A newlywed couple is suing Carnival cruise lines for a cruise they were never even on, according to The Houston Chronicle. Their lawyer, John Bruster Loyd, filed the claim against the luxury cruise line stating that they were aboard the stranded Triumph ship in February of 2013. However, it came to light that the couple, Luke Cash and Ami “Summer” Gallagher were never actually aboard the ship.
Due to a sudden engine room fire in February, the Triumph became stranded during the voyage, leaving three thousand one hundred passengers high and dry in the Gulf of Mexico with a limited food supply and unsanitary conditions. The mishap received extensive media coverage and quickly created a business problem for the cruise line company. However, the lawsuit against the cruise line by the disgruntled couple appears to be fraudulent. The Houston Chronicle posted a previous article proving that the couple was never actually on the ship during the engine fire. They were in Kemah on dry land at the time.
Jennifer de la Cruz, Vice President of Public Relations for Carnival, has also confirmed that Cash and Gallagher weren’t on the ship. Their attorney revealed that he made a mistake and that the couple were indeed not on the ship during the time of the disabling fire. “I screwed up,” Loyd confessed simply. “They told me the correct thing but so much time had passed since we last spoke about the case I forgot the biggest detail, that they hadn’t been on the boat. I just forgot their story.” The lawsuit states that the couple suffered “deplorable, unsafe and unsanitary conditions,” but it was really the interruption of their planned and already paid for wedding ceremony that made them file a lawsuit in the first place. They are very sour about having to spend thousands of their own money (including dipping into their life savings) to pay for a wedding that was already paid for. They were trying to start their married life together without any excess damaging baggage. They filed a new lawsuit against Carnival Cruise Lines for “breach of contract, negligence, negligent misrepresentation and fraud.” They have yet to be reimbursed for their grand wedding. The couple haven’t commented on the mix up with their attorney.
De la Cruz is still uncertain why the couple are suing, stating, “That this lawsuit was filed, alleging the plaintiffs suffered injury and mental anguish during a cruise they weren’t even on, is truly shameful and reprehensible. Further, the fact that the suit also alleges misrepresentation and fraud is quite ironic.”
Image Credit: The Houston Chronicle