Cruise lines face safety worries

[Jason]

FORT LAUDERDALE (AP) – Travel agents have expressed concern over the image of the cruise industry in the face of increased media scrutiny about ship safety, an industry executive has claimed.

The cruise industry has been in the media spotlight regarding safety aboard ships, from the disappearance of a man aboard a Royal Caribbean vessel to a recent fire aboard a Princess Cruises liner.

Richard Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises, said such media scrutiny comes in cycles, and that the industry is currently at the high point of a busy cycle.

"I've gotten huge numbers of e-mails and letters from travel agents saying we need to do a better job of getting out the message of how safe, how environmentally friendly, how secure cruises are," Fain said while speaking at the cruise3sixty conference luncheon in Fort Lauderdale.

Royal Caribbean has been dealing with criticism since George Allen Smith IV, 26, of Greenwich, Connecticut, disappeared after an apparent late night of drinking aboard Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas last summer.

Blood stains were found on a canopy that covers life boats, but his body was never found.

Smith's family has accused Royal Caribbean of covering up the disappearance, an assertion the company denies. The FBI has been investigating Smith's disappearance, but no one has been charged.

The case also has led to two congressional hearings into safety aboard cruise ships, and it has been discussed on broadcast news and talk shows.

Cruise executives have been displeased over the negative publicity they say is unwarranted, while also saying that the recent incidents are the extreme exception rather than the norm.

There are some 16,700 travel agencies affiliated with the Cruise Line International Association, a CLIA spokesman said. Fain said the travel agents are key to helping get the industry's message out and to reassure customers.

"It is just is one more evidence of the importance of travel agents, because they do understand what the business is about," Fain said.

Micky Arison, chairman and chief executive officer of Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise operator, and Gregg Michel, president and chief operating officer of Crystal Cruises, Inc., also spoke at the luncheon.

Later, Fain announced that a ship under construction will be called the Liberty of the Seas. The ship, second in its Freedom class, is set to debut in May, 2007. Its sister ship, the Freedom of Seas, is set to enter service in June.

The company also said it would be adding Norfolk, Virginia, as a sailing point to split Bermuda-bound cruises with Philadelphia starting in April, 2007. Royal Caribbean also will add the Dominican Republic as a destination in the fall of 2007, the company said.

[ruag8tr2]

Wow. Thanks for the info Jason. Did anyone get an opportunity to watch the CBS 48 hours special on the disappearance of Richard Smith? Didnt clear anything up for me, but CBS certainly made it look like RCCL was trying to cover up on this one.

Dennis

[hazelson]

I saw it too - clear as mud. It looked like everyone had something to hide. It was pretty clever of that guy to record everything involving his own son though.

Strange actions for a honeymoon couple!!!!

[JoeyandDavid]

Other than doming the ship.. what more could the cruiselines do.....??