Supreme Court to rule on access for disabled aboard cruise ships

By HOPE YEN
The Associated Press

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most read articles Most e-mailed articles

Related stories Disabled travelers fight for access on cruise ships Other links Sign up for Travel e-mail NWsource: Travel

The case seeks to determine what Congress intended when it passed the landmark American Disabilities Act in 1990 barring discrimination against the disabled in the enjoyment of services in places of "public accommodation."

Disabled travelers, who boarded a Norwegian Cruise Line in Houston in 1998, say they weren't given adequate access to ship pools, restaurants and emergency equipment. In other situations, they alleged they were forced to pay additional fees for wheelchair accessible rooms, inhibiting their rights to "participate fully in society."

Norwegian Cruise Line counters that only an express statement of Congress can justify imposing the U.S. law on a ship that sails under a foreign flag, even if it is docked at a U.S. port. The federal law is silent as to whether foreign cruise lines are covered by the ADA.

"This well-established principle of maritime and international law prevents unintended clashes between port states and flag states over the governance of oceangoing ships," Norwegian's filing states.

Information Supreme Court: www.supremecourtus.gov/ The case is Spector v. Norwegian Cruise Line, 03-1388.

The case has wide implications for the cruise industry, which could be forced to spend millions of dollars to remodel ships. The International Council of Cruise Lines filed a friend of the court brief in support of Norwegian Cruise Line, while several advocacy groups joined in a brief for the disabled plaintiffs.

"Making cruise ships fully accessible to people with disabilities makes good business sense," the brief from Paralyzed Veterans of America and other groups stated, citing an expected surge in the disabled population due to aging baby boomers.

The case is an appeal from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in New Orleans, which ruled in January that foreign-flag cruise ships are not covered by the ADA.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

E-mail this article

Print this article

Search archive

More travel outdoors headlines...