Leonard C. Lindsay and Carl E.W. Zehner were vacationing on Holland America Line's MS Zaandam at the end of March, when coronavirus ravaged the ship, beginning a multiple-week saga as the ship attempted to bring its passengers home.
Now, Lindsay and Zehner are the lead plaintiffs on a class-action suit representing more than 1,000 Zaandam passengers against Holland America Line and its parent company, cruise giant Carnival Corp., according to a copy of the complaint, obtained by USA TODAY.
“This cruise was a life-threatening nightmare," Kenny Byrd of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, one of the lawyers representing Lindsay and Zehner, told USA TODAY.
In the complaint, they seek more than monetary compensation for the former Zaandam passengers. It requires Holland America and Carnival Corp. to reform. The complaint includes an injunction that going forward requires them to do the following:
- Disclose to future passengers the nature and rate of risk of communicable disease on their ships
- Implement disinfection and sanitization procedures on their ships during and in between sailings
- Implement proper social and physical distancing protocols
- Disembark and quarantine passengers when the cruise line becomes aware of a heightened risk of a communicable disease on board
- Cancel or discontinue the operation of cruises when they become aware of a deadly pathogen or something similar on their ships
The complaint alleges that Carnival Corp. and Holland America were negligent in failing to take action to safeguard against and mitigate risk of infection of coronavirus to their passengers after the company became aware the virus had spread on several Carnival-owned ships, including Princess Cruises' Diamond Princess and Grand Princess.
The case cites the World Health Organization's decision declaring coronavirus a global health emergency on Jan. 30. The U.N. health agency defines an international emergency as an “extraordinary event” that constitutes a risk to other countries and requires a coordinated international response. (On March 11, it reclassified it as a pandemic, a serious new illness with sustained transmission throughout the world.)
“Carnival and Holland were well aware that COVID-19 was spreading like wildfire throughout its ships, and Mr. Lindsay and Mr. Zehner along with hundreds of other passengers suffered the consequences," Byrd said. "They bring this action on behalf of all passengers who want to see Carnival held accountable and reform how it protects those who vacation on their vessels.”
Carnival Corp. is currently being investigated by Congress for its handling of the coronavirus onboard its ships.
The Zaandam began its South American voyage from Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 7 and was originally scheduled to end the sailing in San Antonio, Chile, March 21.
On March 13, Holland America Line, along with major cruise lines worldwide, announced it would suspend cruise operations for at least 30 days after the World Health Organization declared coronavirus a global pandemic.
The next day, the Zaandam attempted to port in Argentina and was rejected. After facing rejection, they tried to return to a port where it previously stopped, Punta Arenas, Chile, hoping to unload passengers there. The ship was denied and continued on aimlessly after passengers learned the remainder of their voyage was canceled on March 15, according to the suit.
On March 31, the Zaandam rendezvoused at sea with MS Rotterdam, and the two ships received permission to travel through the Panama Canal. Then on April 2, both were given permission to dock and disembark passengers at Port Everglades following days of negotiation with local officials who feared it would divert needed resources from a region that had seen a spike in COVID-19 cases at the time. Disembarkation began the following day.
Between the Zaandam and Rotterdam, a total of 107 passengers and 143 crew members had presented flu-like symptoms at the time since March 22, according to a Holland America statement provided to USA TODAY by spokesperson Sally Andrews.
Symptoms of the flu and COVID-19, such as a fever and a dry cough, are similar.
In Port Everglades, passengers on board were split into three groups: The 1,200 asymptomatic, who were to disembark after a health screening; the 26 symptomatic, who were to be required to stay onboard; and 14 who needed critical care (13 passengers, one crew member) who were to be taken off the ship and placed into the care of the local health care system. The remaining crew were also to stay on board.
Zehner and Lindsay, who are married, were part of the symptomatic group who remained on the Zaandam, according to the complaint. Zehner, who eventually tested positive for coronavirus, had to be airlifted off the ship on April 5 after an Orlando hospital agreed to accept him as a patient. He remained on a ventilator for about three weeks. As of Wednesday, after a couple facility transfers and a release home, he still hadn't made a full recovery.
Lindsay remained on board until April 9 and was not tested for coronavirus while on the ship.
While 250 people in total exhibited flu-like symptoms on board the Zaandam and Rotterdam, Holland America could not provide a count on how many people tested positive for coronavirus.
"We do not have sufficient information to answer this question," Erik Elvejord, spokesperson for Holland America, told USA TODAY Wednesday. "10 (nine guests and one crew) positive tests were conducted on board using a point of care serology rapid test, but these are not an approved method of confirming COVID-19 cases, per U.S. CDC or FDA."
The tests provided direction and given the symptoms declared on board, Holland America Line took precautionary action immediately and implemented procedures developed in conjunction with the CDC, Elvejord said.
During the period of Zaandam's limbo, four people died, and a Zaandam crew member taken to a hospital on April 3 died April 8.
Two of the four deaths on board the Zaandam have been blamed on COVID-19, the cruise line said in April. Elvejord could not confirm whether all four deaths were caused by COVID-19 due to HIPAA laws.
Upwards of nine million people across the globe have tested positive for coronavirus and nearly 480,000 had died by Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins data.
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Exclusive: Zaandam cruise passengers' suit calls on Holland America, Carnival Corp. to reform - USA TODAY
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