Let me start by saying that I’m not a “cruise person.” I prefer to have my feet firmly planted on a sandy beach or visit a Las Vegas buffet, instead of piling my plate high while sailing the open seas. But while I was staying on shore, a record 20.9 million people took a cruise in 2012.
Recently over 3,100 passengers boarded the Carnival Triumph hoping for a relaxing sail around the Gulf of Mexico. What followed was anything but peaceful. After a fire in the engine room, the ship was left without power. Not only did the Triumph need to be towed back to shore, there were food shortages and severe plumbing issues (to put it mildly).
Coming on the heels of the fire on the Costa Allegra and the tragic sinking of the Costa Concordia (Costa Cruises is owned by Carnival), the fire on the Triumph is another tough moment for Carnival Corporations. It is too early to tell what ramifications this latest accident will have on the industry and the Carnival brand, but let’s take a look at how they are managing the crisis.
What did Carnival get right?
- Top notch on-board customer service – While passengers were miserable for days while the ship was being towed to shore, many were quick to praise the crew for their professionalism and hard work.
- Clear reimbursement strategy – As the Triumph was being brought to port, Carnival publicly announced their reimbursement plan for guests. When it became clear that it would take longer to tow the ship in, Carnival upgraded the plan to compensate guests further.
- CEO greeted guests – Boarding the crippled ship before passengers departed, Carnival Cruise Lines CEO, Gerry Cahill, offered his apologies in person to the weary guests.
What did Carnival get wrong?
- CEO seen at Miami Heat game – While Cahill took off to meet guests in person, Carnival Corporation Chairman and CEO, Micky Arison, was enjoying himself at a Miami Heat game. His decision to attend the game amid the Triumph’s crisis has sparked controversy among the public and the ship’s passengers.
- Is the reimbursement package enough? - All passengers will receive a full refund for the price of the cruise along with all transportation expenses, reimbursement of all shipboard purchases, a future cruise credit and an additional $500 per person. But is the compensation generous enough? Are the troubles that guests experienced worth more than $500? Many passengers think so and lawsuits against the company have already been filed.
- Twitter fiasco – Carnival’s crisis communication plan was slow and seemed to rely heavily on the use of social media to alert the public of what was happening. Perhaps the slow news that played out over Twitter would have been overlooked had @CarnivalCruise not insensitively tweeted, “Of course the bathrobes for the Carnival Triumph are complimentary.”
- Safety – The fire on the Triumph marks the third time since 2010 that one of their ships has been left adrift for days. Coupled with the sinking of their Costa Concordia vessel, Carnival is beginning to have a track record of unsafe ships. What is Carnival going to do to ensure that this never happens again and win back the trust of their customers? While the ship just got back to port a few days ago, Carnival has not given the public a reason to believe that they will answer this question and do what it takes to make sure better safety precautions are put into place.
As we’ve talked about before, one tip The Pert Group experts give for handling crisis management is to get out in front of your stories. To successfully make it through this latest disaster, Carnival needs to come up with an aggressive brand strategy to show prospective and repeat customers that their ships are safe and that if another accident should happen in the future, the brand is fully committed to doing whatever it takes to get passengers home quickly and securely.
Is your brand going through a crisis? Or do you want to take proactive steps to put a plan in place in case a problem ever arises? Talk to our brand positioning experts about how The Pert Group can help you prepare for a worst-case-scenario before it’s too late.
Do you think that the debacle on the Triumph will negatively affect the Carnival brand? What could Carnival have done better?