Italian Cruises Less Safe Than American?

"Late in his life, Sir Winston took a cruise on an Italian ship. A journalist from a New York newspaper approached the former prime minister to ask him why he chose to travel on an Italian line when the Queen Elizabeth under the British flag was available.

"Churchill gave the question his consideration and then gravely replied: 'There are three things I like about Italian ships. First, their cuisine, which is unsurpassed. Second, their service, which is quite superb. And then — in time of emergency — there is none of this nonsense about women and children first.'" ---From "The Wit and Wisdom of Winston Churchill" by James C. Humes

The recent blunder by Costa Concordia's captain that resulted in tragedy off the coast of Italy has led to vocal concerns about cruise ship safety. 

Please know that cruising remains one of the safest means of travel, and this reckless idiot is not representative of the cruise industry in general or even Italian cruises specifically. 

Obviously, Concordia ran into trouble off its homeland's craggy coast, and as the largest cruise line in Europe, most of its passengers for that trip were European.  Only 129 US passengers were aboard that ship.  I've sent some Americans on Costa, and all have had great experiences, enjoying the signature toga parties and delicious pasta.  They went with the understanding that most of their fellow passengers would be European and announcements would be made in about five languages (not that unusual for any ship operating in European waters, since even more familiar names like Royal Caribbean and Carnival also attract lots of locals when cruising the Mediterranean, even if they seem primarily marketed to Americans from our perspective).

Another Italian line, MSC, received lots of praise in Europe from my past guests, but on recent Canada/New England cruises, some of my clients complained of poor service and disorganization.  I believe this must have to do with English skills of the crew to some extent, because the management of MSC seemed to have the line on an excellent track until I heard of these SNAFUs.  Reports from Concordia reported similar language problems for English speakers trying to understand what was happening.

In Concordia's disastrous lifeboat evacuation, in which the captain and his crew were among the first off, Churchill's joke sounds plausible, and I can't say that it wouldn't be without merit for Americans to be cautious of non-US flagged ships, except for one problem: the only large American flagged ship is Pride of America, which cruises exclusively in Hawaii.

All of the other ships with familiar brand names that blast commercials on American television are flagged in places like Bermuda and Liberia, because America makes it too hard to be flagged in the USA.  Critics will stand to say this is to avoid safety in order to save money, but that is not true.  Cruise companies go out of their way to protect the safety of their passengers, crew and multi-million dollar floating resorts, if only because it is sound business practice.  The lunacy of Concordia's Captain Catastrophe notwithstanding, cruise lines understand that safety is at the foundation of their offerings.

Most cruise lines hold lifeboat drills before the ship leaves its home port.  Every cruise I've ever been on followed this protocol, and I believe it to have been standard for all cruise lines operating in US waters.  If you've been on a cruise, you've heard people grumble about how boring lifeboat drills are, but obviously this training is important for the crew as well as the passengers.  The law allows this drill to be done within 24 hours of departure, so if you happen to be on a ship that doesn't do the muster drill before you leave, take time to read instructions on your cabin door about the location your muster station and of lifeboats. 

As my friend Bill and I discussed the other day, Costa will probably now become one of the biggest sticklers for safety, shutting the barn door after the bull has escaped.  So too, may I add, will other cruise lines and their staffs re-focus their already strong attention to lifeboat drills and risk-averse navigation.

By the way, the reason cruise ships aren't US flagged has to do with labor protectioinism, not ship safety.  It's another ironic case of unintended consequences of government action.  I would love to have more US flagged vessels, built in the USA by American workers for the American audience for a change, and cruise ships are the kind of capital intensive, high skill production jobs that Americans can still compete in against manufacturers in other countries like Japan, Germany and Italy.