There are questions this week as to whether cruise lines share a responsibility and liability for passengers after several guests on a Royal Caribbean ship were part of an excursion to White Island in New Zealand when a volcano erupted.
Forty-seven people, including nine Americans, were near the volcano when it erupted-many of them on an excursion from the boat.
That led CBS News to investigate whether Royal Caribbean has any liability.
"The people who bought these excursions bought them through the cruise company. Then the cruise company outsourced it to an outside vendor," said CBS News Travel Editor Peter Greenberg.
Though the passengers almost certainly signed a liability waiver, "Signing a waiver doesn't necessarily mean the vendor is protected," Greenberg said. "You still may have rights."
Royal Caribbean told CBS News it has suspended tours of active volcanoes.
But the network noted that in the weeks leading up to the eruption, GeoNet, which tracks hazard information in New Zealand, warned that new volcanic activity on White Island meant that an imminent eruption was possible. But the tracking firm also added that the week before the eruption the geological activity did not pose a direct hazard to visitors.
Greenberg expects there to be some compensation to the victims, citing a law in New Zealand.
"It's basically a no-fault insurance plan when nobody gets to sue and nobody gets blamed, they can just get a payout from the government or from an insurance fund. However, the payout is limited. It's about 200,000 New Zealand dollars at the top end," Greenberg said. That's just over $132,000 in U.S. dollars.
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