People who bought tickets for the Glenn Beck Cruise Thru History, the Mediterranean charter scheduled to sail March 24, 2020 and later canceled, and who never received a full refund may qualify to claim a share of an $800,000 settlement with organizer Project Neptune, LLC, which did business as CruiseBuilder. Claims are open through April 1, 2027, and the final approval hearing is set for January 11, 2027.
Current Status
Claims are open. The deadline to file is April 1, 2027, online or by mail postmarked that day. A Utah state court granted preliminary approval on October 19, 2026, and the final approval hearing is scheduled for January 11, 2027. No payments will be made unless the court grants final approval, and no payment date has been announced.Free settlement alerts
Get notified when new class actions open to claims
Join thousands of readers who get the latest class action settlements you may qualify for — delivered straight to your inbox.
What Happened With the Glenn Beck Cruise?
The Glenn Beck Cruise Thru History was a charter of the entire Costa Luminosa, a ship with room for about 2,260 guests, scheduled to leave March 24, 2020 for a Mediterranean voyage with stops in Italy, Croatia, Greece and Israel. According to the settlement agreement, Project Neptune, a Utah travel company that did business as CruiseBuilder, VacationBuilder, Latter Day Travel and Jungle Reef, partnered with Glenn Beck, Blaze Media, Carnival and Costa Cruise Lines to create the trip, which featured commentators including Beck, Bill O'Reilly, David Barton and Rabbi Daniel Lapin.Tickets cost roughly $4,999 to more than $9,395 per person, and some buyers added "Inner Circle" packages at $4,999 each. On March 6, 2020, as COVID-19 spread, Project Neptune postponed the cruise. It canceled the trip on September 21, 2021, after 18 months of postponement, and offered travel credits toward other cruises or trips.
A ticket buyer sued in September 2025 in the Third Judicial District Court in Salt Lake County, Utah. The lawsuit alleged that Project Neptune and its principal, Wes Cobos, failed to refund ticket prices as originally promised, and brought claims including breach of contract, violations of the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act, fraud and unjust enrichment. The defendants deny all of the allegations and any liability, and the court has not decided who was right. The two sides reached the settlement at a mediation on June 8, 2026.
Glenn Beck, Blaze Media, Carnival and Costa are not defendants in the case.
Who Qualifies?
The settlement class is everyone who bought tickets for the Glenn Beck Cruise Thru History scheduled to depart March 24, 2020, including Insider Package, VIP Package and Inner Circle Package tickets. It does not include:- buyers who received a full refund of their ticket purchase;
- the defendants and their officers, employees and agents;
- the judge and the judge's immediate family; and
- anyone who opts out of the settlement.
A buyer who accepted a CruiseBuilder travel credit, or a partial refund, is still in the class.
How Much Can Ticket Buyers Get?
There is no set payment. Each approved claim starts from the amount the buyer paid for tickets, as shown in their purchase records, minus the dollar value of any credit or other compensation received from CruiseBuilder because of the cancellation. The settlement calls that the "Net Claimed Amount."Payments come out of what is left of the $800,000 fund after court-approved costs. Class counsel may ask for attorneys' fees of up to 35% of the fund, or $280,000, plus up to $25,000 in expenses, and the class representative may ask for an award of up to $7,500. Notice and administration costs also come out of the fund. If the remaining money is less than the total of all approved Net Claimed Amounts, each claimant receives the same percentage of their own amount.
An illustration, not an estimate of any payment: if the court approves the maximum fees, expenses and award, about $487,500 would remain before administration costs. The settlement agreement estimates ticket buyers paid about $10.7 million in total. If every buyer claimed their full ticket price and none had received credits, that would work out to roughly 4.5 cents per dollar paid, or about $225 on a $5,000 ticket. Fewer claims, or claims reduced by credits, would raise the percentage. The actual figure depends on how many buyers file, what credits they received and what the court approves.
Payments will be mailed as checks after final approval, the claim deadline and any claim disputes are resolved. Checks are good for 90 days. Under the agreement, money from uncashed or undeliverable checks goes back to the defendants one year after distribution, unless the court orders otherwise.
What Proof Is Required?
