As we sat watching the environmental and fiscal tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico reach its eighth week yesterday — we’re CNN junkies — a couple of cruise-related thoughts passed through our minds. One is the obvious…how is all this oil going to affect cruise ships in and out of New Orleans, Mobile and, eventually, ports in Florida? And secondly, when it does, will the cruise companies be filing papers requesting that BP reimburse them for lost business?
The unbelievable mushroom of oil that’s continuing to spread daily through the waters of the gulf also continues to take changes in direction. Yesterday, Day 51 of the spill, was when the focus seemed to be on who is entitled to financial compensation from BP. As one reporter put it this week: “If a B&B is losing its customers, does that mean the people who supply food to that B&B are also entitled to be compensated?”
If you’ll excuse the poor play on words, you don’t have to drill down far on the compensation list to find cruise ships. The moment itineraries are canceled, or even postponed, it’s going to start costing cruise lines. And to go one step further, is the city of New Orleans entitled to payment from BP for the lost port taxes? What about the bus companies that supply vehicles for shore excursions? How about the service stations that sell gas to the bus companies? Where does it end?
At the moment, Carnival’s Triumph (left) is the only cruise ship in position to be affected. It sails in and out of New Orleans all summer to Western Caribbean ports…and Carnival’s Elation is in the same boat, so to speak, over in Mobile. However, is the unthinkable possible — that the oil could spread to Florida ports in Key West, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and even Port Canaveral and Jacksonville?
That’s it, we’re done.