Let’s talk terrorism
The topic of international terrorism has pervaded the travel sphere, but it’s a one which isn’t getting the cruising heavyweights down. “I think statistically speaking we can say that cruising and indeed travel has never been safer as an activity,” Adam Armstrong, Managing Director of Royal Caribbean Cruises, Australia and New Zealand told delegates at the CLIA Australasia Cruise360 conference last month. “How many other accommodation venues do you have to have photo ID to get you on board? You show your passport to get on a plane but if you walk into a resort…there isn’t that level of security and you can walk in and out of a resort very freely, whereas a cruise ship is a very closed environment,” he said. Highlighting the “Cctv-heavy” environment, Armstrong noted there are hundreds, sometimes thousands of cameras covering every passenger area. “It’s a very safe holiday, it’s a very safe experience.” Weighing in on the topic, Jennifer Vandekreeke, Vice President, Carnival Cruise Line reassured safety and security of guests and crew is the number one priority. “If something goes wrong, it damages the entire industry and it damages your business, which is the last thing that we want to do,” she said. “I can’t begin to tell you how large the security force is on our ships, we have a global security team in Miami that’s looking after the Carnival Corporation fleet and they take their job very seriously.” Highlighting the nimble nature of the cruise industry, Sarina Bratton, Chairman AsiaPacific, Ponant brought attention to the option to simply move ships away. “If you’ve got a hotel, you don’t have that flexibility.” Despite seeing “quite a bit of fall off” in Europe and the Mediterranean, Bratton believes guests will come back. “What people are doing is cruising closer to home because they feel safer, they feel more secure, but they’ll come back to the Med in the same numbers that they did, once the geopolitical situations tend to quieten down.” Potential terrorists aren’t the only unwanted guests the cruise industry has their eye on. Bratton admits she gets “a giggle” out of the fact when embarking guests onto zodiacs, crew have to make sure polar bears aren’t trying to climb on board the platform to make their way to the restaurant.