C) The summer case
An Irish solicitor went on a cruise ship holiday with her daughter and ended up filing an action against the travel agent via which she booked and paid for the holiday.

In her action she claims to have been falsely imprisoned, assaulted (Irish law recognises several degrees of assault similar to defamation: criminal, misdemeanour and civil wrongdoing) and defamed while on board a cruise ship and compared her holiday experience to "being in Guantanamo Bay".

Caroline Fanning (49) field an action against the  travel agent Trailfinders Ireland Limited (as the defendant)  before  the High Court based on the events she alleges occurred while she and her 13-year-old daughter were on a package holiday on a ship controlled by Royal Caribbean Cruise Line.

The cruise line operator, RCL Cruises Limited, was later added to the action in an addendum filed a later date as a third party alongside the Trailfinders. Both the defendant and third party deny the allegations.

Giving  evidence before the court , Ms Fanning of Foxrock Avenue, Dublin stated  the events she experienced on board the Oasis of the Seas (the ‘Oasis of the Seas’ is registered in the Bahamas, flies the Bahamian flag and was on the high seas or was in the territorial waters of the Bahamas when the subject torts are alleged to have taken place.) were a grievous breach of her rights to protection of dignity and humanity as well as a breach of contract.

Questions 
Who were the parties to the contract and is it relevant for the case the consumer as well as the travel agent are domiciled in European Union?
Who filed the action and what civil wrongdoing were they alleging?
Since the non- contractual tort occurred onboard of a vessel,which sailed under the flag of Bahamas should it follow that the proper law governing these non contractual claims is the law of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas?

The events transpired - based on the plaintiff's account of events - after she made a “sarcastic” comment about suicide while complaining on the phone to a receptionist about her room. It was the middle of the night of August 8/9, and, feeling very sea sick, she hoped she could move to a room less affected by the motion.

The receptionist informed via cruise intranet phone that there were no rooms free that night and said someone could only be moved in a medical emergency, Ms Fanning recollected. Believing the woman was being sarcastic, Ms Fanning said she responded, sarcastically, by saying “there may be one tomorrow" and "there may be a suicide".

Suicide prevention protocol 
The ship’s suicide prevention protocol was triggered on the grounds of the comments made by the passenger and  security personnel arrived at Ms Fanning’s cabin, she further testified. She states she repeated “over and over” that her comment was not meant seriously, but the security team responded with a “repetitive mantra” that the “protocol was triggered”, she claimed.

She and her daughter were subsequently brought to a room on a lower deck, she said. Cutlery and hangers were removed from the room and a female security guard was stationed outside, she said. She also claims her scissors were removed and replaced by a paper nail file.

At about breakfast time the mother and daughter  were twice brought to and from the ship’s medical centre in view of “hundreds” of other staring passengers, she added. Ms Fanning claims she was “stripped of her dignity” as they were not given an opportunity to change out of their pyjamas during the medical suicide prevention intervention and their belongings remained  in the original room and they were given disposable toiletries.

Although she had been told by the cruise staff that a medical clearance by a psychiatrist would lead to the protocol being revoked, she and her daughter were not free even though to her knowledge  the psychiatrist who was consulted when the cruise harboured in two days said he would be recommending the protocol should be revoked.

She said she was informed that the captain had in the end evoked his right to order a passengers to disembark the vessel and she was given access to a computer to book alternative accommodation.