Miami Jury Orders Carnival Cruise Line To Pay Diana Sanders $300,000 After Tequila Overserving

A Miami federal jury ordered Carnival Cruise Line to pay $300,000 to Diana Sanders, a 45-year-old nurse from Vacaville, California, after finding the company negligent in serving her more than a dozen shots of tequila before she fell down some stairs and suffered a possible traumatic brain injury.

“Injured passenger awarded $300K after federal jury finds Carnival overserved alcohol Carnival Cruise Line must pay $300,000 to a former passenger after a federal jury in South Florida found that the company was negligent in serving the woman more than a dozen shots of tequila before she fell and suffered a possible traumatic brain injury MIAMI -- Carnival Cruise Line must pay $300,000 to a former passenger after a federal jury in South Florida found that the company was negligent in serving the woman more than a dozen shots of tequila before she fell down some stairs and suffered a possible traumatic brain injury”

ABC News

ABC News said the jury decided last Friday in favor of Sanders, and it described the award as $300,000 after the verdict in South Florida.

ABC News

The New York Post reported that a Miami federal jury ruled in Sanders’s favor on Friday, awarding her $300,000 in damages that surpassed the $250,000 requested during the trial.

The Times of India also said the jury awarded $300,000 after a four-day trial in Miami federal court, with jurors concluding that both parties shared fault.

Multiple outlets tied the incident to Carnival’s Carnival Radiance cruise, with TODAY.com reporting she was served at least 14 shots of tequila between approximately 2:58 p.m. and 11:37 p.m. on Jan. 5, 2024.

The injury timeline was also consistent across reports, with the fall occurring between 11:45 p.m. and 12:20 a.m. on Jan. 5, 2024, according to the Miami Herald as cited by several outlets.

In the verdict allocation, the New York Post said the verdict found Carnival was 60% at fault and Sanders was 40% at fault, and ABC News similarly described the jury’s finding that Carnival was negligent in serving her before the fall.

The case centered on what Diana Sanders said happened aboard the Carnival Radiance on Jan. 5, 2024, after she was served tequila over an extended period and then fell down a staircase.

The New York Post said Sanders claimed she was served at least 14 shots of tequila in less than nine hours while aboard the Carnival Radiance ship on Jan. 5, 2024, and it quoted the complaint describing her “severe fall between 11:45 p.m. and 20 minutes past midnight.”

Associated Press

TODAY.com similarly said Sanders was served at least 14 shots of tequila in an eight hour and 39 minute span between approximately 2:58 p.m. and 11:37 p.m. on Jan. 5, 2024, and it said that while drunk she suffered a “severe fall” down a flight of stairs.

The Sun reported that court records said the shots were consumed between 2:58pm and 11:37pm, and it placed the serious fall shortly before midnight.

The Times of India described the allegation that she was served at least 14 tequila shots over roughly nine hours aboard the Carnival Radiance in January 2024, after which she blacked out and suffered injuries.

According to the New York Post, Sanders’s lawyer Spencer Aronfeld said in a TikTok video that Sanders “woke up, not knowing exactly how she got there at the bottom of the staircase in the crew area.”

ABC News said the lawsuit alleged she experienced a fall some time between 11:45 p.m. and 12:20 a.m. that caused her to suffer a concussion, headaches, a possible traumatic brain injury, back injuries, tailbone injuries, bruising and other injuries.

A key part of the dispute involved surveillance footage and the question of what the cruise line knew about Sanders’s condition.

ABC News said Aronfeld told jurors about evidence of “30 minutes of missing surveillance video from the time Sanders left the Casino bar until she was found unconscious in a crew only area.”

The New York Post also described Sanders’s account that she woke up after blacking out and went to the crew for help, saying she “Waking up after blacking out and going to the crew and asking them for help and asking them to tell me what happened was extremely frustrating.”

In the New York Post’s reporting, Sanders said the crew “treated me like a criminal,” and she added, “I felt bullied, I felt like everything they did was to either mentally torment me or financially torment me.”

The cruise company’s defense, as reported by the New York Post, argued Sanders failed to identify a crew member who overserved her or the bar where she consumed the alcohol, so “the over-service of alcohol count should be dismissed for failure to sufficiently identify a negligent employee.”

The Sun said Carnival spent 17 months trying to get the case thrown out and argued Sanders failed to identify the exact crew members who served her and did not point to the specific bars where the over-service happened.

Despite those arguments, the jury found Carnival 60% responsible and Sanders 40% at fault, and the New York Post said the award was $300,000, surpassing the $250,000 requested during the trial.

