A class action has been filed against luxury liner operator Crystal Cruises, Inc. on behalf of disabled persons who have booked passage on one of the company's cruises, who allege that the company misrepresents its ships is accessible to them, in violation of the Americans for Disabilities Act and California consumer protection laws. The action seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Named plaintiff Dorene Giacopini, a special education mediator and lawyer, uses a wheelchair and crutches. When she was booking a cruise from San Francisco to Alaska on the Crystal Harmony, Giacopini was allegedly assured that all public areas on the 940-passenger luxury line were specially designed to be accessible to the disabled. When Giacopini boarded the ship on August 1, 2003, she allegedly found numerous central pathways were obstructed, and the salon, movie theater, pool and hot tubs, computer room, library, and often the Lido Deck where the restaurants are located were inaccessible. Embarking and disembarking procedures also proved to be inadequate. The action alleges that the repeated requests for ramps to allow access were ignored by staff, and ramps that were placed were removed.

The action alleges that one of the mandates of the ADA is to break down barriers for people who experience discrimination, and that it includes commerce language which is quite expansive and specifically covers situations where U.S. citizens board a cruise ship at a U.S. port, spend time in U.S. waters, and travel to another U.S. location.

On the company's Web site, the company has a fact sheet about facilities, saying the ships "Crystal Harmony and Crystal Symphony were designed to be accessible for the disabled and physically challenged. Both ships have specially equipped penthouses and staterooms as well as ramp access to most decks and public areas." All of Crystal Harmony's and Crystal Symphony's public areas on the Tiffany, Sun, and Lido decks are supposedly specially designed to be accessible to disabled guests.