Will Oil Spill give boost to Summer Cruise Sales?
May 31, 2010 
3 Comments
Who would have ever thought that we could have a maor oil leak this close to the US Shoreline going on two months? Thanks to the unthinkable, the BP Oil Spill will have a devasting impact on some of the most beautiful beaches that we have to offer in the US. This Summer there are millions of travellers who may be cancelling their current vacation plans and looking for other vacation options. With Caribbean cruises departing from New Orleans, Mobile, and Tampa those who were going to drive to the Gulf Coast region can still drive to a Gulf Coast port to catch a cruise ship. From the Gulf Coast this summer cruise ship passengers will be getting away from the spill by cruising to Mexico, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Bahamas, Key West & more.
Gulf Shores Alabama by Faungg
There were reports from Key West about Tar Balls from the spill, this is from Reuters FactBox on the Oil Spill:
Amidst a scare involving tar balls found on Florida Keys beaches — later declared not to have come from the BP oil spill,
Currently cruise itineraries have not been impacted by the oil spill and it is very important to keep shipping channels operating as usual:
U.S. authorities are anxious to keep Gulf shipping operating to maintain vital U.S. exports and imports. NOAA says the Lower Mississippi River ports export over 50 million metric metric tones of corn, soybeans and wheat each year, more than 55 percent of all U.S. grains inspected for shipment.
I’m curious about your thoughts, do you think people who have planned vacations to the gulf coast region will look at cruise vacations as an alternative? Or do you think the will head east toward the Carolina Beaches? Or to the Mountains?
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We have a cruise booked for July 31 out of New Orleans and are watching the situation carefully. We truly hope we don’t have to cancel this long-awaited vacation due to the negligence of a company from another country!
Chetsbabe,
I was watching the Dateline special last night on the oil spill… the images are sickening and I’m sure they will only get worse. According to the reports people are cancelling vacations to the Gulf Beaches… hopefully those people who switch over to cruises go down a day or two early and support the local economies in Lousiana, Alabama, and Florida. A lot of our clients have not take a vacation in a year or 2 and they are really looking forward to a cruise vacation they’ve had planned for months. We are watching the Gulf situation very carefully and will report on CruiseSource.us if there is any news of impacted cruise itineraries. – Rich Tucker