Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. Shute

In this admiralty case we primarily consider whether the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit correctly refused to enforce a forum-selection clause contained in tickets issued by petitioner Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc., to respondents Eulala and Russel Shute.

HH

The Shutes, through an Arlington, Wash., travel agent, purchased passage for a 7-day cruise on petitioner’s ship, the Tropicale. Respondents paid the fare to the agent who forwarded the payment to petitioner’s headquarters in Miami, Fla. Petitioner then prepared the tickets and sent them to respondents in the State of…