Cruise Ship Blues: The Underside of the Cruise Ship Industry (28 page)

Carnival defended itself by alleging the accident was Mathew’s fault. Eddie Mathews died February 18, 2001, before the case went to court. Family members suggest he never completely recovered from the accident in 1996.

You Expected Air Conditioning?

several cruises with deplorable conditions aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s
Norwegian Star
led to a class-action lawsuit in early 1998. The problems with the
Star
became public after passengers on the Thanksgiving cruise complained about plumbing and that air conditioning problems had forced them to sleep outdoors. passengers from previous cruises with similar complaints joined in the class-action suit. Another group was added to the lawsuit after the same problems surfaced again with the Christmas cruise. The lack of air conditioning had again forced most passengers to sleep on deck. At the last minute, the ship’s New Year cruise was canceled.

At the heart of the lawsuit is the fact that Norwegian Cruise Line has offered passengers a free cruise as compensation. The passengers are asking for a complete refund.
⁷
They are so close but yet so far; no resolution has been reported.

But Grandpa Is Missing!

Shortly after midnight on December 15, 1998, Royal Caribbean International’s
Monarch of the Seas
struck a shoal off Philipsburg, st. Maarten. The impact tore a gash in the side of the ship and prompted a call to evacuate.

A couple rushed to their muster station, leaving the ashes of the man’s grandfather behind in their cabin. They had intended to scatter the ashes in Barbados where the grandfather had been born. When Royal Caribbean later sent staff to the cabins to pack up passenger belongings and transfer them to shore, they returned with everything except the ashes. The box of ashes had disappeared. The cruise line’s spokesperson “said that he did not believe the company would be liable for the loss of the ashes. Before they board cruise ships, passengers sign forms releasing the company from claims for lost goods.”
⁸
Grandpa was gone, but not forgotten.

Don’t Ask Us to Be Sensitive

On December 26, 1997, a 19-year-old woman drowned in a shipboard pool that was supposed to be closed for the night. According to the woman’s family, the pool should have been covered (per company policy), a failure in the lighting system had prevented would-be rescuers from seeing if someone was in the pool, and the cruise line had handled the matter in a stressful manner. The ship’s officers asked the family several times whether the young woman had been drinking and why she had been swimming alone.

Next, shortly after the body had been found, “the head of security for the cruise line asked the family to sign a statement that released the company from liability. When family members refused, the head of security became upset.”
⁹
Cruise line officials then claimed that the young woman had been diving when diving wasn’t allowed, but that was refuted later by an eyewitness, an employee of the ship.

The family is suing Holland America line for $1 million in the death of Erica Cummings, although even if they win the amount of the reward may be greatly restricted. According to an 80-year-old law called the Death on the High Seas Act, “if a death occurs more than three miles from US territory, the victim’s relatives can seek economic recovery only for the loss of support to themselves, even if the operators of the ship committed an egregious act that caused the person’s death.”
¹⁰
In effect, the cruise line has no liability.

Gray Power 1, NCL 0

In March 2001 a California court denied a motion by Norwegian Cruise Line to dismiss a class-action complaint filed by 38 senior citizens who contend they missed a July 2000 Alaska cruise because the cruise line had booked their air travel. The seniors claim they missed the cruise because of the tight connection time allowed by the cruise line. The problem was foreseeable and had been brought to the attention of the cruise line’s air/sea representative beforehand, but she responded that NCL “reserves that right to choose the air carrier, routing and city airport.” According to a travel industry publication, the cruise line “would not reissue or exchange the air tickets.”
¹¹

On the day of the cruise, the senior citizens arrived at the airport to find that their flight had been canceled. There wasn’t sufficient time to make alternative flight arrangements and make it to the ship, so they missed the cruise. When they turned to their travel insurance issued by the cruise line, they were told the insurance did not cover their situation. They are suing Norwegian Cruise Line, which has agreed to put the senior citizens on another cruise within a year. The senior citizens simply want a refund.

Now Children, Behave Yourselves or Else

In May 2001 a British couple embarked on a two-month trip with Renaissance Cruises. Ten days before the end of the cruise, they were kicked off the ship in the British Virgin Islands for inciting a mutiny.

When the couple booked their trip, they were guaranteed that the price wouldn’t fall. Once they were on the ship, they found that the amounts passengers had paid for the cruise differed widely. What they thought was a good deal was not, in fact, as good a deal as others had gotten. In frustration and anger, the husband prepared a one-page leaflet with “Are you entitled to a large refund on your cruise?” in bold printing across the top. The leaflet asked passengers to write their names, addresses, telephone numbers, cabin numbers, and the price they had paid for the cruise. Anyone who didn’t fill out and return the information would not be part of a class-action lawsuit challenging Renaissance’s pricing practices.

