Court Ruling: Inappropriate Behavior on Cruise Does Not Automatically Justify Immediate Expulsion and May Lead to Damages

Düsseldorf. The question of under what circumstances a passenger's behavior justifies expulsion from a cruise was the focus of a legal dispute before the Düsseldorf Regional Court. A traveler accused of urinating into a glass has now been awarded substantial compensation in a judgment recently published in the legal journal "ReiseRecht aktuell" (September 2024 issue). The core question of whether the urination incident actually occurred remained ultimately unresolved in the proceedings.

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The incident took place in 2023 on a cruise departing from Mallorca and sailing along the Iberian Peninsula. The affected passenger was accused of urinating into a glass intended for peanuts at a ship's bar and then placing it on the table. According to the crew, other guests allegedly observed this. A crew member later reportedly removed the glass and detected the smell of urine. Consequently, three days after the alleged incident, following a shore excursion, the man and his two companions were denied re-boarding. The captain issued an expulsion order and instructed the group to arrange their own return travel and bear the costs.

The passenger took legal action against this summary termination of the travel contract by the cruise line and was successful in court. The Düsseldorf Regional Court did assess the alleged behavior as a breach of secondary obligations under the travel contract. However, it was not deemed to be "violent, discriminatory, gross, or verbally abusive behavior" as stipulated in the travel conditions for a justified expulsion by the captain. Crucially for the court, the passenger had not received any prior warning. "There are no circumstances that, weighing the mutual interests, would justify immediate termination," the judicial conclusion stated.

Further aspects supported the court's decision. The expulsion was issued three days after the actual incident, even though the ship had already called at another port in the interim. The fact that the man's two fellow travelers were also expelled from the ship, although according to witness statements they were only accused of "smirking" at the situation, also contributed to the judgment.

The court awarded the plaintiff, who had booked the trip for himself and his companions, not only a refund of the pro-rata tour price for the unused days, amounting to approximately €4,300, and the costs for the return flights and taxi to the airport of nearly €1,600. Furthermore, he was granted compensation for lost holiday enjoyment amounting to almost €3,100. The judgment thus obliges the cruise line not only to refund the tour price but also to compensate for the impairment of the holiday experience.