Ceithaml v. Celebrity Cruises, Inc.

257 F. Supp. 3d 1326
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedJune 22, 2017
DocketCase No. 15-24139-CIV-WILLIAMS
StatusPublished

This text of 257 F. Supp. 3d 1326 (Ceithaml v. Celebrity Cruises, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ceithaml v. Celebrity Cruises, Inc., 257 F. Supp. 3d 1326 (S.D. Fla. 2017).

Opinion

ORDER

KATHLEEN M. WILLIAMS, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

THIS MATTER is before the Court on Defendant Celebrity Cruises, Inc.’s (“Celebrity”) motion for summary judgment. (DE 51; Statement of material facts, DE 52). Plaintiff Jennifer Ceithaml filed a response to the motion (DE 61) and Celebrity filed a reply in support (DE 66).1 For the reasons below, Celebrity’s motion (DE 51) is GRANTED.

I. BACKGROUND2

This case arises from injuries Ceithaml sustained during a shore excursion while a passenger on a cruise aboard the Celebrity Summit. Ceithaml and her husband set sail on the Summit on December 6, 2014. (Jennifer Ceithaml Deposition, DE 52-1 at 22). Three days into the cruise, on December 9, 2014, Ceithaml participated in a zip-line shore excursion in Dominica operated by Wacky Rollers Adventure Vacations and Expeditions, Ltd. (“Wrave”). (DE 52-1 at 38; DE 52 ¶¶ 15, 19). At the end of the second of two zip-line traverses she rode that day, she suffered a fractured left ankle when she struck padding attached to a tree behind a receiving platform. (DE 52-1 at 32-33; Wrave Passenger Accident Report, DE 52-10). Although Ceithaml received instructions on how to use a “brake rope” that was part of the ride, she claimed that the rope was out of reach during the first zip-line traverse she crossed and cannot recall whether she used the rope to slow down on the second traverse before her accident. (DE 52-1 at 31, 33, 35, 65, 82). Wrave’s Passenger Accident Report stated that before the incident, Ceithaml did not use the brake rope, was “going a bit fast,” and a staff member on hand “tried to use his body to reduce [1329]*1329the impact of the landing but her legs were extended and hit the cushion.” (DE 52-10).

Wrave has been in business since 1998. (DE 52 ¶ 26). It first started offering excursions to passengers on other cruise lines in 2000 and to Celebrity passengers in 2004. (Celebrity’s Answer to Plaintiffs First Set of Interrogatories, DE 52-8 at 3). Wrave built the zip-line ride on which Ceithaml was injured in 2005 and began offering an excursion including the zip-line to cruise lines in early to mid-2006. (DE 52 ¶26; Celebrity Corporate Representative Amanda Campos Deposition, DE 52-2 at 68). In late 2006, Celebrity began offering its passengers the Wrave zip-line excursion. (DE 52-8 at 3). In 2011, after flooding in Dominica, Wrave spent $600,000 on unspecified improvements to its facilities. (DE 61 ¶ 81).

Celebrity plays no role in the physical operation of Wrave’s zip-line ride and disclosed this fact to Ceithaml on four separate occasions. First, before the trip, Ceithaml and her husband bought two tickets for the cruise on a computer in their home in Chicago. (DE 52-1 at 13). As part of this purchase, they had to acknowledge certain cruise ticket terms and conditions on Celebrity’s website. (DE 52 ¶2; Ceithaml’s responsive facts, DE 61 ¶ 2).3 These terms and conditions — which Celebrity again provided to Ceithaml and her husband in a printed “Guest Ticket Booklet” after they boarded the Summit, contained a paragraph titled “Shore Excursions, Tours, Facilities, or Other Transportation” which stated:

The providers, owners and operators of [excursion] services, conveyances, products and facilities are independent contractors and are not acting as agents or representatives of Carrier. Even though Carrier may collect a fee for, or otherwise profit from, making such arrangements and offers for sale shore excursions, tours, hotels, restaurants, attractions, the Land Tour and other similar activities or services taking place off the Vessel for a profit, it does not undertake to supervise or control such independent contractors or their employees, nor maintain their conveyances or facilities, and makes no representation, whether express or implied, regarding their suitability or safety.

(Guest Ticket Booklet, DE 52-4 at 15; see also DE 52 ¶ 5).

Second, also before the trip, Ceithaml and her husband purchased two shore excursions through Celebrity’s website, including the Wrave excursion. (DE 52 ¶ 10; DE 52-1 at 11). A “Shore Excursions Guide” for the Summit, which was available on Celebrity’s website but which Ceithaml does not recall reading also contained “terms and conditions” that provided:

SHORE EXCURSIONS, TRANSFERS AND SHORE TOUR PACKAGES ARE [1330]*1330OPERATED BY INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS. ■

(DE 52-5 at 83)4

Third, once Ceithaml was aboard the Summit, Celebrity delivered two tickets for the zip-line excursion — one for Ceith-aml and another for her husband — to Ceithaml’s cabin. (DE 52 ¶ 13; DE 61 ¶ 13; DE 52-1 at 17). Both tickets bore a “Celebrity X Cruises” logo (Zip-line shore excursion tickets, DE 52-6), but the front of the ticket stated: “Tour operated by: Wrave Ltd.” (DE 52-6 at 1) and the back of the ticket, which Ceithaml did not read, stated:

The providers of [excursion] services are independent contractors and are not acting as agents or representatives of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Celebrity Cruises Inc. or Royal Celebrity Tours, Inc., or their respective affiliates or subsidiaries.

(DE 52-6 at 2).

Fourth, before participating in the zip-line on December 9, 2014, Ceithaml signed a document titled “Wacky Rollers Informed Consent & Participation Waiver of Liability/Release of Claims” (the “Liability Waiver”). (Liability Waiver, DE 52-7). Ceithaml claimed that she did not read the Liability Waiver because Wrave staff rushed her to sign" it (DE 61 ¶.18) and because she trusted Celebrity to guarantee the safety of the excursion (DE 52-1 at 27), but'she also admitted understanding the nature of the document (DE 52-1 at 27). Nonetheless, the Liability Waiver identified ‘WRAVE Ltd.’’ as the excursion operator and required Ceithaml to acknowledge “I understand the terms herein are contractual and not a mere recital.” (DE 52 ¶ 18; DE 52-7).

Aside from the multiple instances in which Celebrity advised Ceithaml that Wrave operated the zip-line excursion, Celebrity and Wrave executed a Tour Operator Agreement before Ceithaml’s incident that further defined- the boundaries of their legal relationship:

Operator will provide the Shore Excursions to the Passengers that satisfy the highest standards in the industry. Operator acknowledges that the control and responsibility of the Shore Excursion remains exclusively with the Operator.
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Operator’s relationship with Cruise Line during the term of this agreement shall be that" of an Independent Contractor. Operator shall not have, and shall not represent that it has, any power, right or authority to bind Cruise Line or to assume or create any obligation or responsibility, express or implied, on behalf of Cruise Line or in the Cruise Line’s name. The terms herein shall not be deemed exclusive to Operator and nothing related in -this agreement shall be construed' as constituting Operator and Cruise Line as partners, or treating the relationships of employer and employee, franchisor and franchisee, master and servant, or principal and agent or joint "venture between the parties hereto.

(Tour Operator Agreement, DE 52-9 at 1; see alsp DE 52-2 at 14-15).

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Bluebook (online)
257 F. Supp. 3d 1326, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ceithaml-v-celebrity-cruises-inc-flsd-2017.