Disney Cruise Line is now facing four federal lawsuits from tourists and their families from Utah and Arizona. The four complaints all accuse Disney of refusing to let them cancel or reschedule their trips at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, even if the travelers suffered from an autoimmune disease or other compromised health conditions that made them more susceptible to complications from contracting the virus.

All four lawsuits were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida Orlando Divisions and are represented by the same law firm in Miami.

In one of the complaints, Kailee Taylor and her family had booked a week-long trip on the Disney Fantasy, from March 7 through 14, 2020. She was traveling with family members suffering from an autoimmune disease and other compromised health conditions and contacted Disney prior to the expected departure to reschedule the trip. However, she reported that Disney denied her ability to postpone or cancel her trip, despite the COVID-19 concerns. Taylor claims she had no option but to go on the seven-day trip on the Disney Fantasy.

After the trip began, on or about March 11, the plaintiff and her family began experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. Then on or around April 15, 2020, one month after the trip had finished, they tested positive for COVID-19 and/or its antibodies.

In the lawsuits filed, the plaintiffs claim that Disney was “careless” in its planning and organization of activities onboard the Disney Fantasy and could have done more to “reasonably protect” people from the outbreak aboard the vessel. At no point were individuals required to quarantine or social distance; buffet-style settings and group entertainment activities were still available to all passengers, even if they were suffering from COVID-19 symptoms.

Disney responded almost immediately to the initial reporting of the four lawsuits, stating in part, “We disagree with the allegations and will respond to them in court.” They continued to argue that “No guests or Crew reported symptoms… during the March 7, 2020 sailing” and that they “communicated health and safety information with guests in advance of and during their sailing.”

The four lawsuits filed against Disney Cruise Line contained similar counts of wrongdoing. They sued the Magical Cruise company for general negligence as well as their negligence in their failure to warn, management of an infectious disease outbreak on board, boarding procedures, and infliction of emotional distress.

According to Cornell Law School, negligence can be either an act or an omission of an act that may result in personal or property harm immediately or in the future. For the plaintiff to successfully argue that negligence has taken place, they will likely have to prove that the burden on Disney Cruise Lines to take precautionary measures is less than the probability of loss and the gravity of personal loss combined.

The cruise line industry has been heavily hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and were the sites of some of the first major, but contained, outbreaks. In early February 2020, the Princess Cruise Lines in Yokohama Harbor, Japan, started with just 10 confirmed cases, which rapidly multiplied to seven hundred confirmed cases of COVID-19. Some cruise lines today, such as the Royal Caribbean and Norwegian, require proof of vaccination before boarding.

On February 13, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published an Interim Guidance for Ships on Managing Suspected Coronavirus Disease 2019, then just one month later, on March 14, they issued their first No Sail Order. Unfortunately for the plaintiffs, their cruise had already ended by the time the CDC issued this No Sail Order.

On March 8, 2020, the U.S. Department of State issued a statement in conjunction with CDC guidance that stated any “U.S. citizen should not travel by cruise ships given the CDC’s findings.” Currently, the CDC still has a recommendation for travelers to avoid cruise ships, regardless of if they are just river cruises or worldwide voyages.

Should the case move to a jury trial, the plaintiffs will have to prove that their COVID-19 infection and the Disney Fantasy voyage are causally related. Unfortunately, the symptoms of the virus vary widely. Since they tested positive over a month after their cruise, it could be argued that the plaintiffs either already had the antibodies before boarding the ship, and were asymptomatic, or they could have become infected with the virus following the trip.