Carnival Cruise Mishap Creates Public-Relations Mess

February 14, 2013, 10:45 p.m. ET

By ARIAN CAMPO-FLORES
WSJ

The drawn-out saga of the disabled Carnival Corp. CCL -0.20% cruise ship that slowly made
its way to land Thursday has created a public-relations headache for the company, though
analysts say the long-term impact on bookings remains uncertain.
Tugboats towed the Carnival Triumph to Mobile, Ala., where it arrived Thursday night. That
brought an end to a four-day ordeal triggered by an engine-room fire that knocked out the
power, leaving the more than 4,000 people on board without air conditioning and use of
toilets.
Vance Gulliksen, a Carnival spokesman, wrote in an email response to questions that the
company and outside agencies would conduct a detailed investigation of the accident. He
added that Carnival complies with all safety standards set by the International Maritime
Organization, a United Nations agency. "Indeed, Carnival's own standards and policies
often exceed international regulations," he wrote.
As conditions on the Triumph deteriorated, passengers described to friends and family a
grim scene of overflowing toilets, nauseating odors and shortages of food. Televised
images showed some passengers waving signs reading "Help."
Mike Padilla said his wife, Kerry, was on board celebrating her 40th birthday and was
holding up well. "It just hasn't been the living hell that I'm sure many people will describe,"
he said she wrote to him in a text message Thursday afternoon. "Has it smelled like urine,
poop and rotting food? Yes, at times it has."
The fallout from the incident extends beyond those on board. The cruise line announced
this week it was canceling 14 scheduled voyages of the Triumph, affecting tens of
thousands more travelers.
Carnival has sought to make amends with passengers by providing all those affected with
a full refund and discounts on future cruises. Those on the current voyage will also
receive a $500 compensation. The company dispatched officials to receive passengers in
Mobile and arranged for their travel back to Texas, where the cruise originated.

"As far as what they're offering the consumer, I think it's fair," said David Crooks, senior
vice president of product and operations at World Travel Holdings, a cruise agency with
more than 1,500 customers affected by the cancellation of the Triumph trips. "I'm not sure
what more they can do."
Yet the episode has focused attention on cruise-ship safety, little more than a year after
the Costa Concordia shipwreck in Italy that killed 32 people. That vessel was owned by
Costa Crociere S.p.A., a unit of Miami-based Carnival.
That was followed less than two months later by an engine-room fire aboard the Costa
Allegra, another Costa Crociere ship, which left it adrift and without power in the Indian
Ocean. No one was killed or injured in that incident.
"What this does is raise a question about operational procedures and safety procedures,"
said Douglas Quinby, senior director of research at PhoCusWright, a travel industry
research firm. "This may spur some additional and perhaps needed engagement within
Carnival."
Still, it's not clear whether the mishap will have a long-term effect on the company. "There
may be some short-term negative impact on their bookings," Mr. Quinby said. But "you
have to keep in mind that consumer attention is very flighty."
Mr. Crooks said his agency has not observed any drop-off in cruise bookings this week.
"Actually, we're having a very good week," he said.
Write to Arian Campo-Flores at arian.campo-flores@wsj.com
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What public Relations mess?
They had a fire in the engine room that put them dead in the water. The crew did everything humanly possible to help
the passengers, they tugged the ship to shore as fast as possible and even broke a tow line, the CEO of Carnival
apologized profusely several times and then went on board into that hell to apologize to everyone on board
personally, and everyone is going to get their money back!
What Public Relations Mess are you talking about? I would love to go on Carnival and I have never been on a cruse!
Just what more could they have done? As far as I know the ships don't come equipped with magic fairies that will fix
engines and toilets.
If they did, then that really would be something to see.

Carnival should teach all the other CEOs around the country the proper way to handle these situations.
Carnival will get things fixed and will come out on top.
Carnivals stock is a BUY in my view, and is currently undervalued because we have been brainwashed to expect to
have everything perfect without any problems.
Get over it, life happens, you fix what needs to be fixed, and you move on!
Carnival did a great job!
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I've owned several "name" blue water boats and have spent LOTS of money on maintenance and inspections but
things still break, suddenly stop working or just go "haywire". I was once towed in from about 90 miles out in the Gulf
after losing both engines (Cummings, and I loved them). Assuming no obvious maintenance issues or procedural
violations are uncovered this event is being overblown. The ship had a fire, it was controlled, to date no one is known
to have been injured or died and the crew acted appropriately. I'm not belittling the problem with toilets, sanitation,
food etc. but all are inconveniences and not life threatening. The best way to look at this is that it's all just part of the
adventure and it will give the passengers something to talk about for years.