Cruise industry continues to battle unfavorable tides

Cruises

Americans continue to profess more favorable attitudes toward air travel than toward cruises, with roughly six in ten (59%) agreeing that air travel is much more reliable than taking cruises and a majority (54%) agreeing that air travel is much safer than taking cruises.

NEW YORK – There’s an old saying that one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. While it may not be applicable across all industries in practice, from a perceptual standpoint a single brand’s negative publicity can often have repercussions for its industry competitors as well. Such has been the case with the cruise industry, which has been embattled over the past year by brand-specific crises which appear to have impacted perceptions across many industry mainstays. Following the Carnival Triumph‘s struggle to shore in February 2013, perceptual measures suffered – not just for Carnival, but across seven leading cruise brands – and continued to dip through May. A recovery appeared to be underway more recently, with perceptions trending upwards in January 2014. However, norovirus reports aboard several cruise line ships in February 2014 seem to have effectively stolen the wind from the industry’s collective sails, with consumer perceptions of these top brands now dropping again.

Table 1
QUALITY

Base: U.S. adults familiar with each brand

	(a) Pre-Tr Jan 11-Feb 8, 2013	(b) Post-Tr Feb 19-21, 2013	*% change a-b*	(c) May 14-16, 2013	(d) Pre-NVOs Jan 3-24, 2014	*% change a-d*	(e) Post-NVOs Feb 10-12, 2014	*% change a-e*	*% change d-e*
Disney Cruise Line	7.66	7.06	*-8%*	6.82	7.15	*-7%*	6.96	*-9%*	*-3%*
Royal Caribbean International	7.20	6.93	*-4%*	6.62	6.86	*-5%*	6.38	*-11%*	*-7%*
Holland America Cruise Line	7.29	6.88	*-6%*	6.51	6.88	*-6%*	6.57	*-10%*	*-5%*
Norwegian Cruise Line	7.08	6.76	*-5%*	6.46	6.63	*-6%*	6.44	*-9%*	*-3%*
Princess Cruises	6.97	6.71	*-4%*	6.30	6.74	*-3%*	6.19	*-11%*	*-8%*
Celebrity Cruises	6.86	6.69	*-2%*	6.27	6.81	*-1%*	6.44	*-6%*	*-5%*
Carnival Cruise Lines	6.40	5.25	*-18%*	4.64	5.70	*-11%*	5.30	*-17%*	*-7%*
Average across all 7 brands	7.05	6.54	*-7%*	6.14	6.63	*-6%*	6.29	*-11%*	*-5%*

TABLE 2
TRUST

Base: U.S. adults familiar with each brand

	(a) Pre-Tr Jan 11-Feb 8, 2013	(b) Post-Tr Feb 19-21, 2013	*% change a-b*	(c) May 14-16, 2013	(d) Pre-NVOs Jan 3-24, 2014	*% change a-d*	(e) Post-NVOs Feb 10-12, 2014	*% change a-e*	*% change d-e*
Disney Cruise Line	7.28	6.79	*-7%*	6.59	7.02	*-4%*	6.74	*-7%*	*-4%*
Holland America Cruise Line	7.10	6.62	*-7%*	6.42	6.70	*-6%*	6.12	*-14%*	*-9%*
Royal Caribbean International	6.86	6.59	*-4%*	6.34	6.36	*-7%*	6.01	*-12%*	*-6%*
Norwegian Cruise Line	6.95	6.42	*-8%*	6.14	6.30	*-9%*	6.09	*-12%*	*-3%*
Princess Cruises	6.66	6.45	*-3%*	6.12	6.42	*-4%*	5.96	*-11%*	*-7%*
Celebrity Cruises	6.70	6.35	*-5%*	5.98	6.55	*-2%*	6.12	*-9%*	*-7%*
Carnival Cruise Lines	6.13	5.11	*-17%*	4.53	5.28	*-14%*	5.10	*-17%*	*-3%*
Average across all 7 brands	6.79	6.28	*-8%*	5.95	6.32	*-7%*	6.00	*-12%*	*-5%*

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,059 U.S. adults surveyed online between February 10 and 14, 2014 (following norovirus incidents on Princess Cruise Lines‘ Caribbean Princess, the Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas and the Norwegian Star). Results are compared, where applicable, to Harris Poll EquiTrend data collected from January 3 to 24, 2014.

