A nightmare. A cruise from hell. These were just two descriptions used by Carnival Triumph passengers after a fire in the engine room disabled the electrical system and left 3,143 passengers and the ships 1,086 crew members afloat in the Gulf of Mexico for five long days.
The experience of this unwarranted extension to their cruise would鈥檝e been more tolerable if passengers had maintained the 鈥渓uxury鈥� of lighting, air conditioning and sanitation. Unfortunately, little was available, so the heat and stench soon became unbearable in parts of the ship.
I needn鈥檛 go much further in retelling a story that anyone interested in cruising read about last week.
Was it just an accident, or could it have been prevented?
We won鈥檛 know until the investigation is complete 鈥� and that is another story.
The ship is registered in the Bahamas, so the lead investigators will be Bahamians. My question is: If a country allows a cruise ship to fly its flag, said country had better have the resources and talent to investigate when necessary. Personally, I will put more stock in the U.S. Coast Guard鈥檚 report.
Steps were taken in July 2010 to prevent such incidents on newer ships. Among rules instituted by the International Maritime Organization was one called Safe Return Home. It requires ships to have a back-up power plant. The IMO also requires ships to provide sanitation, food and water and to prevent heat stress when passengers are subjected to breakdowns like this.
Here鈥檚 the rub: The new rule only applies to ships built after 2010.
The volatility of passengers on the Triumph is understandable. In the incident鈥檚 wake, what will the cruise industry face besides the inevitable lawsuits? Will the impact reach into the pockets of cruise lines in another way 鈥� through sales?
When the Costa Concordia went onto its side in Italy last January and left 32 dead, travel agents saw cruise bookings immediately spike, in the wrong direction. As I write these words, anecdotal news from cruise travel agencies is that they鈥檙e getting lots of questions but few cancellations.
One of the few good things that came out of the Triumph鈥檚 date with distress was commentary about the ship鈥檚 crew. While some passengers were venting, many more were lauding the efforts of the crew from the time fire broke out until the customers were on the buses.
Both online and traditional media news outlets were on top of the story 鈥� in the case of CNN and Fox News, not always accurately 鈥� and I would have liked to see more of Carnival executives on a daily basis. Transparency isn鈥檛 just the best alternative, it鈥檚 the only alternative.
Cruise Lines International Association, the organization that represents most cruise lines, disappeared. It also should have been front and centre.
Cruising is a safe way of travelling 99.9 per cent of the time. Cruising has had a rapid gain in popularity, but with that popularity comes more scrutiny, as we will see in the weeks ahead.
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PHIL鈥橲 PICK OF THE WEEK
Let鈥檚 leave today with a Celebrity cruise that sounds interesting and loaded with value. It鈥檚 a trans-Pacific and an Alaska trip I have combined, finishing in Vancouver. The first leg, Shanghai to Seward, Alaska, in 15 days, departs April 25, has a starting price of $1,019 per person (double occupancy) and is available at time of writing. The second leg, Seward to Vancouver in seven days, starts at $509. Together, that鈥檚 22 nights for $1,528.
Ports are Jeju Island, South Korea; Kobe (overnight), Japan; Tokyo (overnight), Yokohama, Japan; Petropavlovsk, Russia; Seward, Hubbard Glacier (cruising), Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait Point, Ketchikan. More from celebrity.com or your agent.
