Just Cruises Plus

Heroes – The staff of the Carnival Triumph.  From all indications, the staff worked tirelessly to make the passengers as comfortable as possible even though they had to suffer the same privations as the passengers.

Heroes – The vast majority of passengers.  They made the best of a very difficult situation.  I experienced a multi-day power failure on the Norway and I can tell you that it’s no picnic to be on a ship with no air conditioning, limited bathroom facilities and cold food.

Goats – The news media who emphasized the negative and engaged in fear-mongering.  Their “news coverage” was an embarrassment to the profession.

Goats – Carnival Cruise Line management.  They have a lot of questions to answer.  My main question is…why do all of the major incidents happen to Carnival Corporation ships.  Two years ago the Carnival Splendor went dead in the water off the West Coast. Last year, the Costa Concordia (a Carnival subsidiary) went aground with loss of life.  Also last year, a Costa ship lost power in the Indian Ocean and had to be towed back to port.  And now we have another serious incident with a Carnival ship.

To Carnival Management…. Are your problems due to:

a) Poor ship design

b) Poor or deferred maintenance

c) Poorly trained technical crew

d) Bad luck

Carnival cruises are generally lower priced than their competitors.  Is this an example of “you get what you pay for”?