Carnival Corp has failed to get a lawsuit filed under the controversial Helms-Burton Act thrown out.
A federal judge in Miami ruled the lawsuit can move forward – and the decision has now opened the floodgates for other lawsuits.
Javier Garcia-Bengochea, a descendant of a Cuban business owner, is seeking reparations from the cruise company for using a facility which was forcibly nationalised during the Cuban revolution.
Carnival Corp sought to dismiss the case as it claims it had full permission from the US Treasury Department to operate in Cuba but Judge James Lawrence King said there was enough doubt about that to let it move forward.
Carnival will contest this and another similar lawsuit.
Carnival representative Roger Frizzell said: "We believe that we operated within the approved government process regarding Cuba. We look forward to proving the merits of our case."
The decision opened the door for Garcia-Bengochea to also file lawsuits against Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., Royal Caribbean International and MSC Cruises.
