Cruise Ship Auction News

The news for Carnival cruise ship lines keeps going from bad to good, especially with all of the coverage on the recent trouble with the stranded ship, Triumph.

Bloomberg is reporting that Carnival has refused to allow a couple to book  Carnival cruises due to a lawsuit which was filed against Global Fine Arts, part of Carnival which manages art auctions.  The couple has appealed to the Federal Maritime Commission.

Not really art news, but it is interesting how aggressive the cruise ship industry is in protecting its art auctions.

Bloomberg reports

then she returned to land, Lisa Cornell changed her mind after reading about fraudulent cruise-ship art sales. She was told $585, or 15 percent of the purchase price, would be kept as a commission under the buying contract, she said.

Ware Cornell, as his wife’s lawyer, sued Global Fine Arts, a Carnival unit that was the ship’s art vendor. Carnival lawyers defended the case, according to the Cornells’ complaint with the maritime commission.

The lawsuit was settled. Before that happened, Lisa Cornell traveled on the Princess Grand Princess with her mother and put down a $100 deposit for a future trip while at sea.

Lisa Cornell said when she went online to book that trip, she was blocked from doing so. She said she later learned, from a lawyer involved in the art dispute, that she and her husband had been banned from Carnival-owned Princess, Cunard and P&O Cruises Australia lines by a company attorney.

“I’m not taking it lying down,” Lisa Cornell, 53, said in a telephone interview yesterday. “I think this violates public policy. I don’t think we should encourage companies who operate as common carriers to ban people willy-nilly just because they file a lawsuit.”

Still Cruising

The Cornells may have to wait a while for a resolution. The commission can take “a couple years” if the case winds through its complete process involving an administrative law judge and a decision by the commission, Gartlan said.

In the meantime, the couple isn’t letting the spat ruin their cruising fun. They took a 10-day cruise in October and a three-day jaunt in January, and have another 10-day trip scheduled for next October, Ware Cornell said.

Source: Bloomberg