Cruise Industry
The cruise industry represents one of the fastest-growing segments of global travel, with millions of Americans participating in cruise vacations each year. In 2013, about 21.3 million passengers were carried by cruise lines, with projections indicating a continued rise in popularity. Major cruise lines, such as Carnival, Norwegian, Princess, and Royal Caribbean, offer a variety of itineraries to popular destinations including the Caribbean, Mediterranean, and Hawaii. The accessibility of cruises has improved significantly over the decades, enabling middle-class families to enjoy maritime travel that was once limited to wealthier individuals.
Cruise ships provide a range of entertainment options and dining experiences, but they have also faced scrutiny due to health concerns, such as outbreaks of norovirus and Legionnaire's disease, which can spread in crowded conditions. Safety incidents, including notable disasters like the Titanic and Costa Concordia, have raised concerns about passenger safety onboard. In response to these challenges, industry organizations have implemented measures to enhance passenger rights and safety protocols, including emergency management training for crew members. Overall, the cruise industry continues to evolve, balancing the allure of vacationing at sea with the need to address safety and health challenges.
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Cruise Industry
Sea cruises account for one of the most popular and fastest-growing forms of travel in the United States and around the world. An estimated 17 million Americans took a cruise vacation in 2023. In January 2014, the Cruise Lines International Association estimated that its sixty-three member lines around the world had carried 31.7 million passengers in 2023 and forecast that the number of passengers would increase to almost 40 million for 2027. Numerous cruise line companies exist; some of the largest and best known include Carnival, Norwegian, Princess, and Royal Caribbean. Popular cruise destinations include the Caribbean islands, Mediterranean Europe, Hawaii, and the Baja and Yucatan peninsulas of Mexico. Generally, cruises to more remote destinations, such as Alaska or the Galapagos Islands, are more expensive than those to the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and Mexico. Cruise ships provide passengers with daily entertainment, such as live music and comedy shows, contests, dances, and all-you-can-eat food around the clock. However, a few high-profile incidents at sea have drawn some negative publicity to certain cruise lines and to the cruise industry in general.
Overview
In 1970, approximately five hundred thousand Americans booked a cruise. Since that time, the annual number has increased more than twenty-six times over. A variety of factors account for the exponential growth of the cruise industry in the United States, such as the widespread distribution of credit cards and the development of the Internet, which allows individuals to book vacations without the assistance of travel agencies. The number of cruise companies has increased due to competition, which has led to lower fares in order to attract customers. Pleasure cruises, once limited to a relatively wealthy segment of society, became affordable for middle-class and working-class families who wished to travel at sea.
One of the biggest concerns of cruises, however, is the risk that passengers will become sick at sea. Stomach infections are notoriously common, with several outbreaks of a norovirus (a microbe that causes severe abdominal pains, diarrhea, and vomiting) occurring on cruises in recent years. In March 2013, 105 passengers and three crew members contracted a norovirus aboard a Royal Caribbean ship. In April 2013, another norovirus outbreak struck during a 31-day Holland America cruise from Asia to Vancouver, British Columbia, affecting twenty-eight passengers and one crew member. Highly contagious, noroviruses spread easily aboard cruise ships due to the presence of a large number of people interacting in densely packed quarters. Legionnaire’s disease, a potentially fatal form of pneumonia, has also been a problem on cruise ships. The bacteria often thrives in stagnant water and can spread with people maintaining close quarters. After the COVID-19 pandemic, outbreaks of COVID on cruises became an increased risk. In 2020, an outbreak on a Diamond Princess cruise ship. Seven hundred and thirteen cases were diagnosed. Passengers were quarantined on the ship for fourteen days, and even after the isolation period many remained on the ship for longer.
Safety has been a concern on cruise ships since the Titanic sank in April 1912, killing over one thousand and five hundred passengers. Fatal accidents, however, are rare; the only other major cruise ship disaster of the twentieth century happened in July 1956, when the Andrea Doria rammed another ship off the coast of Massachusetts and fifty-two passengers died before the ship sank hours later. In 2012, the cruise liner Costa Concordia capsized upon crashing into rocks off the coast of Italy, resulting in thirty-two deaths and one hundred and fifty injuries. The tragedy was further complicated by the controversial actions of the ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, who allegedly waited more than an hour before ordering passengers to abandon the ship and fled the vessel before all passengers had been evacuated to safety.
In February 2013, the Carnival ship Triumph lost all electrical power following the outbreak of a fire in the ship’s engine room, rendering the ship effectively dead at sea. The incident knocked out air conditioning, running water, and toilets in the rooms of its four thousand and two hundred passengers. After nearly a week adrift, the ship was towed into an Alabama port by a fleet of smaller boats. Following these recent disasters, the Cruise Lines International Association adopted a bill of rights for passengers in May 2013. Aimed to prevent a massive exodus of consumers, the bill of rights calls for a backup source of electricity onboard all passenger cruise ships in case the main power generator malfunctions. It also establishes that ships will feature a crew that is thoroughly trained in proper emergency management procedures.
Bibliography
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