Cruising’s Trouble Spots—An Update

Royal Caribbean’s and Disney Cruise Lines’ cancellations of port calls at Puerto Vallarta, Mexico are just the most recent examples of cruise lines changing itineraries to ensure the safety of passengers.

In the past year alone several cruise lines have cancelled port calls at Tunis in Tunisia, Kiev in Ukraine and Roatan, one of Honduras’ Bay Islands—in addition to Puerto Vallarta—due to concerns over safety amid political unrest, high crime and other negative situations.

But while developments around the world have affected cruise line itineraries, they’ve had little effect on travel agents—and their clients.

According to agents across the country, even when news hits of danger in cruise ports, most clients feel safe in the hands of the cruise lines and understand that skipping a port is in their best interest.

No effect
“It has not affected my end of the business,” said Alan Rosenbaum, a CruiseOne franchise owner in John’s Creek, Ga. “I don’t have any clients who are worried about it.

“I think they recognize that I have their safety in mind and that the cruise lines have their safety in mind. To me, it has not been an issue at all.”

Often when deciding to cancel a port stop, cruise lines have to act while passengers are already on board and very rarely do they contact agents. When that happens, passengers expecting to be on their way to one destination find out en route that they’re heading towards a different port.

Agents say that most of the time, their clients are understanding.

“Cruise lines will always protect people,” said Irene C. Ross, owner of Jamaica Plain, Mass.-based Ross Travel Consultants. “They will not let the passengers be threatened; they’ll do everything possible to keep the passengers and the staff safe.”

Steering clear
But even if clients understand cruise lines have their safety in mind, Ross has seen some changes because of these incidents, in particular, clients shying away from “troubled” destinations.

“We used to do a lot of Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta and people know what’s going on there now, and they’re afraid,” Ross said. “I had a family who was looking into Mexico but won’t go anywhere near the coast because of safety concerns.”

Charles Lenoir, MCC, a 30-year veteran of the cruise industry with A&P Cruises and Tours in Shawnee, Kan., said safety should be agents’ highest concern, especially when clients aren’t fully aware of what’s going on in a destination.

“I tell my agents to check the state department warnings list to see if there are any warnings or statements before you sell a cruise destination,” he said.

Lenoir said his dedication to protecting clients is also in his—and his agents’—best interest. “If we don’t warn our clients about it [potential risks] then we can be sued and held liable,” he said.

Updating clients
While he doesn’t steer clients away from any destination they’re considering, he gives them as much information as possible about potential risks beforehand, Lenoir added.

“You have to let them make up their mind themselves,” he said, “I would go ahead and sell it if they want it, and if there’s a warning I would wholeheartedly tell them about it.

“If they decide against it I would honor their wishes and move on.”

Client concerns over what they might consider risky destinations isn’t an issue when there are so many other alternatives, said Rosenbaum.

When a client asked Rosenbaum about Puerto Vallarta, he said he wouldn’t send him there. Instead, the client simply picked a different destination, said Rosenbaum.