Hard to believe that a little more than a month ago, on January 13, one of the worst cruise ship accidents of all time took place. While the media has turned to other, more current issues, it is an incident that is not forgotten. Our hearts go out to all of the families who were affected, especially those who lost loved ones.

In the last month, I have been asked repeatedly if this accident affected our business. The answer is no – and yes. No, because we did not see a decline in requests for proposals; in fact, they have increased in the last 30 days. And yes – because we spent a good two weeks defending cruise ship safety standards – mostly to the media.

Our clients, it turns out, were not as interested in linking this single, human error to a perceived systemic industry problem.  And rightly so – because cruise ships remain, statistically, the safest form of travel – over cars, planes, or trains.

To help put things in perspective, in the five years before the Concordia incident, over 100 million people cruised, with 16 casualties due to a maritime accident or collision (that’s less than 0.16 fatalities per million).

The cruise industry takes safety very seriously, which often goes well beyond regulatory requirements. But one thing that comes out of any disaster is an even safer system. More safeguards are being put into place, with more procedures tightened. Prior to the Concordia incident, cruise lines had up to 24 hours after sailing to hold emergency muster station drills; we will soon see this changed to mandatory day-of-sailing drills.

If you find that you have to defend cruise ship safety standards to your senior management, board, attendees or others, we have a plethora of information to share.

Click on the links below for good, solid industry information:

Cruise Industry Safety Background

Letter from CLIA President and CEO Christine Duffy

Cruise Industry Facts

In a nutshell – here’s what sets ship safety apart from other travel conveyances or venues:

1. Security cameras are ubiquitous on ships and are monitored 24/7 from the bridge.
2. No one can board a ship unless they are a registered passenger or a crew member, and everyone must pass strict security checks.  From U.S. ports, this is monitored by Homeland Security.
3. Cruise ships carry emergency defibrilators in several key locations.
4. Unlike hotels, ships have an onsite medical facility with a licensed physician and nurse in attendance.
5. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) conducts twice yearly unannounced sanitation inspections on all ships calling in U.S. ports. The standards are very strict and apply to all areas of the ship – medical facilities, potable water systems, galleys & dining rooms, hotel accommodations, ventilation systems, swimming pools and all common areas. Even the finest hotel does not have to comply with such strict standards.

So – with all the recent attention on cruise ship safety, we feel even more confident in recommending cruises to our valued clients. As we celebrate our 30th anniversary, we also celebrate 30 years of accident free voyages for our customers – and with all the new technology, we expect that record to go on for a very long time.

 

Filed under: Cruise News, Meeting & Incentive News