Noticable improvement in media coverage!

[Paul Motter]

I have personally noticed what I think is a very positive improvement in media coverage the last month or so. It seems every news report is far more factual than it was... for example the latest AP report about a young man going missing at sea includes this phrase:

"Cruise lines reported at least 24 missing people from 2000 to 2005, compared with the estimated 10 million passengers that travel every year."

Another report about a poor young man who fell down on a cruise ship and passed away a few days ago includes the statement from the young man's father...

"Mr. Mulloy wanted to thank the cruise ship and the hospital. "They were very gracious," he said."

It seems to me that just a few months ago many news reports were dripping with vitriol as if the mention of a cruise ship was something unsavory. Now, it appears the true perspective of cruising still being by far the safest form of travel there is - despite some accidents -- where by the way no one got hurt! has returned to the media reporting. It is good to see reporters who still care about accuracy.

I, for one, am relived to see the resurgence of this more fair reporting, and though I am not sure where it originated, I hope it continues this way.

[Mike M]

Perhaps the cruise lines, travel agencies and reasonable people have had something to do with it. Sometimes the facts say more than "If it bleeds it leads."

Also the congressional hearings, while making some headlines didn't really show that cruise lines were negligent or conspiring to cover things up.

The final point is that the cruise industry and travel industry does have a large lobby in congress and a huge advertising budget with television and other media outlets. They also have a great team of lawyers that can and will go after false information and reports. Perhaps they've used those resources.

To quote, the late, Warren Zevon: "Send lawyers, guns and money to get me out of this mess"

Take care,
Mike

[mehawk]

Paul, it's because of your outstanding diatribe regarding the inequities of media reporting in regards to ocean going vacations.

[Paul Motter]

Mehawk - I don't know if you are being facetious, but I will tell you I was obsessed with this topic for several weeks, and I made it a point to contact the media outlets I saw doing this and telling them how mistaken they were.

Frankly, the reason it bothers me so much is my personal life. I just can't stand it when I tell people what i do and they give that "eehhwww" look. Abd trying to organize a family reunion cruise was a fiasco - and I couldn't believe the stupid remarks we got.

Here is the simplest fact. The people who bash cruises the most are the people who have never been on one, while the people who HAVE been on them generally find them to be far better than anything they even imagined.

Have you ever noticed you can tell people how great cruises are in excrusiating detail, and it is as if they have their brains turned off? It is like they don't hear anything you say about them. All they are thinking about while you are talking is that fishing boat they went on and got sea-sick.

Pre-conceived notions - oy!

[mehawk]

Paul, I am dead a$$ serious. I appreciated your opinions, perceptions, and outlooks on the entire article. Great journalism!

[AR]

Sorry, to the extent anything has changed, it's just dumb luck. The pendulum is always swinging, and the fickle finger of bad journalism is always out there, ready to, well, finger you.

Let's just not add to the problem. And it's also important not to be overly sensitive.

[Paul Motter]

I don't know. I do communicate with a lot of newspapers, etc. I do know that when they research their stories they come toi the cruise sites for perspective.

I write to every newspaper I see and say "they jumped, they didn't fall" etc.

I am sure CLIA is also stepping up. But the news reports are now taking care to add perspective to their stories, and are not just writing up the sensationalism, which means they got the perspwective from somewhere.

You do realize that many of these articles are written by people who have never been on a ship. That is why it is important to keep reiterating how safe cruising is.

[LisaK]

i think that a lot has to do with sites likes ours. Getting the true information out there, talking to people. Paul i totally agree with you that some people just don't get it or want to get it when it comes to certain aspects of cruising, you get that "deer in the headlights" look from some people, and you could talk to them until you are "blue in the face" and not make any headway. At that point i usually say something to effect, well you are entitled to your opinion, but you won't truly know until you try it.

[Mike M]

Originally Posted by LisaK

i think that a lot has to do with sites likes ours. Getting the true information out there, talking to people. Paul i totally agree with you that some people just don't get it or want to get it when it comes to certain aspects of cruising, you get that "deer in the headlights" look from some people, and you could talk to them until you are "blue in the face" and not make any headway. At that point i usually say something to effect, well you are entitled to your opinion, but you won't truly know until you try it.

Lisa:
I agree with you. If people have a preconceived opinion it is often very hard or impossible to convince them. It really depends on the people or person.

In my last position, before I "involuntarily retired", I converted a number of people to cruising just by going on cruises, describing where I went and the things I did, the relative bargain it was and the large variety of things to do. On the other side of the coin there were a number of people, while they thought it was neat to see and hear about it, had no intention of going. They would rather do a land vacation, stay in the USA or immerse themselves in a portion of the world for two weeks rather than tasting it for a few hours. I never gave them a hard time about it but most left an open mind about cruising. There were a few that would never set foot on a ship and I had no problem with it. I have no intention of going to Dollywood and I hope anyone who does isn't insulted by it.

