What affect will the sinking of Costa Concordia have on cruise bookings

What sort of affect will this have on future bookings for cruises?

What sort of affect will this have on future bookings for cruises?

I suspect it will have a big effect on bookings from nervous people like myself. It will reaffirm the belief that some ships are just too BIG.

Anyone who has been a ship recently will have noticed just how overworked the staff are.

As the staff are trained to assist passengers in an emergency, I can't help but wonder what the recommended crew/passenger ratio should be, from a safety point of view.

Accidents like this one remind people that it can happen to them - unlikely, but it can.

However, I will continue to cruise on medium sized ships.

It wont effect me the slightest. I am not worried about ships sinking or emergencies or planes crashing. My attitude is you have to live life and not hide from it.

What sort of affect will this have on future bookings for cruises?

i doubt very much as the cruise lines have a pretty good record....you have more chance of getting hurt or killed driving a car or crossing the road

It wont effect me the slightest. I am not worried about ships sinking or emergencies or planes crashing. My attitude is you have to live life and not hide from it.

So true love the Attitude I think the same way it wont put me off going anywhere you only have one life so just keep doing the things you love why stop :D:D:D

I don't think it will have much affect at all. People still drive cars, fly in planes, they will continue to cruise.

I don't think it will have much affect on any but the very nervous, but it reinforces my belief that the mid-size ships are big enough. I have heard at least 3 captains say they prefer ships about 70,000 tonnes, for the ability of visiting more ports, tendering, etc and I would think, evacuating ships should it become necessary.

It wont affect me except to make sure that I double check on Travel Insurance and make sure all is taken care of at home before I leave and while I am away.

I am also thankful that my bookings are always done by a local Travel Agent who holds a copy of passports and any other documents that may be needed in such a situation as the present one.

I wonder how folk who booked with a US agent will be treated on this one.:eek:

It won't affect me, but with headlines like "Costa cruise ship company has long record of accidents" :eek: I'd say their profits are in for a nose dive.

David, I don't think booking in the US would make an iota of difference. It is the ship that caused the problem, not the travel agent.

We leave photocopies of all our passports etc with our family and vice versa. :)

I think a small number of people will probably cancel their bookings with others reconsidering whether to cruise or not and Costa's bookings will possibly drop in the interim... but for us cruising will stay at the top of the list.......i feel for those who do worry things may go wrong but they need to see the other side of the penny and that is "that they may not" and there is a greater possibility of the later happening.....

Hey David ?????? your comment:

"I wonder how folk who booked with a US agent will be treated on this one"

I think it will definitely affect Costa's bookings!!

Barry

It wont effect me the slightest. I am not worried about ships sinking or emergencies or planes crashing. My attitude is you have to live life and not hide from it.

Have to agree with you. What are the odds of this occurring again. Pretty slim I would venture.

Have to agree with you. What are the odds of this occurring again. Pretty slim I would venture.

Hey MJ

Your taking your posting life in your hands venturing in here after your previous postal attacks on Australians LOL

Too funny! :p

It won't affect my desire to keep cruising with premium lines, but it does confirm my suspicion that the cheaper budget lines may be cutting too many corners, especially on hiring and training.

I think it will hurt Costa and perhaps some other budget lines like MSC in the short term, and that they will have to lure people back with great deals and special offers.

I don't think it will have much impact on upscale lines -- unfortunate, since I would love to grab some great deals for this year and next.

What this incident has brought home strongly to me - is the concept of having all ship's announcements made in 5 different languages

No thanks! That is a danger in itself!

Barry

What this incident has brought home strongly to me - is the concept of having all ship's announcements made in 5 different languages

 

No thanks! That is a danger in itself!

 

 

Barry

Another problem is, even if people speak English well, if they are not native speakers, it can be difficult to understand them over a public address system.

What this incident has brought home strongly to me - is the concept of having all ship's announcements made in 5 different languages

 

No thanks! That is a danger in itself!

Barry

LOL Barry. Another thing is to have people stop talking while any announcements are made so everyone can actually hear them. When we couldn't get into Napier because of the tsunami, the captain made frequent announcements about what was happening and what he would do. People just kept on talking so loudly we couldn't hear what he said. Later, we heard people complain that the captain told them nothing. Duh. Apart from anything else it's just bad manners. :(

Tragic this incident occurred and it should not have. We are still embarking 'Arcadia' on March 9, Sydney to Southampton. Cruising is still an adventure to us and always will be, but I can understand that some folk would re consider their future cruise careers. If I had been on Costa Concordia and survived this incident, would I continue cruising ? Difficult question, one would have to experience it to make that decision.

Before discussing my opinion I must preface it by saying that I do feel sorry for all the passengers, crew and their respective families -- I cannot imagine how frightening and tragic this event must have been for them.

Personally, will this have an impact on booking (or not booking) future cruises? No. Unfortunately, with any travel there is the inherent risk of such accidents happening -- i.e There have been many plane, train and vehicle tragedies over the year as well.

There are a number of people I know that will not step near a cruise ship as they often say "oh, what if it sinks?" to which I ask -- how is it any different (or dangerous) than flying to the US or Europe by plane, travelling extremely high and fast over land and water?

This tragedy will likely have a large impact on cruises booked through Costa and perhaps its competitors in the area -- given that the geography around the accident perhaps played a large role in its capsizing.

At the end of the day, issues such as this are as much to do with personal preference as the decisions made when deciding if you are open enough to at least experience a cruise. I guess the space to watch is whether there was a build issue with the ship (i.e in the engineering) and the possible causes.

Very good question. I was only here now to post the same and seen your post. I am booked for the Elation on 02/02/2012. As I always do, I checked to see the price offering for the sailing, especially that we are in the 30 day mark. (who don't like On Board Credit) Well the price declined $39 from my early saver rate and when I continued to book the same cabin cat. just to see what cabins came up green or offered, there was WAY more than before. Like 15 more on the aft Empress. I haven't cruised since 2008 and things have changed a little. But I was suprised to see more offerings of the same cat. than when I looked a couple of days ago. That is not the norm. Even as I haven't booked since 2008 I DO research. So I can't relay this outcome to the recent events... but I did find it suprising.

Listening to the report on ABC news tonight, and one expert has come out and said that these mega liners and designed for revenue and not safety.

He reckons that they need to rethink the size of these mega ships.

But obviously the cruise companies are wanting mega liners as they can make more money.

I wonder what will happen to Costa Concordia? Will it be scrapped, or salvaged?

Also was there a pilot on board given that they were so close to land?

I wonder what will happen to Costa Concordia? Will it be scrapped, or salvaged?

Listening to the report on ABC news tonight, and one expert has come out and said that these mega liners and designed for revenue and not safety.

 

He reckons that they need to rethink the size of these mega ships.

 

But obviously the cruise companies are wanting mega liners as they can make more money.

 

I wonder what will happen to Costa Concordia? Will it be scrapped, or salvaged?

 

Also was there a pilot on board given that they were so close to land?

what sre you on.

cruise ships are way smaller then any container ship in the world of ships

Listening to the report on ABC news tonight, and one expert has come out and said that these mega liners and designed for revenue and not safety.

 

He reckons that they need to rethink the size of these mega ships.

 

But obviously the cruise companies are wanting mega liners as they can make more money.

 

I saw and heard that too and think the size of some of the new ships is just plain ridiculous. It's all about money these days - and not just in the cruise industry.