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The anchor in the ocean: a tale of murky waters.

The anchor in the ocean: a tale of murky waters.
Author: Charlotte Homer
2 Commentries
The anchor in the ocean: a tale of murky waters

Author: Charlotte Homer University: University of Wolverhampton

Abstract: This paper discusses the notion of the cruise industry being depicted as one of the safest of holiday experiences and suggests why uncertainty should be present.

Key Words: Cruise, Safety, Natural, Human.


Discussion paper: The anchor in the ocean: a tale of murky waters.

Fancy a cruise? The industry has developed vastly since its origins of existing merely as a form of transportation. I am sure the prospect of a home from home self-contained action packed super resort, with all you can eat buffet restaurants, Ben and Jerry's ice cream with rock climbing walls, ice rinks, spas and your very own Central Park; ultimately more facilities than you could possibly use, whilst having the added bonus of unpacking once, sounds alluring. This value for money experience and self-contained environment provides a safe holiday haven with patrolling staff, limited access via a gangway and suitcase and passenger scanners, it is no wonder that safety is said to be one of the key motivators for cruise passengers (Gibson, 2006).

The Cruise industry could be idealised as a safer holiday experience, after all fatalities in 2010 due to safety related incidents or accidents on board only amounted to 0.001%, approximately 250 out of a possible 20 or so million (Cruise Maritime Organisation, 2013).

On closer inspection there are just a few incidents that question this notion of safety. Petrick et al (2008) highlight the vulnerability of the industry with regards to both natural and human induced incidents; Faulkner (2001) suggested that there are an increased amount of incidents affecting the industry as a result of both natural and human impacts. Negative natural impacts that affect the consumer (minus the disappointment) can be avoided due to technology. Incidents such as the Japanese 2011 Tsunami, and New York's Hurricane Sandy, 2012 have seen cancellations occur as a precaution, but these are at impact to the cruise corporations rather than passengers (Cruise Critic.com 2012).

Human incidents of both an internal and external nature are however of a bigger concern:
These range from noro-viruses which can thrive in that safe secure cruise ship environment. Figures are not huge only 16 cases were reported to the US centres for disease control in 2012, this is up from 12 in 2011, however cruise ships are only required to disclose this information if 20% of their passengers fall ill, which means that regular cases could be going unrecorded in order to portray a safe environment.

There are also cases of child abuse: a child supervisor for Cunard admitted 24 offences between 2007-2011 of child abuse whilst on board the Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Victoria (The Daily Telegraph, 2012). This joins further alleged incidents on-board Royal Caribbean and Disney Cruise lines.

External incidents include political instability, this is said to already cause concern, particularly for the 69% of the total cruise market who are American (CLIA, 2013), after the atrocities of September 11 2001(Douglas and Douglas 2004). The Arab Springs crisis is a perfect example and the apparent domino effect means huge uncertainty to tourists. Cruise companies have pulled out of Egypt, Libya and Israel of late (Cruise Critic.com 2013).

The Cruise Maritime organisation (2012) also points out the issue of piracy, overall attacks on ships totalled 266 in the first 6 months of 2011. 60% of these attacks were by Somali pirates a majority of which were in the Arabian Sea. A luxury cruise liner (Seabourn) carrying 302 passengers was attacked by pirates off the coast of Africa using rocket fired grenades and machine guns (The Daily Telegraph, 2012).

The Mexican Riviera have seen ship visits decrease from 200 in 2010 to just 10 in 2012, and visitors to certain Caribbean ports have been subject to armed robberies (22 Carnival cruise passengers in Mexico, 2 P&O cruise passengers in Barbados and 55 Celebrity cruise passengers in St Lucia) (Cruisecritic.com, 2013). Whether these are the result of host community resentment towards tourists and likened to that of the antagonism stage of Doxey's Irridex model (1975 in Hall and Lew, 2009) or an act of an opportunist in light of those flash Rolex wearing tourists is open to suggestion. The prospect however causes uncertainty.

Perhaps the most significant cruise story: apart from the Titanic of course, is that of the Costa Concordia which raises the question of safety on-board irrespective of a show off for a cruise captain. All life boats were not deployed which is not an issue of course, Maritime law only requires lifeboat capacity for 75% of passengers on board a ship, which means 25% of passengers may not make it in a huge disaster, but there is regular testing that takes place, as is evident with the recent fatalities on board the Thomson Majesty (BBC News, 2013). Regulation is also open for question as ship, crew and captain are regulated by their flag country, which is generally chosen where costs are lowest and oversights are highest (Klein, BBC News, 2012).

A combination of political socio cultural and human error portray that perhaps the cruise industry is no safer than any other, and if the risk of being robbed, held hostage, catching gastroenteritis, stranded at sea, or sinking does not appeal than a cruise may not be an option.

Gibson, P. (2006) Cruise Operations Management Butterworth-Heinemann Oxford

International Maritime Organisation (2013) International Shipping Facts and Figures -
Information Resources on Trade, Safety, Security, Environment [Online] Accessed 2 May 2013 available at http://international maritime.org

Petrick, J.F and Hung, K (2011) Developing a measurement scale for constraints to cruising. Annals of Tourism Research. 37(1) 206-228
An anchor in the ocean; a tale of murky waters
Author: Hannah Logan
The reasoning for choosing to comment on this paper is firstly because the title seemed interesting and it is attractive as the title does not give away the topic, meaning the paper could have gone down many different paths however it was clear that the main study is to do with water tourism. Although there could be many different aspect of sea tourism, cruising is one that can be perceived in many different ways so the topic of discussion is interesting. It is popular that in literature the aspects of cruise tourism focus on the environmental, economic and host area impacts (Arnold et al, 2012) so it is refreshing to see how the tourists can be affected.

