight, Sanders said she fell down a staircase. She was later found in a crew-only area, media reports said.
Sanders said in her complaint that the fall caused a variety of injuries, including a "concussion, headaches, a possible traumatic brain injury, back injuries, tailbone injuries, bruising and other injuries," according to the AP.
While Sanders' lawsuit stated that she was visibly intoxicated after consuming the drinks, Carnival responded in court that no one on board the Radiance ever saw her exhibiting "intoxicated-like behaviors," according to NBC News.
A spokesperson for Carnival said the company "respectfully disagrees with the verdict and believes there are grounds for a new trial and appeal, which it will pursue."
The Carnival spokesperson did not respond when asked whether the company would change its onboard alcohol policies and drink packages in response to the verdict.
The Carnival Radiance, a 101,000-ton Destiny-class cruise ship, can carry up to 3,400 passengers. It has operated out of Long Beach since 2021.
The ship regularly sails three- and four-day trips to Baja California and Catalina, according to Carnival.
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