Is Carnival Cruise lines just having a bad couple of years, or do they just suck?

[randomness]

The news about the Carnival Triumph and its recent troubles got me to looking into the line's recent record:

• On November 8, 2010, a fire broke out in the generator room of the Carnival Splendor and the ship lost most power.


• On January 13, 2012, the Costa Concordia, operated by a Carnival subsidiary, ran aground off Isola del Giglio, Tuscany. The ship capsized and partially sank, killing 32 people.


• In March 2012, the Costa Allegra, owned by Carnival Cruise Lines' Costa Cruises subsidiary, suffered an engine room fire and went adrift in the Indian Ocean.


• In February 2013, the Carnival Triumph, with 3,143 passengers aboard, suffered an engine room fire, leaving the ship adrift for days in the Gulf of Mexico.

Is this number of incidents normal for cruise lines? Is Carnival Cruise lines known to be more accident prone than other lines? They do have a large fleet, so I suppose it could just be random chance, but it doesn't seem like a good record.

I don't know the first thing about cruise lines and their reputations, so I'm asking.

Comments

[digitalemur.livejournal.com]

I dunno either. But I read this today and it was sort of informative:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/13/opinion/walker-cruise-ships/index.html

[theloriest.livejournal.com]

I read an opinion article about cruise ships recently that said cruise ships in general have way more problems than make it to the news.

It all made sense... scary sense... but sense... in explaining why there are so many dangerous issues on cruise ships.

The cruise lines operate their ships virtually 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. Cruise ships do not make money unless they are operating. The cruise lines push the ships just as hard as they push their crew members. A ship out of service for a week for routine maintenance means the loss of tens of millions of dollars and thousands of dissatisfied customers.

[sylphon.livejournal.com]

I know that the spate of issues over the past few years have made me vow to never go on a cruise ship. The commercials may look wonderful, but advertising folk can make anything look fabulous.

[gee-tar.livejournal.com]

Carnival sucks. And I say this as stockholder in Carnival.

Still, I recommend the cruise as a vacation option in general. Just avoid Carnival and Costa.

[awfief.livejournal.com]

Carnival is the cheapest of the major cruise lines. And I mean that both in "lowest cost for passengers" and "most frugal and unwilling to spend money to fix/update their stuff."

[contrariety.livejournal.com]

Given the economy and the fact that Carnival caters to one of the lower socioeconomic tiers of cruise customers, who are probably harder hit by the recession, it wouldn't surprise me if Carnival's revenues have been pretty bad for a while. So it also wouldn't surprise me if they've been cutting a lot of corners with crew and maintenance. That's just a guess, though.

[cerridwynn.livejournal.com]

I went on a short (4 day) Celebrity cruise once and was pleasantly surprised. (My parents took me as a "congrats" gift when I got my scuba certification -- they said "we have to get this girl diving in some warm water!")

Anyway, in particular, I was impressed by the food! I figured it would be pleasant, fattening, and nondescript, which in the main dining hall it mostly was. But we made reservations for a night in the on-board restaurant, which was as good and creative/innovative as any fine dining in a major U.S. city or tourist destination. And I was particularly impressed by the on-board bakery -- the baguettes and croissants were, honestly, comparable to those I had in Paris. I'm not kidding -- they were amazing!

Also,bloodstones' JV-travel term came up in a conversation with me. Jeff and I want to go somewhere in the next few months -- while we still can! :-) -- and I realized I just don't have the energy for my usual "run around and try to see/experience/eat everything" kind of travel. I'm looking for more of a "sit on the beach and have someone bring me virgin pina coladas" kind of travel. So I was thinking short cruise... but this story has me thinking again -- especially right now! (Though I was certainly thinking less Carnival and more Celebrity for a cruise line...)

Actually, if you have recommendations for non-cruise-based JV (intramural?) travel in countries where, as my doctor said,"you'd feel comfortable getting a blood transfusion" then I'm all ears! :-) (ETA -- with the complication that it also needs to be someplace pleasant to visit in March or April...)

[vdansk]

I have done three cruises so far. The first, a seven day Disney Cruise, was the best vacation of my life so far--ideal for someone who loves their kids, but also wants time without them. The second, a three day Disney Cruise, was much too short, but still very nice. And my third last April on...wait for it...Carnival was not bad, but no where near as nice as Disney. The girls had fun at the kid and teen programs, but there were a lot of poorly disciplined kids in the pools and hall ways, and it was much more cramped; Charles had to duck everywhere he went.

We will definitely cruise again, but not with Carnival.

Oh, and get a balcony. Better when things are good, much better if things go wrong.