Spencer Aronfeld, the attorney representing Diana Sanders, framed the case as one about a duty of care and the difficulty of proving overservice in court.

The New York Post quoted Aronfeld saying, “It’s hard to get to trial, period,” and it added that he said he had “many overservice cases that have settled, but none that went the full distance.”

Complex

In a statement reported by ABC News, Aronfeld said, “Taking on a corporate giant like Carnival is a massive undertaking, and I have enormous respect for my client’s resilience throughout this 18-month litigation,” and he also said, “This case highlights the inherent dangers of all-inclusive drink packages, which encourage excessive consumption and pressure underpaid servers to prioritize tips over safety.”

Sky News quoted Aronfeld saying, “Taking on a corporate giant like Carnival is a massive undertaking, and I have enormous respect for my client's resilience,” and it also included his argument that the case highlights “the inherent danger of all-inclusive drink packages.”

The New York Post also quoted court documents describing the duty of care, stating that crew members had a reasonable duty of care including “to supervise and/or assist passengers aboard the vessel who Carnival knew, or should have known, were engaging, or were likely to engage in behavior potentially dangerous to themselves or others aboard the vessel.”

The Sun reported that Sanders’s legal team argued Carnival placed drink stations “in every nook and cranny” of the ship to drive revenue, and it said jurors found Carnival had a duty to use reasonable care to protect its passengers.

In the aftermath, Carnival said it would pursue further legal action, with the New York Post quoting a spokesperson: “Carnival Corporation respectfully disagrees with the verdict and believes there are grounds for a new trial and appeal, which it will pursue.”

Coverage of the Carnival case diverged in emphasis, even while describing the same core facts of the verdict, the tequila shots, and the injuries.

“Key Aspects: Cruise guests might want to take full advantage oftheir drink packages, but how much is too much”

Cruise Hive

The New York Post foregrounded the lawsuit narrative around overservice and the fall, reporting that the jury found Carnival 60% at fault and Sanders 40% at fault, and it quoted Sanders saying, “I felt bullied, I felt like everything they did was to either mentally torment me or financially torment me.”

Cruise Hive

ABC News led with the jury’s finding of negligence and used Aronfeld’s language about “all-inclusive drink packages,” while it also highlighted the evidentiary dispute over “30 minutes of missing surveillance video.”

Sky News, while also describing the £220,000 damages figure it said was awarded, framed the case through the lens of drink packages and server incentives, quoting Aronfeld that the case highlights “the inherent danger of all-inclusive drink packages.”

The Times of India emphasized the legal structure of shared fault, saying the jury concluded that both parties shared fault and describing the trial as a four-day proceeding in Miami federal court with a verdict delivered on April 10.

The Sun used a tabloid style but still included specific time windows, saying the shots were consumed between 2:58pm and 11:37pm and that the passenger suffered a serious fall shortly before midnight, and it reported Carnival spent 17 months trying to get the case thrown out.

Across outlets, Carnival’s position remained consistent in the quoted statements, with the company saying it “respectfully disagrees with the verdict and believes there are grounds for a new trial and appeal, which it will pursue,” but the framing of what that meant for passengers and drink packages varied by publication.

The immediate consequence of the verdict is that Carnival said it would pursue a new trial and appeal, while Sanders’s attorneys and supporters pointed to the case as a rare instance of a passenger complaint reaching a jury.

The New York Post reported that Carnival sought to dismiss the lawsuit and argued Sanders failed to identify a crew member who overserved her or the bar where she consumed the alcohol, and it quoted the company’s spokesperson saying, “Carnival Corporation respectfully disagrees with the verdict and believes there are grounds for a new trial and appeal, which it will pursue.”

TODAY.com also quoted the same spokesperson language, and it described the passenger’s legal win as a $300,000 award.

The New York Post added that Aronfeld said the case marks a rare example of a complaint against a giant cruise line reaching the courtroom and siding with the passenger, and it quoted him: “It’s hard to get to trial, period.”

Sky News reported that Carnival “has said it respectfully disagrees with the verdict, and believes there are grounds for a new trial and appeal,” and it said the company’s lawyers argued there were no allegations of stumbling, sleeping at a bar, slurring words, or exhibiting intoxicated-like behaviors.

The Times of India provided additional procedural details, saying the trial began on April 6, 2026, in a Miami federal court and lasted approximately four days, with the jury delivering its verdict on April 10 and the verdict formally entered into the court record on April 13, 2026.

Beyond this case, ABC News referenced another wrongful death lawsuit still ongoing, describing that the fiancée of a man who died on a cruise ship filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Royal Caribbean alleging it negligently served him at least 33 alcoholic drinks.