Two Carnival Cruise Line guests are suing the company over an alleged bed bug infestation in their cabin earlier this year.

Maryland residents Catherine Shockley and William Maycock found red marks on their arms, legs and elsewhere after sleeping in their stateroom aboard Carnival Horizon in mid-February, according to a complaint filed in the Southern District of Florida on Oct. 28. Shockley “searched the stateroom and discovered live bed bugs in multiple stages of life, fecal spotting and eggs.”

Photographs showed more than 30 individual bites on the guests, according to the lawsuit, which did not include the images. The passengers “suffered numerous intensely itchy bites resulting in large, painful welts that required medical treatment and medication, multiple dark splotches, loss of sleep, mental distress, loss of personal property and economic loss.”

Shockley and Maycock alerted the ship’s crew but alleged the staff did not take steps to remediate the issue in and around their cabin, according to the complaint. However, the suit noted, “This dangerous condition was known to the Defendant as the crewmembers were fumigating other staterooms on the same floor as Plaintiffs prior to embarkation.”

Shockley and Maycock accused the company of negligent failure to warn them, negligent failure to maintain the vessel and general negligence. The pair asked for a jury trial and damages.

"My clients trusted Carnival Cruise (Line) to provide a safe and sanitary cruise vacation experience," Grant I. Schwarz, an attorney for the plaintiffs, told USA TODAY in an email. "Instead, they were exposed to a bed bug infestation in their cabin that caused painful injuries, emotional distress, property damage and long-term anxiety about travel and lodging. This lawsuit seeks accountability, not only to compensate my clients for what they endured, but also to ensure that other passengers are protected from similar harm."

Carnival told USA TODAY that the company does not comment on pending litigation but said it has “an extensive and thorough guest room sanitation process, including special procedures to address the rare instances when a guest might raise a concern.”

The cruise line also has a dedicated bedbug detection and treatment plan, according to its website.

“All Stateroom Attendants are trained to recognize the possible presence of bedbugs and are required to conduct weekly inspections of every cabin,” the site reads. “Inspections cover not only stateroom beds but also curtains, carpeting and other areas.”

When crew find signs of an infestation, those cabins and others nearby are chemically treated and re-inspected for “several months.” All cabins also get pest control treatment during routine maintenance.

Bed bugs can be found in a range of settings, including cruise ships, hotels, trains and houses and apartments. “How clean a place is does not determine whether bed bugs are present,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

They aren’t known to spread disease in humans, but the bites “can cause itching, loss of sleep, and, rarely, allergic reactions.”

Carnival Horizon received a passing score of 93 during a CDC sanitation inspection in late February.

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Carnival cruise guests sue over alleged bed bug infestation in cabin

Reporting by Nathan Diller, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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