Are Cruises Safe?
The cruise ship industry is reeling after two deadly incidents in two days.
In the Caribbean Thursday, a huge fire broke out aboard one liner, destroying at least 100 cabins. One person suffered a heart attack and died. The day before, 12 passengers were killed when a tour bus carrying them back to their cruise ship in Chile plunged off a mountain road.
Concerns have also been raised recently about passengers disappearing from ships.
But Anita Dunham-Potter, a columnist who focuses on the cruise ship industry for Tripso.com, says taking a cruise is safe.
"The cruise industry is rapidly growing," she
"I think the focus is more on cruise lines. They're a growing part of the travel sector. It's the fastest growing in the industry. Only 500,000 people cruised in 1970 and we have over 11.5 million cruising each year. And, that's expected to double in the next 10 years."
Rep. Christopher Shays (R, Conn.), who chairs a subcommittee looking into cruise safety, agrees it's safe to get on a cruise. But he told Chen the very statistics cited by Dunham-Potter "are the reason we need to look at this industry. They have every economic and ethical reason to want to protect their passengers, and I think they did, to the extent they controlled that fire.
"But what we want to get a handle on is what truly are the statistics, because there's also an incentive to downplay any problems that might be on board a ship."
Shays pointed out the waters are murky when it comes to which crimes ship companies have to report and which ones they don't: "Felonies, they have to report. If someone is murdered, but they say they're missing, that's not a crime, so they don't have to report it."There's an incentive, frankly, to just describe people as missing when there might have been something untoward that happened on board a ship."
Shays also noted that the question of who has regulatory say over cruises "is a big issue. A lot of it is self-imposed. Obviously, the Coast Guard has an impact. But there can be seven different countries that get involved from where the ship is owned, where it leaves, what it's flagged, what is the nationality of the crew, what's the nationality of the person that may have been an injured victim. Where was a crime committed? So this involves treaties as well as governmental laws."
Dunham-Potter says the bus incident shows that, "In most cases, in any kind of remote place, especially in Latin America or eastern Europe, you should really stick with the cruise line-recommended tours. The cruise line investigates the tour companies, looks at the records, checks to make sure their equipment is working and operational and the guides are certified. When you go on a cruise ship sanctioned tour, you know it's been investigated. That's not to say a lot of the tours and ports are unsafe, but you should do a little investigative work before you leave on your trip. You can check the State Department Web site, and they will give you a lot of information of what you need to know."
Asked if passengers who follow cruise company guidelines are covered by insurance if something goes awry, Dunham-Potter said that all depends: "If you're in a high-risk activity like scuba diving or jet skiing, you may not be covered. Before you do these tours, you'll be asked to sign a waiver, releasing the cruise line and the tour company of any liability.
"You need to check your insurance position before you leave. You may have to buy extra insurance. For high-risk activities, you may want to buy medical evacuation insurance because, if you are a long way from home, you may have a lot of expense getting back. In some cases, it could be $20,000, $40,000, $50,000 to return home.