1 Sarah Romero Camille Penrod Stacia Wahlgren Half Team Case Professor Plowman Comms 336 3 June 2013 Corporate Public Relations Crisis: Carnival Cruise Ship Stranded Introduction: This paper will discuss Carnival s situation including a background, public relations issues with a SWOT, what Carnival s options were, what we would have done differently and a personal experience from a team member that relates to this case. Background: In February 2013 the Carnival cruise ship Triumph lost engine power in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in an immediate need for expert corporate crisis communications, but effective communications were never realized. The cruise incident came to be known as the poop cruise, because the five days stranded at sea with no sewage caused a large build up of fecal matter on the cruise. While food and other supplies were dropped on the ship, conditions on board were still dismal. The Coast Guard (not Carnival Cruise Lines) sent out four tug boats to tow the ship back to America. Passengers of the Triumph were fatigued, hungry and overheated when they finally docked in Mobile, Alabama. Passengers were given refunds, vouchers, free transportation home and $500 compensation for troubles. However, few statements were made from Carnival itself and passengers felt like apologies were not genuine and compensation was insufficient. Similar situations have occurred before and Carnival Cruise Lines has not taken measures to prevent this from happening again. Public Relations Issues and SWOT:
2 Strengths: Carnival didn t tow the cruise ship to Mexico in order to accommodate the guests that didn t have passports. We pride ourselves by providing our guests with a great vacation experience. Clearly we failed in this particular case. Jerry Cayhill (CEO) in a statement to the media. Carnival offered the passengers a full refund, a voucher for another cruise, paid all their travel expenses and gave them $500 dollars. Carnival held three press conferences. No one was injured or killed. Carnival maneuvered the large ship through a small a narrow channel in the dark in order to get passengers home. Two passengers with serious medical conditions were successfully relocated to other Carnival cruise ships. Weaknesses: Any goodwill that might have generated was negated by the insincerity of the messages given. They were doing the things they were supposed to do textbook illustration but they weren t giving people the depth and necessary consideration, so it seemed wrought and definitely not heartfelt. Sharee Broussard (Associate professor and chairwoman of Spring Hill College s communication arts department) People were hoarding food because there wasn t enough food. They had to stand in line for three hours to receive onion sandwiches. People had to use little red bags to go to the bathroom because the sewage was backed up and
3 leaking onto guests and their property. Carnival admitted that it was having electrical issues on the Triumph before it embarked on the new voyage. There is no evidence at this time of any relationship between this previous issue and the fire that occurred on February 10th, Carnival said. Many guests had no way of contacting their loved ones For three days there was no response from Carnival Executives on the situation. The response from the CEO was not apologetic or sincere. The guests on the cruise ship didn t feel like the reimbursement was enough. They thought the $500 was an insult. ABC News requested the ship s history on mechanical problems. Carnival didn t respond. In the press conference, executives answered very few questions. It didn t even rescue its own ship! The Coast Guard rescued its ship, using U.S. taxpayer dollars to pay for it. The Carnival cruise line owns 10 brands, over 100 ships worldwide and owns nearly half of the cruise industry. Moving one passenger to another ship would take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. Opportunities: When the cruise ship first ship wrecked, Carnival had an opportunity to show it cares about its customers. Carnival has an opportunity to make a sincere apology and make the situation right. Carnival can show the media that its safety procedures and checks are adequate enough to
4 leave port and return with happy guests. Carnival can show the public that it has a back up plan for emergencies that will allow guests to not be stuck on a poop cruise with no food. Show travel regulation agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration, that Carnival can regulate itself with safety procedures and do not need to have regulatory agencies take over. Threats: Reporters were waiting when guests got off the ship and angry guests shared details about the experience right away. (Ex. It was the worst experience I ve ever had. ) Another Carnival cruise ship, the Costa Concordia, capsized on the coast of Italy in 2012, killing 32 people. In 2010, the Splendor was stranded for four days because of an engine fire much like the engine fire on the Triumph. There is no regulatory agency ensuring the safety of cruise lines. If Carnival cannot show that it can regulate itself with safety procedures, regulatory agencies may take over. Because of the bad publicity, Carnival could lose a lot of business. Public Relations Issues: Because Carnival is a global corporate business, it has the responsibility of ensuring a positive experience for guests, no matter what circumstances arise. Its publics expect a professional experience but the incident in the Gulf of Mexico betrayed its promise to its customers, creating a corporate public relations crisis. Carnival was already receiving heat from the media and its publics because of two similar incidents that occurred. Costa Concordia capsized on the coast of Italy in 2012, killing 32 people. In 2010, the Splendor Carnival cruise ship was stranded for four days because of an engine fire much like
