As rescue workers continue to search for 29 missing passengers from Costa Concordia, laid to rest off the coast of Italy, concerns over the very nature of a cruise vacation are raising questions about safety issues. The gang of people who did not care for cruises before the tragedy have been given new fuel that will charge their arguments for decades. The cruise cheerleaders are still dishing out the same stats about the millions of people who safely take a cruise each year. They note that just a few fall off, get murdered, get sick, or up until now, were victims of a near-disaster like the Costa Concordia event represents. Then there is a new, third group, that has been stunned up until now but is starting to emerge and will redefine the very nature of a cruise vacation.
On the opposing side of cruise vacations, environmentalists won’t be chasing shadows of suspected cruise industry violations of the planet for a while. Costa Concordia, sitting on her side off the coast of Italy has the potential to release a whole lot of unspent fuel and pollution into the ocean, proving their point. We won’t even go there for now other than to note how very damaging an unwanted release could be for years to come.
Land-vacation options have to be drooling over this perceived hit to the popularity of the cruise industry. After all, one of the big selling points of a cruise vacation is that they safely transport travelers to multiple destinations and they only have to unpack once. Embarking (in a U.S. port anyway), passengers can’t help but feel safe with the secure perimeter that surrounds cruise ship operations. But what good is that if the ship goes down later in the day?
On the other side, cruise cheerleaders are still spouting statistics about how many people take a cruise every year (millions) and how many get hurt on one (a few). True, but of little comfort to those on Costa Concordia. To say that the cruise industry can go back to business-as-usual now, after the Concordia event, is preposterous. At the very least, some sort of check system to keep a rogue captain from altering the cruise line‘s approved course must be in place. To say or think “Well, its just this one guy who was showboating for his friends on the shore” and let it go at that, when those kind of actions can have such a dramatic effect on human life, if not corporate assets, is not going to work.
Cruise lines fared well through the global recession, primarily due to their unique ability to move their mobile assets (ships) to greener pastures, should yields from their current deployment prove less than projected. The world of finance loves this. Anyone who ever owned a restaurant or retail business appreciates this unique quality of being able to simply drive your business to a different location when needed. But with the Costa Concordia event we saw the flip side of that mobile ability. We got a glimpse of just how wrong things can go when that asset is in motion. Imagine if this had happened in the middle of the ocean with no sand bar to lay the ship down on.
Cruise lines are very much aware of this and will be moreso when the U.S. markets open today. Look for a statement rather quickly outlining what the cruise lines will be doing to prevent this from happening again.
That new third group? That’s the former cruise cheerleaders who have taken this Concordia event to heart and look at it realistically, not through the rose-colored glasses that have served them so well for so long. These are the people who are avoiding the sensational headlines and still love cruise vacations but will be looking at them a little differently in the future. Right off the bat, those people will be taking the safety drill seriously. Their travel agents will be sending along tips for embarkation that will include general safety instructions, a topic nobody touched on in the past. This bunch will read, follow and practice getting off the ship on their own to the extent that they can. When they see someone or something that could jeopardize their safety, they will speak up.
Due to the Costa Concordia event, savvy travelers will be looking for changes in the operation of cruise ships before they are comfortable sailing again.
I keep saying the Costa Concordia event because I can’t seem to find a word that accurately describes it. To say “disaster” is not right. Titanic was a disaster. Calling Concordia a disaster disrespects the memory of the 1500 who died on Titanic, although I have no doubt that those on board Concordia thought it surely “felt” like a Titanic experience.
Maybe the Costa Concordia wake-up call might be more appropriate because one thing is for sure: This can not happen again.
Related articles
- Incredible tales surface from Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster (news.nationalpost.com)
- Our best wishes to the passengers and crew of Costa Concordia (chriscruises.net)
- Costa Concordia update: Blame placed, rescue efforts suspended (chriscruises.net)
- Costa Concordia update: Passengers rescued, Captain detained, details emerge (chriscruises.net)
- 29 People Still Missing from Costa Concordia (onebluestocking.wordpress.com)
- Cruise disaster: Costa Concordia owners accuse captain (telegraph.co.uk)
- What happens to the Costa Concordia? (ask.metafilter.com)
