Wolf v. Celebrity Cruises, Inc.

101 F. Supp. 3d 1298, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56912, 2015 WL 1941336
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedApril 30, 2015
DocketCase No. 13-23697-Civ
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 101 F. Supp. 3d 1298 (Wolf 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
Wolf v. Celebrity Cruises, Inc., 101 F. Supp. 3d 1298, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56912, 2015 WL 1941336 (S.D. Fla. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

MARCIA G. COOKE, District Judge.

Plaintiff Brent Wolf (“Plaintiff’ or “Mr. Wolf’) brings this action to recover damages plus interest and costs from Defendant Celebrity Cruises, Inc. (“Defendant” or “Celebrity”) for injuries he sustained while zip lining during a shore excursion in Costa Rica. See generally CompL, ECF No. 1. Defendant Celebrity filed a Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 65) and Statement of Undisputed Facts in Support of its Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 66), contending that Plaintiff is unable to establish his claims of negligence, apparent agency, joint venture, actual agency, or breach of third party beneficiary contract. Plaintiff Brent Wolf filed his Response in Opposition to Celebrity Cruises’ Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 81), to which Defendant filed its Reply in Support of its Motion for Sum- [1302]*1302, mary Judgment (ECF No. 83). Therefore, Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment is fully briefed and ripe for adjudication.

I have reviewed Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment and accompanying attachments, Plaintiffs Response and accompanying attachments, Defendant’s Reply and accompanying attachments, the record, and the relevant legal authorities. I agree that Plaintiff is unable to establish his claims against Celebrity. Therefore, Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment is granted.

I. BACKGROUND

a. The Cruise, the Disclaimers, and the Accident

This action arises from injuries Mr. Wolf sustained in October 2012 while participating in an offshore zip line excursion tour in Costa Rica during a cruise aboard the Celebrity Infinity. Plaintiff set sail on the Celebrity Infinity on October 8, 2012 with his wife, Patricia Cannon, and family friend, Beverly Falor. Def.’s Statement Undisputed Facts ¶ 1; PL’s Resp. ¶ 1. Ms. Cannon purchased tickets for herself and Mr. Wolf through a travel agent. Def.’s Statement Undisputed Facts ¶ 2. In connection with that ticket purchase, Mr. Wolf received and signed Celebrity’s Cruise/Cruisetour Ticket Contract (“Cruise Ticket Contract”). Wolf Dep. 54:21-55:19, Nov. 5, 2014. With respect to shore excursions, paragraph five of the Cruise Ticket Contract states:

All arrangements made for or by Passenger before, during or after the Cruise or Cruise Tour of any kind whatsoever, as well as air arrangements, shore excursions, tours, hotels, restaurants, attractions and other similar activities or services, including all related conveyances, products or facilities, are made solely for Passenger’s convenience and are at Passenger’s risk. The providers, owners and operators of such services, conveyances, products and facilities are independent contractors and are not acting as agents or representatives of Carrier. In no event shall Carrier be liable for any loss, delay, disappointment, damage, injury, death or other harm .whatsoever to Passenger which occurs on or off the Vessel or the Transport as a result of any acts, omissions or negligence of any independent contractors.

Mr. Wolf decided to go on a zip line shore excursion after viewing a brochure on the subject and talking with Ms. Falor, who had previously participated in a zip-line excursion while a passenger on a different cruise ship. Def.’s Statement Undisputed Facts ¶8; PL’s Resp. ¶8. He purchased his shore excursion ticket at the Shore Excursion Desk aboard the cruise ship and was issued a ticket, which stated that the tour would be operated by The Original Canopy Tours (“OCT”) and included the following disclaimer:

The arrangements set forth on this ticket for transportations, excursions, ground tours, restaurants or similar activities or services are made solely for the convenience of the ticket holder and are at the ticket holder’s risk ... The providers of such 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 (collectively “RCCL”). In no event shall RCCL be liable for any accident or harm to ticket holders, which occurs as a result of any acts, omissions or negligence of any independent contractors. Def.’s Statement Undisputed Facts ¶¶ 10-13.

Prior to participating in the zip line portion of the excursion, Mr. Wolf also execut[1303]*1303ed a liability waiver provided by OCT, which expressly released OCT and Celebrity from all liability for personal injury or wrongful death that may occur as a result of the excursion and disclosed that the zip line excursion was owned and operated by OCT and not Celebrity. Id. at ¶¶ 14-15. The participants also received instructions on how to position their body and legs when on the zip line. OCT guides instructed them to keep their legs straight out in front of their bodies when approaching the receiving platform at each traverse, even when facing backwards. Id. at ¶ 29. While Ms. Falor remembers receiving such instruction and Mr. Stephen Gilbert, another guest on the tour, approached the platform in a seated position with his legs up, Mr. Wolf testified that he did not remember if he received such instruction; he only remembers being instructed to “raise [his] feet and land on the platform.” Pl.’s Resp. ¶ 29. However, Mr. Wolf also testified that as he was approaching the receiving platform, he could not remember if he raised his legs, but he knew he was supposed to lift his legs. Wolf Dep. 82:4-11.

Mr. Wolf further testified that while zip lining, he was mostly up in the trees, moving from platform to platform. Id. at 80:15-19. However, when he was injured, he was moving from a platform in the trees to a platform on the ground. Id. at 80:21-24. Mr. Wolf had successfully completed a number of zip line runs before he was injured while traveling down a longer traverse, backwards, and at a high speed. Id. at 81:7-10-82:3. He alleges that he was not stopped, caught, delayed, or otherwise slowed down in any manner near the end of the zip line when his left leg struck the receiving platform. Id. at 82:25-83:1-3; Def.’s 'Statement Undisputed Facts ¶ 16. He testified that he was traveling at what he perceived to be a high speed, and that he could not slow himself down because of the intense heat coming off of the zip line. Wolf Dep. 82:18-24. He was wearing a pair of leather gloves, but testified that “they were not thick enough to stop the heat from coming through when ... sliding down the line.” Id. at 111:14— 23. A video of the incident shows that Mr. Wolf failed to lift his legs as he approached the platform. Def.’s Statement Undisputed Facts ¶ 31.

b. Celebrity’s Selection and Retention of the OCT Zip Line Tour

According to Celebrity’s representatives, excursion tour operators that wish to have Celebrity promote and sell their tours to cruise passengers must first participate in a bidding process wherein they submit a proposal detailing their shore excursion and proposed price. Campos Dep. 13:13— 18. Celebrity then sends representatives to each tour operator to experience the tour and look into the operator’s safety ratings. These representatives, known as shore excursion managers, routinely visit potential shore excursion sites with a checklist, making sure that potential shore excursion operators meet industry standards. Id, at 24:17-25:4; 43:20-44:4.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
101 F. Supp. 3d 1298, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56912, 2015 WL 1941336, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wolf-v-celebrity-cruises-inc-flsd-2015.