5 the engine fire on the Triumph. A strategic public relations professional would have tried to create a crisis plan for when the unexpected happens. Incidents and accidents happen; it s the way a business handles that incident that separates the strategic public relations efforts from the gut shot efforts of some. Carnival s response was the typical response for this kind of incident. They made few statements about the incident or the cause of the engine failure and issued a light apology. Carnival failed to consider its publics when drafting its response. An effective public relations campaign to a crisis like this would have designed messages to key publics that were heartfelt, sincere and informative. Carnival s statement was very general and did not address specific publics. It could have benefited from establishing key publics and public profiles to identify its public s self interests. Communication with the media was poorly managed. Carnival did not cater messages to be well received on social media, nor was Carnival accessible by the news media. Poor message construction and low media accessibility closed key channels to reaching Carnival s publics and stifling the crisis. Carnival s Options: Carnival had many options to choose from. Its initial decision was whether to make an immediate statement or not. While a fairly quick response is always important, Carnival also needed to think carefully about how to approach the issue. The first reaction that a company gives to a crisis sets the stage for the entire issue. Carnival could be apologetic and transparent, or simply try to push blame away and focus on handling the situation. In this case, Carnival chose to stay silent for three days and then give simple updates on the ship. Though Carnival held three press conferences during the crisis, executives did not answer many questions. An apology given by the CEO much later was publicly viewed as insincere and insufficient.
6 Another decision that needed to be made quickly was how to approach the crisis. The ship could be towed quickly to Mexico despite the fact that some passengers did not have passports. Other options included sending out working boats to bring passengers back or working to fix the engine right away. Carnival chose none of these options. Carnival did consider moving all passengers to another cruise ship, but the process would be more dangerous and would take longer than towing the ship back to America. Supplies were dropped onto the ship by airplane and the U.S. Coast Guard had to send out four tugboats to tow the ship to Mobile, Alabama. This tow took five days. Taxpayers dollars paid for the tow instead of Carnival Cruise Lines. Carnival needed to decide how to communicate with and compensate the passengers of the Triumph after the ship docked in Mobile, Alabama. This decision needed to show care and sympathy for the passengers ordeal in order to retain customer loyalty. Carnival also needed to maintain the trust of potential customers who may be forming a negative opinion of Carnival Cruise Lines by watching the situation in the news. Carnival needed to address the Triumph's passengers hardships with compensation for the discomfort and something additional to ultimately make the passengers happy. Carnival chose to give each passenger a full refund for the cruise and related travel expenses, a voucher for a free cruise and $500 cash. Carnival could have taken an approach that not only compensated the guests aboard, but also showed real empathy for the unfortunate situation they were put through. Passengers of the Triumph were not satisfied with their compensation because they felt it was insincere. Part of the reason they felt that way is because the corporation never issued a complete apology directed to the passengers on the ship. There are additional steps Carnival could take to show it is trying to avoid similar crises in the future. This could include working on improving the quality of the ships engines, creating a backup plan
7 to get passengers off of a stranded ship or creating stricter boat regulations for the cruise industry. Carnival did not take any measures like this; it simply worked on repairing and upgrading the Triumph. Analysis: One of the most important criticisms of Carnival is that it did not have a crisis plan despite its prior history of cruise ship accidents. According to Michael Wallace and Lawrence Webber, authors of Disaster Recovery Handbook, the real benefit that comes from a crisis or recovery plan is an assessment of the company s weakness. Such an assessment gives companies the opportunity to strengthen its weaknesses before a tragedy occurs. Wallace and Webber also discuss many advantages to completing a crisis plan. The analysis required in developing your plan will help you to better understand your business, and it almost invariably uncovers inefficient or unnecessary activities within the organization. A well designed plan can also increase your competitive edge as part of the overall value chain (Wallace). Even if Carnival did not already have a crisis plan in place, it should have done a number of things differently. If we were the public relations professionals at Carnival and there was not already a crisis plan in place, we would begin by looking at the situational analysis: Carnival prides itself in delivering a fun atmosphere and an enjoyable vacation. Carnival has a ship stranded at sea due to an engine fire. There are 4,229 passengers and crew aboard that ship. This is not the first time a ship has had engine malfunctions and there has been similar incidents in the past with other Carnival cruise ships. If Carnival does not get its passengers and crew home in an efficient and timely manner, it may lose current customers and decrease the chance of acquiring new customers. Carnival needs to make a sincere apology and set the tone for the crisis or the media and public will take a harsh, critical view of the situation. If Carnival does not improve the safety checks on ships, a regulatory agency could be
8 created for all cruise ships. The situational analysis would then reveal a goal: Carnival needs to inform its publics about the accident and show sincere empathy in order to retain a positive reputation; without a positive reputation, Carnival will lose support of its love group, damage its image in the minds of the swing group (potential customers) and could risk the creation of a new regulatory agency for cruise ships. To accomplish this goal, we would create messages to key publics that are in line with our objectives. We would make a timely statement right after the incident to the media. We would set up a special online newsroom with constant updates about the progress of the ship and its passengers. Employees onboard the ship would give regular updates to passengers as well. We would assign our most charismatic and sinceer upper level manager or CEO to act as a consistent spokesperson for the media. He or she would hold daily press conferences to help control the message being broadcasted on the media and maintain transparency about the incident. These press conferences and online updates would continue after the ship docked to make sure the crisis is handled well until Carnival can fully recover. Messages sent to the media after the ship docks will show the public what Carnival is doing to improve the safety of its ships and care of its passengers. This continued media communication is crucial for rebuilding Carnival s reputation and retaining customers and the bottom line. An important public to address is the family members of the passengers on the ship. To make sure they knew their loved ones were okay, we would send out daily emails with updates on the ship s progress and information about pick up. One of the most important key public to address are the Triumph passengers. They need to be cared for both during and after the crisis. Although the crew aboard the Triumph did a great job in caring for the guests, many passengers felt the apology by the CEO was not sincere. Guests, therefore,
9 felt bought by the compensation given. To make sure the passengers felt valued and cared for, we would air the CEO s heartfelt and sincere apology over the P.A. system located throughout the ship when the power returned. We would have the captain broadcast the CEO s apology on the P.A. system. We would also ensure there was enough food by having multiple Carnival ships sail for the Triumph s location. We would then have the cruise ships help tow the Triumph to the Progreso port in Mexico, and ask them to take their bags with them. We would then have the guests board onto a new cruise ship and continue their fun cruising on a different ship, if they chose. Passengers could also choose to board the ship that would sail home. To help keep future business, potential customers need to be targeted as a key public. This public needs to trust Carnival Cruise Lines and be at ease about the quality of its ships. To show that every future passenger will be safe, we would take public measures to improve ship quality. This would include writing a set of regulations to check the status of every ship before it is prepared for sailing. Carnival will also write a back up plan for any stranded or capsizing ships to get passengers off the ship quickly and safely. These two important measures will prevent any future crises and retain future customers by helping them feel safe on Carnival cruises. Personal Experience: Although my experience is nowhere close to those who were aboard the Carnival Triumph, my experience does allow me to relate to the feelings and frustration felt by many of the guests. My husband and I were taking a late honeymoon in December. We were married in August, but decided to wait until December to take a big honeymoon. We found a really good deal to go on a Caribbean cruise with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines for four days and three nights. The first night we got there, we checked into our cabin and found that the air conditioning in the room was broken. Cold air was blasting
