The Wall Street Journal reported today that Royal Caribbean Cruises’ third-quarter earnings fell 44% as ticket prices remained soft and the travel industry continued to slump. Royal Caribbean reported a third-quarter profit of a little over $230 million, down from around $412 million a year earlier.
In an article entitled "Royally Grounded," the Motley Fool put things in simpler terms, reporting that
A popular part of Cruise Law News is the monthly "Worst Cruise Line in the World" award. This is a special award, reserved only for the cruise line which demonstrates the worst treatment of passengers, crew members, and the environment.
And the Winner for October Is . . . Royal Caribbean Cruises.
A Little Background Info on Royal
I’ll admit it. David Foster Wallace’s "A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again" is one of the funniest, albeit most cynical, books ever written about the cruise industry. So when I read Benjamin Errett’s recent article in Canada’s National Post entitled "The Indignity of Weak Coffee – A Deeply Cynical Account of an Alaskan Cruise," I
In 2004, The Miami New Times interviewed me as part of an investigation into how cruise lines treat their crew members once they become ill or injured. The article was entitled "Screwed If By Sea – Cruise Lines Throw Workers Overboard When It Comes to Providing Urgent Medical Care."
The article focused on
Earlier this month, I announced that I will be awarding the "Worst Cruise Line in the World" award to the cruise line demonstrating the worst in gross negligence and indifference towards passenger and crew member health and safety. This will be a monthly award.
Over the past month, we have received many e-mails nominating a variety of cruise lines and a
Today Carnival issued a press release which reported profits of $1,100,000,000 for the third quarter ending August 31, 2009. The cruise line collected revenues from passengers of over $4,000,000,000 in the last three months.
This announcement of Carnival’s over-a-billion-dollars-in-profits comes two days after the Carnival dominated "Alaska" Cruise Association filed a lawsuit against Alaska over the $50-a-passenger tax.
Four days ago, the
Over the course of 26 years practicing maritime law, I have seen some remarkably bad conduct by cruise lines. Covering up crimes, abandoning injured passengers in foreign ports, or quickly concluding that "missing passengers" committed "suicide" are just a few examples. I have kept a list of what I consider the most outrageous moments in cruise line history.