Every claim needs documentation. According to the court-approved notice, the claim must include:- Proof of purchase showing the number of tickets, the purchase date and the amount paid, such as a booking confirmation email, a credit card or bank statement, or a CruiseBuilder invoice or receipt;
- Proof of any credit or refund received, showing the amount and the date issued, if one was received; and
- Proof of authority, if someone is filing on a buyer's behalf.
Claimants also disclose the value of any credits or compensation received and sign under penalty of perjury. The online claim portal asks for the Notice ID and Confirmation Code from the emailed or mailed notice. Buyers without those codes can use the paper claim form instead.
What Are the Deadlines?
- Claim deadline: April 1, 2027, for online claims and for mailed claims, which must be postmarked by that date.
- Exclusion (opt-out) deadline: December 2, 2026. Opting out is the only way to keep the right to sue the defendants and the other released parties separately over the cruise, and it means giving up any payment.
- Objection deadline: December 2, 2026, according to the court-approved notice.
- Final approval hearing: January 11, 2027, at 1:30 p.m. Mountain Time, before Judge Todd M. Shaughnessy.
The settlement website does not give a time-of-day cutoff for online claims.
How to File a Claim
Claims are filed on the official Cruise Refund Settlement website, run by the settlement administrator, Angeion Group. The online form asks for the Notice ID and Confirmation Code from the notice, the number of tickets and the amount paid, the package type, any credits or compensation received, and uploaded purchase records. A paper claim form can be downloaded from the Important Documents page and mailed with the same records; the mailing address is printed on the form.Under the settlement, the administrator was to email notice to every buyer in the defendants' records and mail it to those whose email bounced, so most buyers should have received a notice with their codes.
What Happens Next?
Judge Todd M. Shaughnessy will hold the final approval hearing on January 11, 2027. Class counsel's request for fees and the class representative award is due January 4, 2027. The defendants can end the deal if more than 15% of ticket buyers opt out. If the court grants final approval and no appeal is pending, checks are to be mailed within 60 days after the later of that approval becoming final, the April 1, 2027 claim deadline and the resolution of any claim disputes.By staying in the settlement, class members release their claims over the cruise against the defendants and a broad list of related parties. The agreement's list includes agents, employees, insurers, vendors and independent contractors, "including, without limitation, any and all independent contractors, celebrities, and media personalities affiliated with the subject cruise."
Sources and Verification
- Official settlement website, Garritty v. Project Neptune, LLC, et al.
- Settlement and Mutual Release Agreement, with exhibits
- Agreed Preliminary Approval Order (October 19, 2026)
- Long Form Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement
OpenClassActions.com is not a law firm and is not affiliated with the court, the parties or the settlement administrator. This page is general information and is not legal advice.
Questions
Is Glenn Beck a defendant in the cruise refund settlement?
No. The cruise carried Glenn Beck's name, and the settlement agreement says Project Neptune partnered with Beck, Blaze Media, Carnival and Costa Cruise Lines to create it, but the only defendants are Project Neptune, LLC (which did business as CruiseBuilder) and Wes Cobos. The settlement's release does, however, extend to people affiliated with the cruise, including its celebrities and media personalities.
How much will each Glenn Beck cruise ticket buyer get?
There is no fixed amount. Each approved claimant's share starts from the amount paid for tickets, minus any travel credit or other compensation received from CruiseBuilder. If those amounts add up to more than the money left after fees and costs, which is likely, everyone is paid the same percentage. The settlement agreement estimates ticket buyers paid about $10.7 million in total, compared with an $800,000 fund.
Can a buyer who accepted a CruiseBuilder travel credit still file a claim?
The class excludes only buyers who received a full refund. A buyer who accepted a travel credit or other partial compensation can still claim, but must disclose its value on the claim form under penalty of perjury, and that amount is subtracted from the claim.
What if a Glenn Beck cruise buyer never received a Notice ID?
The online claim portal asks for the Notice ID and Confirmation Code sent with the emailed or mailed notice. A buyer without them can download the paper claim form from the official settlement website and mail it with purchase records by April 1, 2027, or ask the administrator through the website to send a form.
What happens to uncashed settlement checks?
Settlement checks are good for 90 days. Under the settlement agreement, money from checks that are not cashed or cannot be delivered goes back to the defendants one year after distribution, unless the court orders otherwise.
