Schlessinger

Rose Schlessinger, Virginia Adams and Renee Ladenheim sued Holland America N.V. (HAL) for damages caused by failure to warn and negligence after they became ill during a seven-day Alaskan cruise on a passenger ship operated by HAL. The trial court granted HAL’s motion to dismiss the complaint based on a forum selection clause in the cruise ticket contract that required all disputes relating to the cruise to be litigated in *555 courts located in the State of Washington. Schlessinger 1 appeals on the ground she had insufficient notice of the forum selection clause. We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

1. The Cruise Contract Terms and Conditions

HAL’s cruise contract provides: “All disputes and matters whatsoever arising under, in connection with or incident to this contract, the cruise, the cruisetour, the HAL land trip or the HAL air package shall be litigated, if at all, in and before the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle, or, as to those lawsuits as to which the federal courts of the United States lack subject matter jurisdiction, in the courts of King County, State of Washington, U.S.A., to the exclusion of all…

I concur in the result of the majority’s typically well-written opinion primarily for reasons recited in footnote 2 of that opinion. Because it was then an unpublished opinion I saw no reason to explain I did not agree wholeheartedly with the rationale on which it was based. Now that it is to be published, however, and although time does not permit a thorough exposition of my position, I feel compelled to briefly register some concerns, This is particularly so because the broad language used in the opinion might affect trial court decisions involving situations far more egregious than the one before this court.

In my view, Coma v. American Hawaii Cruises, Inc. 1 (discussed in the maj. opn., ante, at p. 560) represents the correct approach and should apply not just to last minute standby passengers, but to anyone who receives their ticket a short time before boarding the ship and subject to forfeiture if they decide to cancel. This is especially true when, unlike the instant case, the forum provided is Timbuktu, or its equivalent.

There also is an implication passengers can be held to have “become meaningfully informed” of the forum selection clause merely because the shipping…

Rose Schlessinger, Virginia Adams and Renée Ladenheirn sued Holland America N.V. (HAL) for damages caused by failure to warn and negligence after they became ill during a seven-day Alaskan cruise on a passenger ship operated by HAL. The trial court granted HAL's motion to dismiss the complaint based on a forum selection clause in the cruise ticket contract that required all disputes relating to the cruise to be litigated in courts located in the State of Washington. Schlessinger [1] appeals on the ground she had insufficient notice of the forum selection clause. We affirm.

HAL's cruise contract provides: "All disputes and matters whatsoever arising under, in connection with or incident to this contract, the cruise, the cruisetour, the HAL land trip or the HAL air package shall be litigated, if at all, in and before the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle, or, as to those lawsuits as to which the federal courts of the United States lack subject matter jurisdiction, in the courts of King County, State of Washington, U.S.A., to the exclusion of all other courts."

Although HAL's passengers do not receive their cruise…