NEW YORK, Feb. 4 -- In an opinion filed February 2, 2000, a
unanimous panel of the Third District Court of Appeal of Florida reversed and
remanded a lower court decision which denied class certification in three
lawsuits brought by consumers against Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL - News),
Costa Cruise Lines and Norwegian Cruise Lines (NRW - News). The lower court
declined to allow the cases to proceed as a class action on behalf of all
United States residents who traveled on these cruise lines between April 1992
and April 1996 and paid what plaintiffs alleged to be inflated or bogus port
charges. "We are gratified that consumers will be able to proceed with their
claims to recover the money they paid to the cruise lines as port charges
which were never turned over to Port Authorities." said Robert S. Schachter, a
partner at Zwerling, Schachter & Zwerling, LLP, lead counsel in these cases.

"We are very pleased that this ruling will enable cruise passengers to have
their day in court to recover tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars in
ill gotten gains," said Robert C. Gilbert, the Coral Gables, Florida based
attorney who argued the appeal before the Court of Appeal.

Plaintiffs in these actions are represented among others by the law firm of
Zwerling, Schachter & Zwerling, LLP ("Zwerling Schachter"), which has offices
in Seattle, Washington, New York City and Westbury, New York. Zwerling
Schachter has extensive experience in prosecuting class actions nationwide on
behalf of consumers. The firm currently plays a leading role in numerous
consumer and complex commercial litigation pending in Federal and States
courts.

If you have any questions with respect to these actions, please contact
Robert S. Schachter or Joseph Lipofsky at 800-721-3900 or via-email at
Zlaw96@ix.netcom.com or visit the firm's website at
http://www.zsz.com.
Contact:
Robert S. Schachter
Joseph Lipofsky
Zwerling, Schachter & Zwerling, LLP
767 Third Avenue
New York, NY, 10017