The story of the horrendous conditions on Carnival Triumph following an engine-room fire may make some travelers turn away from the idea of going on a cruise again, but most travel agents say this isn't the case.
Many have read the stories of the filthy, uncomfortable conditions on Carnival Triumph when the ship was left adrift when the power went out. There was limited food, no air conditioning, limited toilets and other factors that made the ship a living hell for the 4,000 passengers and crew.
Yet despite all that, people aren't turning down cruises.
"As of now, cruise bookings throughout Travel Leaders Group have not been impacted and we are not seeing cancellations," said Kathy Gerhardt, spokeswoman for Travel Leaders, a network of independently owned and operated travel agencies in the U.S said, according to the Associated Press.
Right now is "wave season" for cruises which is a six-week period during the winter in which spring and summer cruises are being advertised with hot deals. Gerhardt says wave season sales are still going strong and even better than usual.
Heidi Allison-Shane, a spokeswoman for CruiseCompete.com, said the website has "seen above-average quote requests as well as bookings over the last five days with very few cancellations. Prices remain the same," the AP reports.
While cruise sales have continued to be good, some think that might not actually last too long after the Carnival Triumph disaster.
"Initial reports from travel agents indicates no impact yet, but there are clear concerns that after the ship returns to Mobile and videos come out, that may turn the tide," said Michael Driscoll, editor of the industry newsletter Cruise Week. "No single cruise ship problem has been so vividly reported over a drawn-out period of time, other than Concordia." Concordia was a ship that capsized off the coast of Italy in 2011, killing 32 people.
One cruise line that will be affected in particular is Carnival. The cruise line which owns the troubled Carnival Triumph already canceled a one-day sale this week and is expected to be impacted negatively even further. Concordia also belonged to a company that is owned by Carnival and in 2010, the Carnival Splendor also lost power and had to be towed back as passengers faced horrible conditions.
Carnival may be impacted severely as accounts from passengers are revealed and spread through the media.
"Many cruise sellers expect a harsh round of media coverage to spike Friday and over the weekend, as firsthand reports and visuals get reported in national media and the hometowns of people once they return from the cruise," Driscoll told AP. "Logically, that may cause a downward blip in bookings, but it is expected to pass quickly once the situation dies down."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
