I posted a blog following a cruise to Alaska on board the Norwegian Cruise Line’s Star in July in which I complained about NCL’s shabby and inconsiderate treatment of passengers who required a wheelchair.
Yesterday I felt vindicated and I admired our legal system for pressuring NCL to improve its service to its physically challenged passengers. As a result of a lawsuit brought by the US Justice Department on behalf of 9 handicapped passengers on an NCL ship on a cruise in Hawaii, NCL will have to compensate them a total of $100,000 and pay an additional $40,000 to the government as well as agree to making a number of improvements in the way it deals with handicapped passengers.
This is an excerpt from the report in USA Today:
Norwegian Cruise Line to pay $100,000 to nine disabled passengers who alleged discrimination
By Gene Sloan, USA TODAY
Courtesy Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line has agreed to pay $100,000 to nine cruisers with disabilities who allegedly were discriminated against on one of its ships.
The U.S. Justice Department, which announced the settlement on Monday, had sued the line on behalf of the cruisers, five of whom are deaf and four of whom use wheelchairs.
The Justice Department says in a statement that the five deaf cruisers did not receive interpreters and other auxiliary aids, or a closed caption TV, while on voyages around Hawaii on a Norwegian ship, and "thus were unable to enjoy the activities on board the ship or the shore excursions because they could not understand what was going on and communicate effectively."
The agency says the four cruisers who use wheelchairs did not get accessible buses between the airport, ship and hotel, and on shore excursions; had to wait hours for an accessible bus at times; were unable to go on shore excursions because of the lack of an accessible bus; were charged extra for accessible transportation; and/or were not allowed to get on and off the bus during a shore excursion even though the bus was accessible.
The Justice Department sued Norwegian under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
And from AOL news:
Norwegian Cruise Line Ordered to Improve Services for Disabled Travelers
Posted Oct 26th 2010 10:47 AM
Norwegian Cruise Line has agreed to pay nine passengers $100,000 and a civil fine of $40,000 to resolve a lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The consent decree, filed by the Justice Department in federal court in Miami, settles complaints that NCL did not provide adequate services for five deaf or hard of hearing passengers and four passengers in wheelchairs who took cruises in the Hawaiian islands.
NCL also agreed to "ensure that individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing get the auxiliary aids and services they need..