In another department there was another avid cruiser, good worker, who turned most people off of cruising because she was an "in your face" type who constantly talked about cruising and if someone didn't think cruising was for them she took it as a personal insult. Not a good way to convert people. A number of people didn't want to cruise because they didn't want to meet "those people". I had to explain to a few in her department that like everywhere in society there are "those people." They are always the vast minority and it's easier to get away from them on a cruise. These were the people who brought up the drinking, falling overboard, sinking, seasickness and negative stereotypes.

I think the best thing we can do is show by example: People must be doing a good job: Last year, over 12 million people cruised and each year the number is increasing.

I personally believe the media is concentrating on cruise lines because they are the 800 lb. gorillas. They also run their business in a "different" way than other companies. They have ships registered in other countries, they employ non-U.S. citizens in most shipboard positions and they travel outside of many U.S. controls. People fear what they don't understand and any incident is blown out of proportion or rocks will be turned over and if nothing is really found then something may be made out of small things or things that weren't really found.

Take care,
Mike

Take care,
Mike

[Paul Motter]

Mike...

Good post.

i think the media is concentrating on cruises now because they are reaching critical mass, and most people who write abot them are probably personally just now forming their first opinions about them. Therefore, they have a bias one way or another.

Whereas before, they just believed anything anyone told them.

In a few years everyone will prrobably know what they are really like, and the difference between "jumping" and "falling" and party cruises (3-day Bahamas in the cheap seats) and a regular cruise for an avid cruiser (10-days to someplace unusual).

[Rev22:17]

Paul,

Originally Posted by You

Frankly, the reason it bothers me so much is my personal life. I just can't stand it when I tell people what i do and they give that "eehhwww" look. Abd trying to organize a family reunion cruise was a fiasco - and I couldn't believe the stupid remarks we got.

Here is the simplest fact. The people who bash cruises the most are the people who have never been on one, while the people who HAVE been on them generally find them to be far better than anything they even imagined.

Have you ever noticed you can tell people how great cruises are in excrusiating detail, and it is as if they have their brains turned off? It is like they don't hear anything you say about them. All they are thinking about while you are talking is that fishing boat they went on and got sea-sick.

Pre-conceived notions - oy!

But have you ever noticed what happens when some convergence of circumstances forces one or another of those people to go aboard a cruise ship?

Yes, usually a very sudden and dramatic conversion.

And one piece of sage advice: aboard ship, do NOT position yourself between such individuals and the "Future Bookings" desk. To do so is to put your life in grave danger....

Norm.

[AR]

I think Mike's got it on the button. Just from reading some posts on CM, I'm willing to bet that some here would tend to "oversell" cruising in ways that could be annoying to others. To some people, encountering those who appear to be "one-worlders" (building up one choice as the only way to go) is a turn-off.

Lots of people, including some of our friends, have absolutely no interest in cruising. That doesn't bother me a bit, and unless they want to talk about it, I'm not even particularly interested in why they feel the way they do. I certainly don't try to convince them of anything.

On the other hand, last fall some old friends who had recently moved to San Antonio were visitng us here. Bob was asking us about our latest cruise and said he'd always wanted to take one, but that Mary was apprehensive. So I simply asked them both if they'd feel better about taking one with us, and they warmed to that idea.

Since they'd been after us to visit them in San Antonio, I trotted off to the computer to see what was happening out of Galveston, and found a 7-day Western Carib run on Princess, with dirt-cheap fares.

We've pretty much sworn off Caribbean cruises. Most of the ports are pretty boring once you've seen them a couple times, and other parts of the world are far more interesting to us. But we felt that introducing these folks to cruising, getting to visit with them in San Antionio and aboard ship was a worthwhile endeavor. Plus, of course, being on a ship is never a hardship for us in any event.

It worked out great. By the second or third day Mary was venturing out on the balcony, and her overall fears seemed to subside quickly once she got into the rhythm of shipboard life. We're Elite on Princess, and the on-board hostess was very helpful when I told her we were sailing with first-timers. She gave them priority tender passes to match ours so we could all catch early tenders, and she even included them in the Elite lunch with the captain, which was certainly not expected, but was a very nice touch.

As a result of the experience, Bob and Mary put down their deposit for the next cruise before leaving the ship. So that went well.

But you know, I have absolutely no interest in "converting" people who aren't interested in cruising. Unlike Paul, I'd never even think of trying to shoehorn a group--family or otherwise--onto a ship. Too many square pegs and too many round holes. It ain't worth the stomach acid. We have plenty of family and friends who do like to cruise, so we can run off with some of them when we want to. But it's also true that we take plenty of land trips as well, both domestic and foreign, so we appreciate the joys of all kinds of travel.

And if anybody does an "eehhwww" to our descriptions of any of it--land or sea--my reaction is simple: I shrug my shoulders.

[Phil&Liz]

The media is still missing the massive coverage of the missing passenger thread on the Carnival section.

Phil & Liz