After watching YouTube videos from various cruise line employees and executives promising that soon we will be back to cruising again, as in the past, I am struck by how tone-deaf it all sounds. What should be obvious to anyone who is paying attention to the news is that there will be no new normal. Once the social distancing ends and the pandemic wanes, we will be experiencing a tectonic shift in everyday reality, even more so in the travel industry with the most impact affecting the cruise industry.
So what should post-pandemic cruising look like? What marketing message should Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and NCL and their subsidiary lines be sending to us to get us cruising again? Will the old messages suffice? More importantly, what significant changes will be made about how we cruise in the future? How will the cruise industry remake itself over the next 2 months? Or will it even try? If the past is any lesson, don’t be too encouraged.
So not that I think any cruise line executive would pay attention, but to me, it is painfully obvious that each cruise line needs to do the following as soon as possible:
- Hire world-renown medical groups (e.g., Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, etc. to reequip, manage, staff and turn shipboard medical facilities into state-of-the-art medical centers, linked to virtual support. M buy NY
- Enhance pre-embarkation medical screenings and implement strict no boarding parameters based upon the results of those screenings.
- Deploy Nano Septic coverings that eliminate germs and are self-cleaning to ensure that common points of contact are kept germ-free on all ship surfaces.
- Deploy UV light sanitizer systems that actively kill bacteria and germs that can be found in the air on all ventilation systems to reduce airborne pathogens.
- Offer greater transparency concerning medical incidents, norovirus outbreaks, and food-borne illnesses.
- A fully transparent system for quarantining and disembarking sick passengers with mandatory insurance requirements to ensure that their costs of remote care and remote quarantine are both covered, as well as their travel back home.
Based on the above changes and actions, marketing cruises for the future should start NOW and focus on the following themes:
- You may live only 5 miles from the nearest hospital, but when you cruise with us, you are only a mere few decks away from world-class medical care.
- We both realize and prioritize the fact that a great vacation starts and ends with good health.
- We have you covered and we will be with you for your whole trip.
The next few months should reveal whether cruise line executives have any skills beyond the mere collection of low-hanging fruit.
