CEO Micky Arison announced Thursday that Carnival will review every safety and emergency procedure on all 10 of the company's cruise lines, asap.
Carnival is the parent company of Costa Cruises whose deadly Concordia crash on 1/13 made worldwide headlines.
Over 20 passengers are still missing.
'While I have every confidence in the safety of our vessels and the professionalism of our crews, this review will evaluate all practices and procedures to make sure that this kind of accident doesn't happen again,' Arison blah, blah, blahed.
It's about time.
Anyone familiar with cruising has seen - over the past couple of decades - a decline in the seriousness of passenger safety drills.
For example, the mandatory lifeboat drills...
Years ago, an alarm went off & passengers had to don an actual lifejacket & rush to an 'on deck' spot in front of their assigned lifeboat. Here they were given detailed info about how to orderly & safely leave the ship in case of an emergency.
The crew made it seem serious & you actually learned something.
On my last couple of cruises, I was herded into the ship's auditorium - sans lifejacket - where some bored looking crew members showed a video that nobody - including me - bothered to watch.
Passengers only learn to be apathetic towards safety procedures & are ill equipped to handle emergencies.
This company wide review is being led by Carnival's James Hunn senior vice president of Maritime Policy & Compliance who - as the company PR-ly points out - is a retired U.S. Navy captain.
Although this 'review' was obviously motivated by bad publicity & possibly insurance reasons, it could set into place procedures that may actually save a few lives.
Don't be surprised if the other cruise companies follow suit.
Also, don't be surprised if - on your next cruise - you're wearing a modern 'Mae West' as you run towards your assigned lifeboat & that you may actually learn something that could save your life.
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