TABLE 3
PURCHASE INTENT

Base: U.S. adults familiar with each brand

	(a) Pre-Tr Jan 11-Feb 8, 2013	(b) Post-Tr Feb 19-21, 2013	*% change a-b*	(c) May 14-16, 2013	(d) Pre-NVOs Jan 3-24, 2014	*% change a-d*	(e) Post-NVOs Feb 10-12, 2014	*% change a-e*	*% change d-e*
Royal Caribbean International	6.95	6.61	*-5%*	6.40	6.60	*-5%*	6.13	*-12%*	*-7%*
Holland America Cruise Line	6.52	6.58	*+1%*	6.40	6.46	*-1%*	5.89	*-10%*	*-9%*
Disney Cruise Line	6.66	6.43	*-3%*	6.19	6.08	*-9%*	6.07	*-9%*
Norwegian Cruise Line	7.22	6.28	*-13%*	6.11	6.19	*-14%*	5.74	*-20%*	*-7%*
Celebrity Cruises	6.75	6.43	*-5%*	5.97	6.34	*-6%*	5.95	*-12%*	*-6%*
Princess Cruises	6.62	6.33	*-4%*	5.96	6.11	*-8%*	5.83	*-12%*	*-5%*
Carnival Cruise Lines	6.10	5.29	*-13%*	4.87	5.52	*-10%*	5.15	*-16%*	*-7%*
Average across all 7 brands	6.64	6.23	*-6%*	5.93	6.13	*-8%*	5.80	*-13%*	*-5%*

Perceptions flow with the tide
Looking at these seven industry mainstays in aggregate, Quality, Trust and Purchase Intent scores were all still down significantly before the recent norovirus incidents, when compared to the state of these brands prior to the Triumph debacle. With all three measures dropping further still in the wake of the reported outbreaks, this leaves the average perceived Quality score down by 11% vs. its pre Triumph level, with Trust down by 12% and Purchase Intent down by 13%.

As with the Triumph incident, the impact of this more recent series of issues has not been limited to the cruise brands involved firsthand with the incidents. All seven brands declined from before to after the norovirus incidents in at least one of the measures, and most were down from pre-Triumph levels to begin with.

“We’ve all heard the saying that a rising tide lifts all boats,” says Deana Percassi, Vice President and Public Relations Research Consultant with Nielsen, “but the inverse also holds true. In a field as crowded as the cruise industry, bad press for a small handful of brands – or even a single one – can have negative repercussions for major players across the board.”

Air travel perceptions remain above sea level
Americans continue to profess more favorable attitudes toward air travel than toward cruises, with roughly six in ten (59%) agreeing that air travel is much more reliable than taking cruises and a majority (54%) agreeing that air travel is much safer than taking cruises.

TABLE 4a
AGREEMENT WITH AIR TRAVEL / CRUISE STATEMENTS
Summary Table
“Please indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with the following statements.”

Base: U.S. adults

	“Strongly” + “Somewhat” Agree (NET)			“Strongly” + “Somewhat” Disagree (NET)
	Feb 2013	May 2013	Feb 2014	Feb 2013	May 2013	Feb 2014
	%	%	%	%	%	%
Air travel is much more reliable than taking cruises	57	62	59	43	38	41
Air travel is much safer than taking cruises	50	56	54	50	44	46
I am less likely to take a cruise now than I was a year ago	53	51	54	47	49	46
Cruises are “worry-free”	35	32	32	65	68	68

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding.

TABLE 4b
AGREEMENT WITH AIR TRAVEL / CRUISE STATEMENTS
[Summary of “Strongly Agree” + “Somewhat Agree” (NET) Ratings]
By Region, Gender, Ever Taken a Cruise & Ever Flown on a Commercial Airline
“Please indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with the following statements.”

Base: U.S. adults

	Feb 2014 Total	Age					Gender		Have Ever Taken a Cruise		Have Ever Flown on a Commercial Airline
	Feb 2014 Total	18-34	35-44	45-54	55-64	65+	Male	Female	Yes	No	Yes	No
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Air travel is much more reliable than taking cruises	59	61	61	59	59	55	64	55	46	65	61	52
Air travel is much safer than taking cruises	54	52	52	56	55	54	60	48	45	58	57	45
I am less likely to take a cruise now than I was a year ago	54	49	50	56	58	58	56	52	44	58	53	57
Cruises are “worry-free”	32	41	34	30	25	25	31	32	50	23	33	29

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding.

A majority of Americans (54%) also agree that they’re less likely to take a cruise now than they were a year ago, with this sentiment proving stronger among those who have never taken a cruise (58%) than among those who have (44%).

One-third of Americans (32%) agree that cruises are “worry-free,” with past cruise experience again playing a role in agreement with this perception: those who have taken a cruise (50%) are more than twice as likely to agree that cruises are “worry free” as those who have not (23%).

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Theodore Koumelis

Co-Founder & Managing Director - Travel Media Applications | Website | + Posts

Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.