Last week was naturally brutal for Carnival
The fear beyond the grim fatalities was that the cruise industry would take a massive hit in bookings as potential passengers re-evaluate the risks of hitting the open seas for their next vacation.
Whether or not that will be the case remains to be seen, but it's certainly not being reflected in the share price of related companies. Rival Royal Caribbean
Steiner Leisure
The prolonged nature of the Concordia's recovery efforts isn't helping Carnival. Every day or so finds divers locating more lifeless bodies of submerged passengers. There have been 16 recoveries so far, and another 16 passengers are still missing and presumed dead.
Carnival has taken some additional heat this week. The Wall Street Journal called out the company's CEO on Monday for remaining silent since the accident.
"Where is Micky Arison?" the financial daily questioned.
Arison isn't typically tight-lipped. As the owner of the Miami Heat, Arison was fined by the league for calling out his fellow owners during this summer's NBA lockout. He's been vocal about the proposed Genting casino project in downtown Miami, a stone's throw from his fleet of stateside tax-dodging ships with their onboard casinos. Why is Arison silent now?
Well, Arison's strategy may make sense. There's nothing that he can say to make a crisis go away. BP's
If anything, the problem now seems to be what Carnival is saying.
The cruise industry leader began to take some heat earlier this week when news circulated that it was merely offering surviving passengers a refund on the Concordia sailing and a 30% discount on a future sailing.
Rivals have done their best to steer clear of the mess.
Disney
More competition for Carnival? Well, this just hasn't been Arison's month.
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