The cruise ship sector was one of the fastest-growing industries within the last two decades. It has faced many challenges ranging from ship outbreaks to strange death situations and even navigation errors, which results in the damaging of the ships. Even with all those situations, the current pandemic has caused the industry’s uncertainty making a full recovery within the next 5 to 10 years. The cruise line industry never thought that something could halt their operation for more than a year in the prior decades. The risk that many companies in this industry face are the possibility of bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy is not a new situation; it is something that many would not have thought was possible in the cruise line industry unless they had a large lawsuit. But, in this pandemic, it is now a possibility. There is also the situation of the permanent loss of thousands of jobs due to this situation. Many people use the cruise industry to see different countries in a couple of days. They use this as an opportunity to relax and explore other countries’ cultures for either or couple of hours or even days. The ability to not have a care or worry in the world has been the idea of taking a cruise. Now with the pandemic, there are other worries. These range from, is it safe to be in such a confined space with the current pandemic? Would the staff be adequately trained in the proper safety precautions for the spreading of the virus, or would there be limits to the usual offerings of the cruises? There is also the worry of the cost for the cruises if or when they become operational. For the industry, what would the competition look like regarding how many companies are full or partially operational?
The cruise industry can help itself from filing bankruptcy by creating plans with safety for staff and guests at the forefront. They need to look at ways to strategically keep everyone safe while still offering the type of fun and luxury they have always offer. The industry also needs to unite and decide the requirements of staff and guests before boarding the ship. These are things like vaccination, temperature test, constant sanitation, and testing of employees. The industry or the different companies needed to look at the cost for all these different things they need to consider and create ways to be cost-effective while staying in business. They need to look at what countries will create a treat to their business. They need to consider; how many guests can be aboard at one given time along with the staff. They even need to consider how many ships in their fleet can effectively run simultaneously. This budgeting will allow them to know the cost they can operate under without losing everything by filing bankruptcy.
Though the idea of strategizing the best steps to help the company stay in business is important to them moving forward, I would not want to be part of that team or the team of staff that works on the ship. The team, which has the task of strategizing, needs to consider all the pros and cons and all possible outcomes for all the different scenarios. They need to think objectively and logically about everything. I would not like to be in a position where any incorrect decision can cause the life of others. Regarding the on-board staff, working on a ship is already a very active job, and it has a heavy flow of work. Being a previous employee of this industry, understand the work involved in the staff, creating the best experience for all the guests. With this current situation, the staff will have to work much harder to ensure that all safety measures are met and all protocol designed is always done. There will be no room for human errors. I do not want to be working under these stressful measures as it will be a situation where people will constantly be looking at you and scrutinizing everything you do.
The pandemic has caused different situations and effects for many different groups of people and companies.
References
Bykowicz, J. (2021, April 2). CDC wants cruise ship workers vaccinated for Covid-19, but doesn’t say when voyages might resume. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/cruise-lines-fear-another-lost-summer-11616405401?mod=searchresults_pos10&page=1
Bykowicz, J., & Mann, T. (2021, March 22). Cruise Lines Fear Another Lost Summer. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/cruise-lines-fear-another-lost-summer-11616405401?mod=searchresults_pos10&page=1
Trentmann, N., & Sebastian, D. (2021, March 1). Royal Caribbean CFO to bolster liquidity, could pay down debt after share sale. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/royal-caribbean-cfo-to-bolster-liquidity-could-pay-down-debt-after-share-sale-11614644999?mod=searchresults_pos1&page=1