When the husband went to have the leaflet printed, the attendant made a copy and sent it to the captain. The man, who had not yet distributed the leaflet, was then summoned to the captain’s office and told “that he had been ‘actively engaged in the solicitation of our guests to participate in a class action suit’ against the cruise line. [He] ... was told he must ‘cease and desist’ because it was a violation of the terms and conditions of the ticket.”
¹²
The next day he was given a second letter and ordered off the ship. The man’s wife “complained that she shouldn’t have been punished with her husband. ‘I wasn’t involved in that letter, but just because I was his wife they I said I had to go as well.’ ”
¹³

The man considered suing the cruise line for being “dumped” in the British Virgin Islands. However, maritime lawyers point out that he would have a tough time, given that cruise passengers agree to adhere to cruise line regulations when they buy their tickets. As well, when at sea the captain is in charge and has wide authority. He can do whatever is judged necessary for the safety and security of his ship.

An Exercise in Futility

In May 2000 my partner and I took a cruise on the
Radisson Diamond
. We experienced a minor problem that was a source of concern because we had a cruise booked on another Radisson ship several months later and didn’t want to repeat the situation.

The first morning, music around the pool was too loud and included much that, given the makeup of passengers seated in the area, was inappropriate: rap and hard rock. Every hour or so, I, as well as others, asked the bartender to turn the music down, and it was. But each time a new bartender took over, again the music would be turned up, and again a request would be made to reduce the volume. This pattern repeated itself, day after day. One morning a passenger brought his own CDs and asked that they be played, ostensibly to get a break from the bartenders’ choice of music.

The situation escalated when a bartender began saying under his breath every time he saw me, “Turn down the music?” He even made the comment one night at dinner while serving my wine at the staff captain’s table.

After I spoke to his supervisors about the problem, his comments stopped, but he became passive-aggressive. One evening my partner went to the area around a bar to have an after-dinner cigarette. The bar was closed and she was the only one there. It was perfectly quiet — until I arrived to join her. Immediately, the bartender, who was cleaning the bar, turned the music on, loud enough to be bothersome.

We again spoke with onboard management but found that each time we complained, the passive-aggressive behavior became more intrusive and troublesome. We had to resign ourselves to remaining captive to the musical tastes of the bartenders.

When we returned home, we wrote to the company’s chief executive officer. He sent two certificates for $250 off a future cruise but gave no assurance that what we had experienced was inconsistent with company policy. Apparently he couldn’t understand that discount certificates are worthless if a company can’t assure a passenger that the advertised product will be delivered. My second letter received a response described by my travel agency as arrogant.

I made one more attempt to clarify company policy before canceling our next cruise. I clearly asked the CEO whether we should expect unwanted music on our next cruise and how best to deal with a staff person who is rude or abusive. His response indicated that yes, we would be subjected to unwanted music. It also suggested that we shouldn’t expect management to be able to deal with problematic staff.

In disbelief that a company would take this position, I wrote to the chief executive officer of the parent company to Radisson Seven Seas Cruises: the Carlson Companies. Although she did not respond, we did receive another letter from Radisson Seven Seas’ CEO. In that letter he essentially called us liars, saying that we hadn’t given the company a chance to resolve the problem on the
Diamond
because we hadn’t notified staff or management, and he claimed that the bartenders have no ability to control the music around the pool. I responded with a letter that documented the close to two dozen complaints made to bartenders, the bar manager, and the food and beverage manager. I also pointed out his misinformation about the way his own ship is being run.

I did not receive a direct response to that letter, but my travel agency — a member of the Carlson Family of Companies — was told I am not welcome to return to Radisson Seven Seas Cruises.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

This
book
began
with
the
question
of whether the cruise industry is socially and environmentally sustainable. Based on what you have just read, the answer would have to be no, in its current state the cruise industry is not. problems range from misrepresentation of the cruise product to safety and security at sea, from assaults on the environment to assaults on workers. The question of What can be done? can be answered on at least two levels: what the cruise industry can do and what you as a consumer can do.

WHAT CAN THE CRUISE INDUSTRY DO?

solutions to most issues discussed in this book are under the control of the cruise industry. The cruise lines choose how to advertise their product and whether to be forthright about what is and what is not included in a cruise fare. Although the industry is likely to say that passengers choose to spend extra money — they have it within their control not to — the simple fact is that some of the added expenses are unexpected and others are out of line.

Honesty about Money Grabs

Take gratuities, for example. Except for a few ultraluxury cruise lines, almost all cruise lines instruct passengers to pay gratuities and suggest the amounts to be given. princess Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line go as far as automatically charging tips to a passenger’s onboard account. Why are these not collected upfront with the cruise fare? The answer is simple. If they were, the price of a one-week cruise would increase by at least $70, which may be a deterrent for many people, either because a land-based alternative is cheaper or because the price is pushed beyond a comfort level. By having the tips paid separately, the perceived price of a cruise is kept down.

Although I haven’t thought much about the expectation of tips, I have always been struck by the difference between a cruise ship and a land-based resort. Whether all-inclusive or not, a hotel never creates the expectation or recommends that passengers should tip the staff. A cruise line could easily resolve a number of issues by including tips in the cruise fare. It would alleviate problems associated with the onboard mafia, provide the potential for reasonable salaries, and eliminate “tip night,” which is usually the last night of the cruise and a hassle for both passengers and workers.

Cruise lines can similarly be more honest about onboard money grabs. Although I might argue the list has gotten much too long, my real concern is the degree to which passengers are unaware of the amount of extra spending that is common on a cruise ship. In addition, cruise lines have made it difficult to avoid some of their money grabs.