Cruise lawsuits are in, but Carnival has advantage

Lawsuits are already filed in this month’s disastrous Triumph cruise ship voyage, but the legal deck is stacked in parent company Carnival’s favor, mainly because of the restrictive terms of vacationers’ tickets, governing who can sue and where. Cases involving the Triumph — which was disabled Feb. 10 by an engine fire that stranded thousands of passengers onboard for days in the Gulf of Mexico — and other Carnival Cruise Lines ships must be filed in South Florida federal courts, near the company’s Miami headquarters. The ship left from Galveston, Texas, for Mexico and eventually was towed to port in Mobile, Ala., after the fire. Passengers traveled from around the country for the trip.