10 non stop. We tried to make the best of it, but decided to talk to guest services in the hopes that they could send someone to fix it. Guest services assured us that someone would come and fix the air conditioning and we could return to our cabin in an hour. When we returned, a note was left on the bed that said that someone had serviced our cabin and everything should be in working order. It seemed as though the cold air was still blowing, but we thought maybe it was just still cold from before, so we gave it a half hour. When I was too cold to get out of from underneath the covers, we decided to go back to guest services. When we explained our situation for the second time, the man at guest services had to do some investigative work to figure out why maintenance would say they fixed it, but hadn t. He was informed that they were missing a part to fix the air conditioning. The man apologized and proceeded to move us rooms, because the part wouldn t arrive on the ship for several days. He called the room we were moving to an upgrade, because it was up a few floors, but it looked the same to me. We were just glad to finally have our stuff settled into a new room that wouldn t turn us into ice cubes. We went to dinner, came back to our new cabin and found someone else s luggage and clothes on the bed. Our clothes had been pushed onto the floor and shoved in the back of the closet. We walked back up to guest services and waited in line to ask what had happened. We were told we had been double booked and they would move us to another cabin. The woman at guest services followed us back to our double booked room and helped us carry our stuff to a new room. She assured us that we were again getting an upgrade. She gave us keys to the new cabin and apologized. I know it wasn t her fault, but I felt frustrated all the same. My husband helped me relax and let it go. As it got a little later, we... started fooling around. Pretty soon clothes were off and we were doing what most newlyweds do. All of the sudden we heard a knock on the
11 door, followed by an immediate opening of the door. My husband yelled Don t come in! but it was too late. Enrique, the employee who cleans the rooms, had seen us doing the dirty. He said I m sorry, I m sorry, this room is supposed to be empty! I was just getting some supplies, and closed the door. At first, I was mortified. It s hilarious now, but at the time I was angry and frustrated. We put some clothes on and marched right back up to guest services, who by this time, had heard from Enrique what had happened. They said they were sorry and gave us a $60 coupon toward our next cruise with them. It really did feel like an insult. I felt like I was being bought and bribed to make up for their mistakes. Guest Services said there was some trouble in communication and Enrique wasn t told that room wasn t empty. Maybe there is a price that is high enough to bribe someone because at the time, I remember thinking $60? Thats it? He saw me naked! Perhaps if the amount had been higher, I would have accepted the apology. Maybe if the cruise had done more to turn the experience around while I was still on the boat, I wouldn t have a bad taste in my mouth for Royal Caribbean. I felt like they knew they screwed up and rather than fix their mistake now, they wanted to try to bribe me to come back in the future. I ve been in the service industry and realize that it is not the employees fault and I shouldn t have taken my frustrations out on them. Again, my experience is nothing like the poop cruise, but I do understand what it is like to not receive the vacation initially hoped for, to have unfortunate circumstances ruin an evening and to feel as though there were things that could have been done to prevent it. I am sure we were not the first couple to be switched around from cabin to cabin. There were many things that Royal Caribbean could have done differently to keep my business, but not making the situation right while we were still there was a mistake. I hope that Royal Caribbean changed its way communicating so that future couples don t have to change rooms three times and get walked in
12 on. If there are unfortunate circumstances, I hope Royal Caribbean will improve the way it deals with those circumstances so guests opinions change while they are actually still on the boat, instead of a coupon for a future cruise. Conclusion: The engine failure of the Carnival cruise ship Triumph created a corporate public relations crisis. This paper discussed the Carnival s situation, its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and the actions Carnival Cruise Lines decided to take. Then we evaluated the strategies, tactics, messages and publics that Carnival addresses. We found that Carnival made very poor corporate communication decisions. If we were handling this crisis we would aim to be transparent, sincere and timely in both our message construction and execution of our strategies. We would keep in mind the self interests of our multiple publics to preserve Carnival s image, retain customers, show the media Carnival s professionalism and ultimately maintain profitability.
13 References ABC News (2013, February 15). Troubled Waters: The Carnival Triumph [Video File]. Retrieved May 24, 2013 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj6vdatdco4 Carbone, Nick (2013, February 14). Why Didn t Carnival Evacuate the Passengers From its Stricken Cruise Ship? Retrieved May 29, 2013 from http://nation.time.com/2013/02/14/why didnt carnival evacuate the passengers from its stricken cruise ship/ Kelli Dugan (2013, 16 February). Carnival Triumph: A case study in crisis management. Retrieved May 29, 2013 http://blog.al.com/live/2013/02/carnival_triumph_a_case_study.html Wallace, Michael and Webber Lawrence. (2004). The Disaster Recovery Handbook. New York, NY: Amacom Books.