A Little More Information, A Little Less Marketing

Normally, I buy into the theory that any publicity is good publicity. When it comes to the cruise industry, that is far from the case.

I’m a cruise guy. I find cruises to be the most economical and exciting way to see parts of the world I’d rarely get to on my own. So I’m not looking to be part of media feeding frenzies.

When the mainstream media jumped on the norovirus bandwagon, we at TravelPulse banged the other drum – making it clear how miniscule the norovirus numbers are in comparison to the total number of passengers that go cruising every year.

The big-box cruise lines and river cruise lines continue to push for innovations on board and in their itineraries.

Still, the past week has been a painful reminder of how far many of even the industry leaders have to go in terms of servicing the customer.

The oil spill in Houston is a horrific environmental event. So it seems out of place to call the experience that some cruise passengers went through an ordeal.

But you try emptying your bank account for that cruise of a lifetime, only to be met with confusion and zero communication as delays pile up and you see your cruise going down the drain.

From what I saw on Facebook and Twitter, the experience of passengers in San Juan was even worse. As the Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas found itself in deep mechanical trouble, one cruise was cut short at the end and another waited three days to begin.

All I heard from passengers of the impacted Carnival and Princess ships in Houston and Galveston was praise for the constant communication from the cruise companies as their itineraries were shifted. The passengers were treated to extra amenities and extra smiles from staff on board as the cruise ships waited in port to start their journeys.

The polar opposite happened with Royal Caribbean. There was very intermittent public communication related to the Houston delays as RCI first decided to cancel the Galveston cruise headed for sun and fun. Then a day later, the cruise line decided that they’d finish the cruise after all.

In San Juan, the word was even worse.

First, passengers from the ship where the propulsion issue first happened said the communication was poor. Then those waiting to get on to the ship for the next cruise were left standing in the San Juan sun with, from what eyewitnesses reported on social media, no water and no sense of how long the delay would be.

There was next to no public communication about the status of the ship that was stuck in port. Passengers said onboard communication of the situation was close to non-existed and at best spotty, as expected departure times kept getting pushed back.

I know, there’s plenty who will say, “Well, Royal Caribbean took care of all the passengers in the end, so what is there to complain about?”

And in most to all cases, cruise lines are great with the after-the-fact rectifying of the situation. In Royal’s case, the cruise line gave onboard passengers a full refund for the cruise and a 50 percent credit toward another cruise.

It’s the kind of response that makes me understand why there’s plenty of “Loyal to Royal” fans out there.

I’ve been in these situations first hand. I’ve seen Carnival and Princess drop the ball in the moment as well. From what I heard of their Houston response, they have learned from their mistakes and beefed up their crisis management readiness.

Listen, we’re talking about people here. We all simply want to be heard. By a simple acknowledgment of concerns, customer service reps can turn irate haters into lifelong fans.

We’re also talking about moments. The cruise lines spend billions on marketing and are great at selling those moments, in convincing us that they are the place to celebrate.

So you had a family reunion and an Australian couple in from Sydney to celebrate their honeymoon – just two of the stories I heard.

You can reimburse, but you can’t give those moments back. So in the middle of the crisis, there needs to be more attention to informing in the moment. Often, the person who booked the trip for their family is feeling the heat of a moment lost.

I’ve been there. And I know that simply having the smallest bit of information to pass on to my family was enough to keep everyone calm and in happy vacation mode.

There are too many ways to get that information out nowadays and too many ways for passengers to hold the cruise lines accountable for not being transparent and immediate with their help.

Send us push notifications, an email, an automated phone call. The airlines have mastered this with delays. They are using the technology to win the public back in the moment.

Hopefully, the cruise industry can use this PR fail as a learning moment and put a little less budget to marketing and a little bit more to informing.