Crisis Overview

The Carnival Triumph suffered a fire in the engine room on February 10th, causing the ship to be stranded 150 miles off the coast of Mexico.

More than 3,100 passengers and over 1,000 crew members were on board.

There were issues with running water, scarce electricity and problems with “sewage running down the walls and floors.”

Food was scarce and lines would take up to three hours to get through.

Two other Carnival ships and a U.S. Coast Guard ship came to transfer supplies and provide aid to the stranded ship.

Crisis overview continued

Two days after the fire on board occurred, Carnival chairman MickyArison was seen at the Miami Heat game. (part owner)

Carnival cruise lines tweeted “of course the bathrobes for the Carnival Triumph are complimentary” which really upset passengers and family members.-This hurt them, as if they weren’t taking the situation seriously.

The cruise industry experts suggested budget-trimming -- or a reluctance to spend huge amounts of money to deal with a crisis at the outset -- was at fault, as Carnival opted for cheaper ways to handle the crisis, such as social media.

The ship was towed to Mobile, Alabama and finally reached the port five days later on February 15th.

Images and Tweets from

Carnival Triumph

Page Principles: Tell the truth

Carnival was quick to respond using social

media, stating the facts about the fire on board.

Page Principles: Tell the truth

However, it took CEO Gerry Cahill over a day to come out and make a statement about the fire on board and what the plan was to help the stranded passengers and crew.

He waited to respond to media, making them think Carnival didn’t have a crisis plan.

Conflicting reports of safety of passengers on board. Carnival said everyone was fine, family members said passengers were sick.

Page principles: Prove it with action

Micky Arison was seen courtside at the Miami Heat game two days after the fire, rather than focusing his time on the situation.

Chuck Mardiks, managing director of MMGY Global said, “don’t wait two seconds to get the CEO out… They should have helicoptered the CEO to the situation.”

While Gerry Cahill wasn’t flown to the ship, he was on site in Mobile, Alabama when the Triumph returned to speak to guest of the Triumph.

Page principles:

Listen to the

customer

Carnival gladly refunded all

guests for the cruise, gave $500

and a credit for another cruise,

along with the bathrobes.

Carnival constantly updated

Facebook with time-stamped

posts of the Triumph’s status,

and also answered questions

and rumors in real-time on

Twitter.

Page Principles: Manage for tomorrow

“It’s starting to build up that cruising is not safe.”-Cruise Critic

Ernest DelBuono, SVP at Levick Strategic Communications said cruise industry damage would be shorter-term. “Passengers were safe. Horrible conditions, but they were safe and systems on the ship worked like they were supposed to.”

Carnival reimbursed each cruiser, provided transportation and hotels for guests and families, and commended passengers and crew for their patience and understanding.

Carnival’s caring actions and constant updates on social media allowed for the public to be at ease, knowing what was going on and not being left in the dark.

Page Principles: Realize a

company’s true character

is expressed by its people

CEO Gerry Cahill was sincerely

apologetic and thankful for all of

the help from other parties.

The crew and teams worked

around the clock to make sure

the passengers were home safe.

The passengers also praised the

crew for their hard work and

dedication.

Page Principle:

Remain calm, patient,

and good-humored

CEO Cahill did a great job of

staying calm under the constant

questions and concerns from

media and social media outlets.

His final remarks of “ending the

crisis” brought everything to a

close.

What they should have

done

CEO Cahill should have been transported to the ship

Cahill should have held a press conference that night, rather than two days later.

Manage the overall budget to incorporate a solid way to handle a PR crisis, rather than just using social media.

Impact

Carnival will suffer earnings hit due to crisis.

Stocks fell from $39.10 to $37.00.

Expects to lose money from bookings as the ship goes in to dry dock, which will affect 12 scheduled sailings

Lose money from bookings on other Carnival ships from consumers unsure of the brand

Impact continued

Steve Loucks, spokesman for Travel Leaders group says it is still too early to tell to see if the cruising industry will take a hit.

“Bookings are up nearly 10% over last year since Concordia disaster.”-Loucks

“People realize that it’s Carnival and things like that happen.”-Jay Johnson, owner of Coastline Travel Advisors

Resources

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/11/travel/cruise-ship-fire/index.html

http://www.business2community.com/crisis-management/what-you-can-learn-from-carnival-cruises-crisis-communications-on-social-media-0411555

http://adage.com/article/news/carnival-cruises-pr-response-triumph-crisis/239819/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/15/carnival-mexico-disaster_n_2690277.html

http://www.facebook.com/Carnival?fref=ts

https://twitter.com/CarnivalCruise