Posts Tagged ‘Gulf Oil Spill’

Is Your Vacation Dollar Safe?

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

Many residents, industries and planned vacations (not to mention oil soaked wildlife that is lucky if it gets a dish soap bath) lie in the wake of the Gulf Oil Spill disaster. The way that the tourism industry has reacted to the spill runs the gambit: from closing their eyes, with a nothing to see here attitude, to getting out in front and showing webcam evidence that there is nothing to see here… yet. Some hotels in Florida have not only uploaded live feeds to show their beaches tar-ball free, but have even adjusted their cancellation policy to accommodate worried prospective guests.  Ability to adapt to circumstances is what separates surviving industries and businesses from those that experience death by emaciation. So what has the cruise industry done to show its flexibility to meet and alleviate its customer’s fears… remember above when I mentioned industries closing their eyes?

While my frustration festers with this oil spill and the cruise lines inaction, I decided to investigate accommodations of cancellation fees for cruises, like the ones made by the aforementioned hotels. What I found is that not only were there no accommodations being made, but cancellation policies, across the board, border on unfair. (I also discovered that finding information on cruise websites is not easy, but that is a discussion for a different blog post.)

If you were to book an inside cabin on a 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise aboard Norwegian Epic in mid September your cruise fare would be $679 and your deposit amount would be $250 (37% or total fare, in this case) per person. You might ask: “Why are you mentioning the deposit fee?” Well, because according to NCL’s Cancellation Policy: “Cancellation fees will begin immediately once money has been applied to the reservation.” This policy also states that if you cancel 75-30 days before your cruise, your cancellation fee is your deposit.  Ouch!

Now I don’t mean to pick on NCL because Royal Caribbean Cruise Line has the same policy and Carnival is only $50 less, but the point is the same: In a time when there is uncertainty and perceived inconveniences for cruise passengers, either effectively communicate that the ports of call and shipping lanes are unaffected or relax the cancellation policy in a show of good faith.

The truth is, however, the cruise lines, such as the above mentioned, as well as, Princess, Disney, Costa… will not change their policy. Instead they will continue to advise their customers to purchase travel insurance to cover the costs of any cancellation that comes about because of unforeseen circumstances. While I echo this advice, I will add that it is important for anyone purchasing a cruise to know their cruise line of choice’s cancellation policy and know their travel insurance options before they purchase.

Cruising continues to be one of the best value propositions available as a vacation option. The variety of things to do, see, eat and drink on a cruise is relatively unmatched for your vacation dollar, but it is still your dollar. Protecting your investment with vacation insurance is a good step, but the best step you can take is getting informed.

Here at MeetOnCruise.com, we are trying to help by offering not just a forum with a long semi-comprehensible thread, but a community of travel experts, cruise enthusiast and future ship mates that you can interact with and hopefully answer questions you might have. We’ve recently added a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) section to each cruise line (including the above mentioned, as well as, P&O, Holland America, MSC, Celebrity and more to come) in the Cruise Guide section of the website. This FAQ section will hopefully begin and add to the conversation in this community and help you, the cruiser become better informed. Let us know what you think about this new section and if there are some other questions you feel should be a part of the FAQs. Let us know and we will research the answer and consider for inclusion in this section.

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Posted in cruise travel, cruises, meetoncruise, travel | No Comments »

Hey, Cruise Lines: Oil Spill is not going away

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

Gulf Oil Spill

Reports seem to indicate that the cap BP has placed over the Gulf oil leak marks progress on getting the oil spill under control.  Despite the “success” of this latest containment measure, it is still not clear how much oil is actually being captured. With all of the unknowns, it is still too early to tell if the leak will be plugged anytime soon.

What we do know is the effects of this epic disaster will be felt in the Gulf Region for years to come. The cleanup effort will involve not only cleaning up the oil and protecting the wildlife in the Gulf Region, but potentially all along the East Coast.  If some of the projections are correct, the currents may well grab hold of the oil and steer it right into the Gulf Stream, which runs all the way up the East Coast and into Nova Scotia.

So what has been the impact of the Gulf Oil Spill on the Cruise Lines?  To date, not much (as noted in our previous post). Carnival Triumph and Carnival Elation continue to sail out of New Orleans and Mobile respectively and Royal Caribbean’s Majesty of the Seas continues to call on Key West.

So, Cruise Lines can relax… right?  In a word: No.  The effects of this oil spill will likely continue to be felt for years to come.  Those with an upcoming cruise in this region will likely have questions, such as: “Will the oil spill keep me from reaching one or more of my destinations?  Will there be oil on the beaches of our destinations?  Is this how I want to spend my vacation?”

See this comment here from Carnival’s forum:

“I really want to take the Western Caribbean itinerary, but right now I am concerned [because of the oil spill].”

