Articles tagged “carnival”

Cruise ships already out at sea with passengers onboard will weather out the storm at sea as ports have closed to cruises from Canada to the Caribbean.

It’s customary for cruise companies to order ships in batches to renew the fleet every few years, but the recent burst in orders may also be attributed to shipyard’s willingness to cut rates to increase business.

The Concordia tragedy is unfortunately unfolding like a Saturday evening variety show on Italian television: big egos, crazy claims, and a fascination with the macabre.

Both Captain Schettino and his employer, Costa Crociere, are denying the allegations, although all the survivors and their families really want is for someone to man up and take some responsibility.

Carnival's advantage in this market is its incredible value proposition to cruisers. Despite Costa's sinking consumers are drawn by its low, low prices and promise of a sunny escape from bad economic news at home.

Captain Schettino lost both his career and integrity by making every wrong decision possible, and both Costa and parent company Carnival are likely to come under closer scrutiny for both their safety procedures and their crews' credentials.

Miami-based Carnival owns the Costa brands, but is trying to wipe its hands clean of legal issues by pointing to the fine print on passenger tickets that stated all legal action must be filed in Italy.

Cruising may have had a tough year in the press, but disasters haven't hurt Florida's cruise industry as passengers are still flocking for cheap escapes from convenient ports to sunny locations.

Carnival's 40-minute holding limit will extend to all ships after a successful test run, but it'll take several months to assess the long-term practicality of using staff as lounge chair watchdogs.

Yesterday's announcement that an man settled with P&O parent Carnival over Irish jokes may have opened the door to offended passengers making their anger known via the courts.