– Avalon Myanmar – Myanmar River Cruise – April 2017
Avalon Waterways – Myanmar – Part VI (Kya Hnyat to Kyauk Myaung)
Avalon Waterways – Myanmar – Part IX (The Ship: Avalon Myanmar)
Avalon Waterways – Myanmar (Burma) – Reflections: “Isn’t This Amazing!?”
*Azamara Club Cruises – Azamara Journey – Singapore to Dubai (April 8, 2018)
* Azamara Quest – Southeast Asia and Japan (February 2015)
– How Close to Luxury Can Celebrity’s Smallest Ship Get? – Part I
– How Close to Luxury Can Celebrity’s Smallest Ship Get? Part II
– How Close to Luxury Can Celebrity’s Smallest Ship Get? Part III
– How Close to Luxury Can Celebrity’s Smallest Ship Get? Part IV
– How Close to Luxury Can Celebrity’s Smallest Ship Get? – Some Final Observations and Thoughts
– The Prologue to the Travelogue
– The Adventure Begins…With a Bump or Two
– Settling In Made Easy
– Luxury Touches Here, There and OK, Not, Everywhere…But There Are Lots of Them!
– Asian Flair Onboard and On Shore
– Private Tours, Israel and Conflicts in Perceptions and Perspective
Celebrity Equinox 2009 – Egypt…Impressive and Depressing
– Dining With the Captain and the Reidel Wine Seminar
– The Last Dinner (Tuscan Grille) and Disembarkation
– What Happens When A Class Act Meets Highly Discounted Cruise Fare
– Lisbon to Monaco: Crystal As a “Move Up” & “Move Over” Luxury Option – Part I
– Lisbon to Monaco: Crystal As a “Move Up” & “Move Over” Luxury Option – Part II
– Lisbon to Monaco: Crystal As a “Move Up” & “Move Over” Luxury Option – Part III
– Lisbon to Monaco: Crystal As a “Move Up” & “Move Over” Luxury Option – Part IV (Food & Wine!)
– Princess Cruises Doesn’t Treat You Like Royalty; Celebrity Cruises Does! Which is a Better Value for the Upscale Cruise Guest? Part I
– Celebrity Silhouette vs. -Royal Princess – Which Is A Better Value For The Upscale Cruise Guest? Part II: The Standard Veranda Staterooms
– Celebrity Silhouette vs. Royal Princess – Which Is A Better Value For The Upscale Cruise Guest? Part III: Treating You Right From The Start
– Celebrity Silhouette vs. Royal Princess – Which Is A Better Value For The Upscale Cruise Guest? Part IV: The Wine Lists Speak Volumes (As Do The Beverage Packages)
Regent Seven Seas Voyager – August 2017
– Italy and Corisca 2014 – Part I
– Italy and Corisca 2014 – Part II (Getting There, The Stateroom and First Impressions)
– Italy and Corisca 2014 – Part III (“You Can’t Teach Five Star Service” and Bonafacio, Corsica)
– Italy and Corisca 2014 – Part IV (Calvi, Monaco, Portofino, Porto Azzurro…and Stale Bread)
– Italy and Corisca 2014 – Part V (My Last Day…and How The Chef’s Team Makes It Happen)
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Bad things happen. For agents, making sure the rarity of the Carnival Triumph situation is understood by clients is only the first part of our job.
Acknowledging the Carnival Triumph situation is “bad” – and then looking at it realistically as an opportunity to show how the cruise industry is evolving positively and how cruise ship design bodes well for the cruise guest (though without looking through rose-colored glasses) – is key.
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Consider the positives
Maybe because I suffered through Superstorm Sandy and went two weeks without electricity (save a small generator), heat or water, it is a bit easier for me to focus on positives such as:
• the compliments given to the Carnival staff and crew
• the ship’s officers keeping guests well-informed (even if not minute-by-minute as some craved)
• Carnival Corp. focusing on passenger retention rather than the first-quarter bottom line, by offering a refund, hotel and transportation, free cruise, plus $500. (That is far better than my power company sending me an estimated bill for a full month’s electricity for the period I went without power, while communication during the Sandy ordeal itself was nil.)
The fact is the safety systems worked. In these very rare instances, the laws and safety regulations do not require the cruise to continue unabated, but rather that everyone be kept safe.
We don’t know why there was a fire or why the engines failed, but we do know that nobody died or was even seriously injured. Though not pristinely, everyone was kept safe, hydrated and fed until they were returned to port.
Just the facts, please
Some perspective: How rare is this sort of event? CNN reports that there were four fires aboard cruise ships in 2011; there were two fatalities, both crew members, in one of those instances. In 2010 and 2009 there was one fire-related incident, with no serious injuries.
In fact, in the decade ending in 2011, there were 223 million cruise passengers, with only 28 deaths (crew and passenger). That is safer than driving or flying to the cruise port!
What’s not being said
Now, the unspoken truth: Making a cruise ship that could continue to operate in this sort of (very rare) situation would be so expensive that the contemporary cruise market would collapse.
The changes required would cost a huge amount of money, both in design and equipment costs. Moreover, the design changes required would reduce passenger space on the ship significantly. With four-day Carnival cruises starting at less than $300, the math is not difficult – something would have to give.
And we must remember, with the Carnival Triumph ordeal, we are not talking about saving lives, but improving passenger comfort – nothing more.
The price of passenger comfort
To this last point, ensuring passenger comfort, this is a discussion that is had whenever a new ship (or plane or car) is built.
How do I know this? In addition to being a luxury travel agent, I am also a superyacht attorney. In 2008, I was on a Global Superyacht Forum panel with the largest maritime regulatory authorities (http://www.superyachtevents.com/asf/asf2008/). During that discussion I asked how much money should be spent on safety regulations that don’t actually save more lives, given that those regulations make the cost of building a ship (or your car) prohibitively expensive, thus destroying the market?
Are design changes needed?
Carnival has shown that, from a customer relations point of view, it has learned from past failings. It is my hope that, from this latest bad event, design changes will evolve that improve passenger comfort during rare events such as the Triumph’s engine failure.
But we also must remember that on the Triumph, while some passengers in the lowest cabins did have to sleep on deck, the photos show that most decks were clear, because literally thousands of the Carnival Triumph passengers slept safely in their balcony cabins.
I heard one Triumph passenger, commenting on whether he would cruise on Carnival again, say, “Sure. Why wouldn’t I take that free cruise?!” He said it because cruising is fun. Cruising is a great value. And cruising is safe.
Eric Goldring, owner of Goldring Travel in Colts Neck, N.J., is a luxury travel agent specializing in cruise with a worldwide client base. He has an extensive background in the maritime industry. Eric writes and speaks frequently on issues affecting the cruise and superyacht industries. Read his blog here.
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