‘Should I take a cruise vacation?’
Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, you’ve probably heard about the problems that Carnival Cruise Line has been experiencing these past few weeks. First it was the Carnival Triumph and an engine fire that left 4,200 passengers stranded at sea for five days while it limped its way slowly back to shore. Next it was the Carnival Dream whose backup emergency diesel generator died and passengers were flown back to Florida from St. Maarten. Finally, the Carnival Legend had mechanical issues, which resulted in the ship missing the port of Grand Cayman and returning directly to Tampa.
Carnival Cruise Line’s CEO Gerry Cahill cancelled additional future cruises on the Carnival Triumph and delayed the re-entry of the newly named Carnival Sunshine into service to address these issues. Cahill had this to say in a press release: “We sincerely regret canceling these cruises and disrupting our guests’ vacation plans. We are fully committed to applying the recommendations stemming from our fleet-wide review and to make whatever investments are needed despite the difficult decision to impact people’s vacations.”
Does that mean that cruising is unsafe? Absolutely not! Cruising continues to grow in popularity despite the fact that only about 20% of U.S. adults have ever taken a cruise. There is good news to be heard about cruising so don’t get wrapped up in all of the negativity. Check out these fast facts from Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA):
- 13 cruise ships were introduced in 2012 (12 new, one refurbished) with a total of 17,774 new beds.
- 11 cruise ships to be introduced in 2013 (10 new, one re-introduced) with a total of 12, 125 new beds.
- 13 new ships to be introduced in 2014 with a total of 16,702 beds.
- 3 new ships to be introduced in 2015 with a total of 10,960 beds.
Passenger growth over time: Between 1980 and 2012, the CLIA North America fleet will have carried an estimated 225 million guests: 188 million passengers sourced from North America and 37 million passengers from other parts of the world.
Overall, CLIA expects that the global passenger forecast in 2013 to be 20.9 million guests. If over 20 million people are expected to cruise this year, then you can easily deduce that cruising is not only fun, but also safe. People enjoy cruising for a variety of reasons, but one of them is knowing that they will get from point A to point B easily and safely.
What can you do to ensure that you have a safe cruise vacation?
Know before you go. What that means is that you should absolutely get matched to the best cruise vacation prior to your arrival on the ship. The best way to do this is by working with an experienced vacation planner who can listen to your wants, needs, and expectations and then match you to a cruise line that will work for you. There’s nothing worse than hearing about someone’s failed vacation because they chose cheap over smart.
Always pack all of your important paperwork, medication, etc. into one large Ziploc bag that you can take with you quickly.
Pack some high protein snacks like protein bars, peanut butter, nuts, beef jerky, etc. that you can store in any carry on bag that always goes with you when you travel. This can be used whether there is a delay on a cruise ship; you’re stuck out on the road or at the airport.
Pack backup chargers for your smartphone and tablets: Should you be without power, you’ll have a way to communicate with the outside world. Consider investing in a solar powered charger.
Understand your travel insurance! Travel insurance policies are not all the same. When you purchase travel insurance from the cruise line, it’s going to cover your cruise, but will it cover your pre-cruise travel? Does it cover pre-existing conditions?
Quite honestly, the average person taking a cruise is going to worry more about whether to go into the pool now or later, having a second dessert, and not gaining any cruise weight. Safety on cruise ships now may be under extreme scrutiny, which certainly means there is no better time to take a cruise as you can be sure that it is a great time to sail. Take a chance and enjoy some fun on the open sea and travel somewhere new on a cruise soon.
Marian Krueger is the Founder of the Travel Shop Girl blog, a blog that simply states, “Travel musings by a girl who loves to write and travel the world.” Functioning on high-octane coffee most days, her straightforward and honest approach has resulted in a worldwide following and a desire for global domination. Connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.
Eileen – Voyage B237 on Princess: Princess actually made the decision on 10/26 to cancel their call to Bermuda as a result of Hurricane Sandy. One of the safest places to be during a storm is on a cruise ship as the ship can change course to avoid any storm. If the cruise line deviates from its itinerary, which they state in the cruise contract that you agree to at the time of purchase, this may not be what you want, but it is what they will do. They aren’t going to cancel the cruise because of the storm and as a result, they aren’t going to refund monies because of it. It may not seem right but since this is what they do every single day and there haven’t been any associated ship accidents with hurricanes, it looks like they are doing something right. The ship didn’t go directly into the eye of the storm and as a result, the passengers, crew, and ship were safe as are the vast majority of ships that sail daily around the world.
I wanted to address your travel insurance point. If you purchase travel insurance through the cruise line, you’re only covered for your cruise. The better option is to purchase your travel insurance independent of the cruise line to cover you before you get to the ship. Additionally, you should consider “cancel for any reason” coverage, which would absolutely cover you in situations where your opinion differs from the cruise line as in this case.
Lastly, not only does Carnival (Carnival Corporation to be exact) own Princess, but they also own many other cruise lines including Holland America, Cunard, P and O, Costa, Seabourn, and Aida.
For some reason it wouldn’t allow me to post my name or reply to Eileen directly, but the “guest” comment above is mine.
The point is that Superstorm/Hurricane Sandy was a huge storm, 1,000 miles across with the lowest barometric pressure ever recorded. It was unprecedented, and the Caribbean Princess could not travel east, north or south and avoid the monster storm. The facts that the storm was extraordinarily dangerous and that the ship could not “change course” and avoid it should have led to the clear-headed decision to cancel the cruise and refund passenger fares. Why didn’t Carnival/Princess make such a decision? Most likely to avoid losing money. Consider the following harrowing details: “In the evening, the log says the ship was experiencing southerly Beaufort Force 7 (gale) winds.The captain changed course again toward the west, heading for Boston harbour. The captain called on the assistance of two tugboats to help berth the ship and stabilize her in the face of northeasterly Beaufort Force 7 winds. On Monday morning the gale force winds were pushing the ship off the berth. The Caribbean Princess remained alongside with the help of the ship’s six thrusters, two tug boats and 22 mooring lines set out from our mooring stations,” the log says.The situation in port continued to grow worse. A state of emergency was declared for Boston, and the city was placed under a public curfew.” Would you trust Carnival/Princess with your money? Your life?
I think that cruises are a great way to vacation. Canival has had a run of bad luck lately.. However, cruising is a lot more safe to me than being in a car on the highway
I can’t say anything about the comment by Eileen Flynn as I wasn’t aware of that happening. The cruise lines are a business, and for each line the bottom line does matter. It enables the line to hire good, hard workers who provide excellent service, good food and entertainment.
I totally agree! Cruising is safe and as long as you choose the best option for you, you can always have a great vacation!
People who are thinking about taking a cruise should know that Carnival/Princess cruise lines are focused on the bottom line to the detriment of passenger safety. On
October 27, 2012 the Caribbean Princess left port in Brooklyn, NY
and sailed into Hurricane Sandy. Passengers who called and asked that Voyage B
237 be cancelled and that they receive refunds were brushed off with empty reassurances that safety is a high
priority. How can it be safe to transport people into gale force winds, with 30
foot waves while states of emergency are being issued up and down the East
Coast? Regrettably, no U.S. government
official or agency has the authority to prevent a cruise ship from boarding
passengers. Greedy cruise executives call the shots. Travel insurance is for situations wherein individuals are dealing with a broken limb, a root canal or a family emergency at the same time the ship is scheduled to depart. People who pay to take a cruise should not be forced to lose their fare because cruise executives do not have the decency to cancel dangerous sailings. BTW Carnival owns Princess.