MIAMI -- A federal judge has denied class-action status in a $100 million negligence lawsuit filed by passengers aboard a cruise ship that was struck by a 70-foot rogue wave last year.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga means that the lawsuit will not automatically cover the more than 2,000 passengers who were aboard the 965-foot Norwegian Dawn when it encountered heavy seas off South Carolina.

In a 20-page decision filed earlier this month, Altonaga said that not all passengers suffered equally in the incident and many have said they suffered no injury at all.

"We are pleased and gratified by Judge Altonaga's decision that the lawsuit is not appropriate for class-action status," Norwegian Cruise Line CEO and President Colin Veitch said in a statement Tuesday.

Hundreds of passengers sued the Miami-based cruise line after they said the ship's crew intentionally put them in danger because the ship was in a rush to get to a taping of Donald Trump's reality TV show, "The Apprentice."

The suit alleges that the crew knowingly put the 2,500 people on board the ship in harm's way because it was rushing from Miami to make it to the taping of the TV show in New York City in April 2005.

Four people suffered minor injuries because of the wave, which also flooded 62 cabins.

The Norwegian Cruise Line issued a statement saying that the Bahamas Maritime Authority found "there is no evidence that any real or perceived urgency to arrive at New York earlier was a factor in the handling of the ship."

A May 11, 2005, report from the Maritime Authority said the ship's captain "took appropriate action to reduce the effects of the weather on the ship and its passengers."

Brett Rivkind, attorney for more than 400 plaintiffs in the case, said the decision on class status means "each of the plaintiffs need to prove their damages on an individual basis. There will be a trial. We continue to feel confident that we're going to prevail."