The company offered constant updates on Facebook as more than 4,000 people were stranded aboard a cruise ship, but one tweet irked a number of people. Triumph, which is operated by Carnival Cruise Lines, left port in Galveston, Texas, on Thursday. It was supposed to be a four-day cruise to Cozumel, Mexico, but an engine fire on Sunday crippled the boat, leading to a five-day “sewage-soaked” ordeal for the 4,200 people aboard, according to The New York Times.
To its credit, Carnival Cruise Lines has been in front of this crisis, although it still had its missteps on social media. Chicago-based PR executive Gini Dietrich said she’s been watching the situation closely. “It's much better than last time,” she told PR Daily. “Although it's kind of crazy I have to say ‘last time.’” By “last time,” Dietrich, the founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich, is referring to last year’s Costa Concordia wreck, in which a cruise ship operated by a subsidiary of Carnival wrecked off the coast of Italy. Thirty-two people died as a result. In 2010, a Carnival-run ship stalled in the Pacific. The media referred to that as the “vacation from hell.” ...
Dave Fleet provides an excellent analysis and caution.