TRENTON - Attorney General Jennifer Davenport and the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs announced a settlement Monday with Norwegian Cruise Line, specifically NCL Bahamas, Ltd., following a multi-state investigation of NCL’s sales practices and cancellations procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The multistate investigation concerned allegations that NCL made misleading and false statements to consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumers expressed that they received confusing and conflicting information about cruise bookings and cancellations, and they reported that NCL implemented unfair policies regarding future cruise credits and refunds associated with cruises cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“During the height of the pandemic, Norwegian Cruise Line was misleading consumers in order to boost its sales,” Davenport said. “Corporations should not be able to take advantage of consumers, especially during a public health emergency. We are pleased that consumers have now received billions of dollars back in refunds and credits from Norwegian Cruise Line, and we will continue to work with our multistate partners to hold businesses accountable when they deceive consumers and siphon away their hard-earned money.”
“This settlement sends the message that in times of crisis, companies need to put people before profits,” DCA Acting Director Jeremy E. Hollander said. “At all times, they must be truthful and their practices must remain fair to all consumers.”
Pursuant to the settlement agreements, NCL is required to pay $2,000,000 to the states, including $138,999.64 to New Jersey. This is in addition to the refunds and credits NCL has now provided to consumers.
As the settlement explains, between March 13, 2020, and Nov. 30, 2025, NCL issued reimbursement to consumers of more than $3 billion dollars nationwide, including approximately $2,606,390,428 in credit card refunds and approximately $504,953,348 in future cruise credits.
Under the terms of the settlement, NCL is prohibited from generating or disseminating deceptive or unsubstantiated sales statements to consumers and is blocked from incentivizing sales over the health and safety of consumers during disaster declarations.
NCL is also required to implement mandatory training for consumer-facing employees regarding appropriate sales communications, and NCL is required to designate senior management to approve prospective sales communications prior to their use during a declaration of a disaster in the future.
