Santa Clarita-based Princess Cruise Lines was sued by a passenger who says she was injured after being thrown from one of its “banana boats” at the Princess Cays resort.
Suzanne C. Wirt filed the negligence suit Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. The complaint seeks unspecified damages.
A Princess Cruise representative could not be immediately reached.
The lawsuit states Wirt used the Princess Cruise website to buy a tour to the Bahamas from Dec. 30, 2013 until Jan. 4 of this year. Princess Cays is a port-of-call owned by Princess Cruises and is on the Bahamian island of Eleuthera. The company markets Princess Cays as a “private beach paradise.”
Last New Year’s Eve, Wirt took a shore excursion from the Ruby Princess to Princess Cays and boarded one of the power boats used for the “banana boat” ride and was thrust from the vessel due to the negligence of the operator, according to the suit, which says the boat operator did not know she was no longer on board until told by other passengers, the suit states.
Hitting the water caused Wirt to suffer a spiral fracture of the femur and multiple herniated discs, the suit states. She was flown to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for “urgent surgical intervention,” the suit states.
The suit alleges Princess Cruise did not provide “safe, competent and experienced” drivers and operators for the banana boat ride.
The Princess Cruise website represents that its shore trips “meet the highest standards of Princess” and that the passengers’ “security and comfort are of paramount importance,” according to the lawsuit.
Wirt believed the company’s statements about safety, relied on them in making her choices and was lulled into a false sense of security, the suit states. She did not know that Princess Cruise would later say the shore excursion was operated by another entity and would disavow any responsibility for its safe operation, according to the lawsuit.