And what have the Cruise Lines done to alleviate concerns for future cruisers?  Well, unfortunately, not much.  There has been one official statement from CLIA (the cruise industry’s association) almost a month ago.  It stated that the Cruise Lines “continue to monitor the situation” and then posted a link to the Visit Florida website for updates. This is simply not enough.

Cruise Lines need to wake up.  The oil spill is not going away and they need to get on the offensive about communicating to current and prospective passengers. While it is true that the information currently out there about the spill is not positive, the misinformation out there can be even more devastating to the cruise industry (btw, bad news travels way faster than good news). Cruise Lines must get out in front of this story, or risk the reckless handling of information that is all too common in some blogs, tweets and uploaded videos. Not communicating openly and frequently with your customers, is just silly. Here are a few simple things Cruise Lines can do starting today:

  • - As the industry’s largest association, CLIA should be front and center. I was not able to find even one tweet from CLIA (@cruisefacts) about the oil spill. Their twitter feed should have at least one message a day about the oil spill and the impact, if any, on cruise line itineraries.
  • - Don’t just say it, show it. Cruise Lines should setup a webcam on all ships sailing in the gulf region and broadcast live on their websites.  Show passengers they need not worry about their upcoming cruise.
  • - Don’t make people hunt for information. i.e. don’t bury the latest update on the oil spill deep in the Forums section of your website.  Put a link on the home page.
  • - Spread the word. Post comments/photos/videos on Facebook, Twitter and other platforms.

To this point, Carnival Cruise Lines has done a decent job of informing their patrons.  Their twitter feed does include responses directly to cruisers with oil spill concerns and online customer service is responding to the concerns brought up in the forums.  It’s a start, but much more can be done.

Cruise Lines, I hope you are getting the message, but if not let me be clear:  Current and prospective cruisers are worried.  Talk openly and often about the oil spill and its impact on your lines; because if you don’t, you can be sure they will.

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Posted in cruise industry, cruise travel, cruises, Social Media | No Comments »

Gulf Oil Spill Does Not Spell Doom for Cruises… Yet

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

The massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is yet to cause any cancelations or delays to cruise itineraries that sail or berth in the area. Although the spill has been reported to be the size of Puerto Rico, the cruise ships have been able to sail around the affected area and avoid the complications that would arise from having to sail through it.  Now, although a ‘Puerto Rico’ size spill is HUGE, cruise ships have experience sailing around ‘Puerto Rico’ sized objects, like… well, Puerto Rico. I know, I know, that wasn’t funny because there is nothing funny about this situation… except of course the extremists on both sides that respectively overstate and understate the ramifications of the spill.

Chances are, the environmental impact the spill will have is bigger than what the Rush Limbaugh’s of the world would have you believe, with such gems as: “The ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and left out there. It’s natural. It’s as natural as the ocean water is.” As with all good extreme points of view, parts of what Mr. Limbaugh said are true: the ocean will take care of this itself, if left alone; oil is natural and so is ocean water. Now the problems:  oil and water… don’t know if you’ve heard, don’t mix. Another problem, just because things are natural doesn’t mean they can be forced together. After all, your head is natural, a rock is natural, but if you introduce your head to a rock in a violently excessive way your head may heal on its own, but at the very least it will leave a scar.

On the other hand, extremists on the other side have done their fair share of overstating the scope of the disaster and, yes, the ability of the earth to deal with such a disaster.  While enormous, the oil spill has not gotten into the ports, the shipping lanes are largely unaffected and gulf cities that thrive on tourism are to this point untouched. Things certainly look bleak and they may get worse before they get better, but New Orleans, for one, may remain untouched by the spill for some time. Indications are that the rise in the Mississippi River, due to the tragic floods in Tennessee running off into the connecting rivers, will continue to force the flow out of the New Orleans port (Carnival Triumph calls New Orleans its home port.)  This flushing effect will continue to provide protection to the port from the oil spill for some time.  If this can continue long enough to stop the bleeding, so to speak, the New Orleans Port may be spared.

Following this oil spill story has been both frustrating and sad. Frustrating because every day it seems the news gets worse and sad because millions of people are affected and will continue to be affected for decades to come.   These effects will come from both the oil itself and the media coverage of the spill. Ask a Katrina survivor how the media’s coverage of their disaster helped and hurt their cause.  The media rallied relief efforts by showing the devastation, but once the story reached its satiation point no one was there to tell the story of how New Orleans was open for business.  New Orleans needs its tourism dollars and perception of the oil spill being in their port (when it is not there…yet) is devastating to their ability to attract tourists.  Hopefully the oil spill can be contained soon and its perceptual effect mitigated, but until then let’s keep the port open in our minds because it is open in reality.

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Posted in cruise industry, cruise travel | 18 Comments »