Cruises may seem like a convenient and exciting way to see the world,
but for decades much of the industry has been,
well, kinda problematic.
And now the coronavirus pandemic has magnified that,
while introducing new crises that impact us all.
From a public health standpoint,
it’s been a nightmare, with thousands of coronavirus cases on cruise ships
resulting in dozens of deaths.
And there’s no telling just how many passengers left infected ships
and spread COVID-19 around the world.
But it gets worse.
As of mid-May, tens of thousands of crew members
remain stuck on cruise ships.
Some have even died by suicide.
Some crew members have passed away. On other ships
they’ve gone overboard, which is just heartbreaking to hear.
But despite all that, big cruise companies
seem to be getting preferential treatment from the Trump administration.
And the largest cruise line – Carnival –
is already making plans to set sail later this summer,
to the delight of hardcore cruisers.
We love cruising, and we’re not going to stop cruising.
Hey everyone, I’m Dena and this is Checked In From Home.
And today I’m asking, why would anyone ever get on a cruise again?
And is it time to finally cancel the cruise industry?
Even before coronavirus, another virus regularly plagued the industry.
More than 400 passengers and crew got sick last month
after an outbreak of the norovirus.
Another norovirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship.
Another case of norovirus.
Something of a gastrointestinal nightmare.
And you may have heard about these scandals too.
Sexual assault is the number one crime on cruise ships.
The Costa Concordia ran aground off the coast of Italy,
killing 32 people.
More than 4,000 passengers were stranded on board
what is now known as the “poop cruise.”
And that is why I’ve never taken a cruise.
But over the years, none of that has seemed to sink the cruise industry.
Instead, it’s been booming.
More than 28 million people took a cruise in 2019,
and this year was supposed to surpass that.
More millennials than ever were getting on board,
with companies catering to them with things
like Instagrammable photo ops, tattoo parlors and even escape rooms.
But as we’re learning,
some of these cruises have become real-life escape rooms
for the crew members trapped on board.
Being away from people that I love
in this really scary time and uncharted territory…
It’s just, I just want to get home.
We’ll hear more from the crew members we spoke to later.
But first, here’s what you should know about the cruise industry.
There are three big players:
Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian.
Together they make up more than 70% of the global cruise market,
with a combined revenue of $38 billion in 2019.
And they’re notorious for doing whatever it takes to maximize their profits.
For example,
even though those three companies are headquartered in the U.S.,
their businesses are strategically registered in other countries.
Norwegian is registered in Bermuda,
Royal Caribbean in Liberia
and Carnival is registered in Panama.
This allows companies to dodge U.S. federal income taxes
and abide by other countries’ lax labor laws.
In fact, crew members have reported working grueling hours
with no overtime pay for sometimes as little as $450 a month.
And then of course,
there’s the havoc these companies have wreaked on the environment.
For years, authorities around the world have fined cruise lines
for things like illegal dumping and polluting.
And then came coronavirus.
The first cruise to make headlines during this pandemic
was the Diamond Princess, owned by Carnival.
Passengers of many nationalities are still stuck aboard the Diamond Princess
off the coast of Japan.
More than 700 cases were diagnosed–
–making it the biggest hotspot for COVID-19 infections
outside mainland China.
That’s because cruise ships are essentially giant floating petri dishes with
thousands of passengers and crew members socializing in tight quarters.
But despite the public health catastrophe taking place on the Diamond Princess,
most cruise lines weren’t yet easing cancellation policies
or offering full refunds.
So passengers continued with their trips as planned well into March.
In fact, over a hundred cruises still took off
after the first U.S. coronavirus death linked to a cruise ship,
even though those companies were aware of the risk.
That first death I just mentioned was a passenger who died
12 days after he disembarked from Carnival’s Grand Princess.
The day he got off the ship,
the crew and some passengers remained for the next voyage,
and new passengers also got on.
And then, this happened:
21 people aboard the Grand Princess Cruise ship
have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Thousands of those passengers will soon be bused or flown
to military bases where they will then be quarantined.
Two passengers from the Grand Princess cruise ship have died
due to complications from the coronavirus.
And the decision to keep sailing impacted folks who weren’t even on the ship.
The first COVID-19 cases in Hawaii, Utah and Alberta, Canada
were all believed to be former passengers of the Grand Princess.
In fact, early on in the pandemic, nearly a fifth of all COVID-19 cases in the U.S.
were linked back to cruise passengers.
Norwegian and Royal Caribbean didn’t respond to our request for comment.
But Carnival defended their actions in an email to AJ+,
saying they stopped operations
At the same time, another cruise line, Norwegian,
may have actively downplayed the virus to keep customers booking.
Customers were told one-liners, things like:
“The only thing you need to worry about for your cruise
is do you have enough sunscreen.”
Or: “The coronavirus can only survive in cold temperatures,
so the Caribbean is a fantastic choice for your next cruise.”
But that’s not the end of the story.
Remember all those crew members still trapped on board?
It’s become a desperate situation for them.
Many aren’t even getting paid because their contracts expired or were terminated,
like Sofia, who’d been trapped on a Royal Caribbean ship
for 62 days when I spoke to her.
We spoke with several other frustrated crew members,
some who didn’t want to go on record for fear of losing their jobs.
But many say they’re struggling to cope.
Having not touched land since, I think it was the 12th of March,
is very mentally exhausting.
It’s like there’s no life on board anymore.
We’re all just wanting to go home.
Crew members on one Royal Carribean ship are protesting,
while on another ship, workers are staging a hunger strike.
There are even reports of suicides.
So why are they still on board?
Well, it’s a mix of legal, geopolitical and public health red tape.
Some ports aren’t letting cruises dock, and, due to travel restrictions,
some countries aren’t even allowing their citizens to return home.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also threatened
cruise executives with criminal charges if their workers get off ships
and take commercial flights home.
But many workers say their companies aren’t being transparent
and should be doing more.
So where do things stand now?
Carnival is under Congressional investigation
for its handling of coronavirus.
President Trump, though, has been cozier with the industry.
After all, the chairman of Carnival is a longtime friend of the president,
and Carnival was a sponsor of “The Apprentice.”
In April, Trump even appointed executives from the three major cruise companies
to his Economic Revival group.
Now, cruises weren’t a part of the federal bailout,
in part because they’re not American companies.
But Carnival was able to stay afloat, thanks to investors,
after the Federal Reserve moved to shore up the markets.
And believe it or not,
Carnival is encouraging customers to book cruises for as early as September 3rd.
So at this point you might be wondering
who on earth would ever take a cruise again,
especially when the CDC says there could be a second
and possibly worse outbreak this winter?
Turns out, a lot of cruise enthusiasts.
I don’t see myself staying away from cruising.
I mean, we have our cruises booked through the end of the year.
I don’t see myself canceling them.
That’s Courtney,
who’s still planning on taking her eighth and ninth cruises later this year.
I feel like people will still get on a cruise ship,
even though there’s a vaccine not readily available, just because, like myself,
like, we still need to live our lives.
Life goes on.
So, life will go on for the cruise industry too, apparently.
But should it?
After years of putting profits over people, harming the environment,
and helping to spread a global pandemic,
does it deserve to go on?
What do you guys think of cruising?
Has COVID-19 made you rethink if you would ever get on a cruise?
And would any level of social distancing or hand sanitizing stations
or masks worn on board make you feel safe enough?
Let me know in the comments.