View Single Post
  #1  
Old August 1st, 2006, 01:35 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
John Sisker
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 527
Default Cruise ship incidents hurting industry

To Whom It May Concern:

We came across this information in the trades and thought it would be of
interest to this newsgroup as well.

Happy sailing,
John Sisker, SHIP-TO-SHORE CRUISE AGENCY®
(714) 536-3850 or toll free at (800) 724-6644 & (pagoo ID: 714.536.3850)
www.shiptoshorecruise.com



Reports of accidents at sea, especially for a Florida-based line, are
threatening the $15 billion cruise industry, a U.S. newspaper says.

News of injuries and accidents are creating doubts about the safety of
cruise vacations, even as the industry points to a good statistical safety
record, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports.

Princess Cruises, a subsidiary of Miami-based Carnival Corp., is having an
especially rough year, the newspaper says. Its crew fought a serious fire at
sea in March, and two of its biggest ships tipped suddenly, injuring dozens
of people earlier this month and in February.

Overall, the industry's sales have slowed and discounts are up this year,
particularly for Caribbean vacations, which make up half of all cruises.
We've been pretty aggressive with promotions, said Royal Caribbean President
Adam Goldstein in a conference call for investors. That's sometimes what it
takes to fill the ships.

Ten cruise lines have their headquarters in Florida and 17,000 residents
work for cruise lines, about half of the industry's total workforce in North
America.