The cruise industry took some tough perceptual hits earlier this year, with several high publicity incidents – most notably the Carnival Triumph's heavily covered limp to shore – leading to widespread questions of quality standards and shipboard safety. A March Harris Poll found that Quality, Trust and Purchase Intent scores recorded in the week immediately following the Triumph's return to shore ("Post") showed notable drops when compared to scores recorded prior to the incident ("Pre") – not just for Carnival, but across many top cruise brands.

Many suggested at the time that these drops were likely a temporary setback, and that perceptions would soon bounce back. However, a recent Harris Poll of 2,052 U.S. adults surveyed online between May 14 and 16, 2013 (prior to the recent fire aboard Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas) by Harris Interactive , finds that perceptions for the top cruise industry brands have not only remained below their pre incident levels, but have continued to decline.

Results are compared, where applicable, to Harris Poll EquiTrend® data collected from January 11, 2013 to February 8, 2013 (the Carnival Triumph incident lasted from February 10-14, 2013) and a Harris Poll of 2,230 U.S. adults surveyed online between February 19 and 21, 2013.

Looking at specific perceptual measures, the average perceived Quality score across the seven brands tested is down by 13% vs. its pre incident level and 6% compared to the post incident wave of testing. While Carnival's Quality score shows the steepest declines (down 28% vs. pre and 12% vs. post), all of the other brands tested ranged individually from 8%-11% below pre levels.

The average Trust score across the seven brands tested is also down in comparison to both pre (down 12%) and post (down 5%) incident; as with Quality, Trust shows the steepest decline for Carnival Cruise Lines (down 26% vs. pre, 11% vs. post). However, the six other brands tested remain between 8%-12% below pre incident Trust levels.

Purchase Intent has declined, on average, 11% from its pre incident level (and 5% from its post incident level). While this again affects most of the brands tested (with most down between 7%-15% vs. pre levels), it is worth noting that Holland America's Purchase Intent score has largely weathered this perceptual storm, holding at just 2% below its pre level. Carnival is again hardest hit, down 20% vs. pre, 8% vs. post.

Revisiting statements comparing the cruise industry to air travel – a comparison first made in the aforementioned February Harris Poll – Americans' inclination to favor air travel over cruises has only increased. Over six in ten Americans (62%) agree that air travel is much more reliable than taking cruises (up from 57% in February), and the majority (56%) agree that air travel is much safer than taking cruises (up from 50% in February).

Roughly half of Americans (51%, roughly even with February's 53%) agree that they're less likely to take a cruise now than they were a year ago, with this sentiment once again proving stronger among those who have never taken a cruise (56%) than among those who have (43%).

One-third of Americans (32%) agree that cruises are "worry-free," down slightly from 35% in February, with past cruise experience again appearing to have a considerable impact on this perception: those who have taken a cruise (51%) are again more than twice as likely to agree that cruises are "worry free" as those who have not (22%).

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Originally posted by claudio:
looks like the work of some fool with a masters as an average consumer i reckon its a load of sh%%

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But the fact that you are posting here shows you are not an average consumer. If you were posting on say, Cruise Critic then yep, I could agree with you, but this being a bit of a site that aims at classic ships more than the main stream really sets us apart from the average consumers.

I can tell you that friends of ours became highly negative of cruising after the Triumph, and some of their arguments are valid. The big one being would anyone really like to be stuck out at sea for 5-10 days with no power etc.

I don't disagree that all of this has had a negative impact on the industry, but Harris was simply seeking to get it's name out there.

The Washington Post, which I consider together with the New York Times, seen from afar, as one of the best newspapers of the world, looks very critically at the new "passenger charter", and concludes :
'Stay on dry land"....
I think this rather heavy....

It is a very interesting article, though :

Washingt on Post Article on Cruise Ship Passenger Rights Charter

Large cruise ships have a really, really bad reputation for overburdening some ports - and they have that reputation not only with locals but also with tourists in these ports who could in principle be potential customers for a 'cruise vacation'.

The other topic that comes to my mind is the perception that cruise ships are polluting - and I am afraid, there is indeed much room for improvement.