The author clearly demonstrates the reasoning as to why cruise tourism is popular and how the facilities can attract a number of tourists. Also by the use of figures the author has shown how it is one of the safest tourism industries however the paper starts to unfold into questioning if the industry is safe. The author brings up many different factors that show the arising safety issues with the evidence of previous incidents, however has not mentioned what the industry has done or could do to solve these safety issues (Doyle. 2012). Also, the case of natural disasters has been touched upon in this paper, however not mentioned that this is not the cruise liners fault and they cannot control this, although the author has touched on the regulations in which states the law only requires lifeboat capacity for 75% of passengers, which shows how the cruise liners are acting in an unsafe manor by not providing 100% of their passengers the safety they are entitled to.

The author has mentioned the case of the Costa Concordia Disaster, but not the effect this has had on the future of the industry, this could be a factor in which highlights to tourists the dangers of cruising. It has been thought that this disaster has encouraged regulations to evaluate how the cruise ship safety standards will be set and whether passenger bookings and cruise line profitability will plummet (Richards, 2012). So, instead of just highlighting why the industry is not safe, more detail could have been made in order to show the effects this has had on the cruising industry.
Overall, from the paper, the ways in which the author has highlighted the safety issues has been shown successfully, and if anything has been an 'eye opener', as the cruising industry at a first thought is that it is a moving resort and an amazing tourist experience, which it is, yet it can be just as dangerous as any other tourist experience and maybe as the cruising industry is a niche market, these dangers are not as highlighted as other types of holidays.

References
Arnold, A; Arnold, B; Chapman, J. Insights to a Changing World Journal. 2012, Issue 2, p29-42. 14p.
Doyle, A., 2012. Disaster Casts Light on Safety. Successful Meetings, 61(2), pp. 10-10,12.
Richards, E. (2012). What the Costa Concordia Disaster Means for Cruising in 2012. Available: http://www.fodors.com/news/story_5087.html. Last accessed 16th May 2013.
The anchor in the ocean: a tale of murky waters - EXPLORED
Author: Megan Olivia Paley
My reasoning for commenting upon this paper is firstly down to the captivating and attractive title; it is a great way to catch a readers attention. Furthermore, the topic of discussion upon the cruise industry and whether it should be regarded as one of the safest holiday experiences is something that interests me as I personally find the cruise industry unattractive as a holiday experience, and I am keen to see whether my perceptions of the industry are in line with any uncertainty expressed within academic literature.

The author begins well, depicting those areas which clearly attract tourists to the cruise industry. They quite rightly point out the value for money, the self contained activities and perceived safety measures in place as huge tools of influence when attracting tourists. The author makes particular reference to safety as a key motivator for tourists; this is in line with the cruise industry's regulations which highlight that the security of passengers and crew are highest priority. (Walker, 2013)

Moving forward, the author begins to address areas of safety concern within the cruise industry. I personally found this particularly interesting, as I believe many readers may not initially consider the concerns raised (myself included) as these are areas that not always obvious. Nonetheless it would have been particularly interesting to perhaps consider whether knowledge of such uncertainty surrounding safety on board a cruise ship would in turn affect a tourist's decision to choose this type of vacation. However, the author does note that the requirements for cruise ships to disclose information could mean that figures portraying a safe environment could be regarded as invalid; it would be sensible here to question whether tourists are being informed well enough before potentially putting their safety at risk. (Mouchtouri et al, 2012)

I think the author pays a great interest to many areas of safety concern regarding the cruise industry, however when conducting my own research I found that there was a particular area that was not discussed within the conference abstract that could be argued to have a huge influence upon safety issues raised. Baker (2013) highlights the concern that cruise ships are expected to pass initial and annual coast guard marine inspections, however such inspections are carried out by an underfunded and understaffed coast guard and therefore an adequate inspection of hundreds of ships can not be conducted to a high standard; perhaps this is where many safety concerns begin as surely the key to a safe environment starts with a thorough inspection.

I think the author has done a great job in highlighting the areas of safety concern within the cruise industry, I think in order to add more value it would have been good to understand the effects of such safety issues and what this would mean from the perspective of the tourist. I think further questions for consideration could include;

- Are tourists provided with enough information regarding safety concerns within the cruise industry before committing to a holiday?

- If tourists were educated in the safety concerns of the cruise industry would this affect their decision to commence travel?

- If safety concerns were more widely documented and communicated to potential tourists, what would this mean for the cruise industry?

Overall, this conference abstract has been a great read!

References

Baker, D. (2013) Cruise passengers' perceptions of safety and security while Cruising the Western Caribbean, Revista Rosa dos Ventos, 5 (1), pp. 140-154

Mouchtouri, V, A., Bartlett, C, L, R., Diskin, A. and Hadjichristodoulou, C. (2012) Water Safety Plan on cruise ships: A promising tool to prevent waterborne diseases, Science of the Total Environment, 429, pp. 199-205

Walker, J (2013). What cruise lines don't want you to know, Available: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/13/opinion/walker-cruise-ships. Last accessed: 17th May 2013