The latest problems for Carnival make one thing abundantly clear — the cruise line must do something.
Fast.
The breakdown of the four-year-old Dream in the Eastern Caribbean this week is the latest in a series of mishaps, and it's turning Carnival into a bad joke. By extension, to cynics it's making a bad joke of the entire industry.
In case you haven't had your TV on or been reading the news, online or in print, the Dream had a mechanical malfunction while docked in St. Maarten. This was not a major 
malfunction but it did mean all passengers were being flown home from St. Maarten in the midst of what was supposed to be a one-week cruise.
Last month, there was an engine-room fire on the Carnival Triumph, leaving the ship on the Gulf of Mexico for five days, some of it without facilities. Three years ago, a fire on the Carnival Splendor disabled it off the West Coast. In between those fires, there was the deadly Carnival-owned Costa Concordia incident off the coast of Italy.
Are you seeing the trend here?
The detailed explanation of what happened on the Dream this week is available at Carnival's website. Read through it and you'll find this was a fairly minor incident and that the cruise line exercised the ultimate caution. However, complaints from one passenger can distort the facts because one negative report in the media can be taken as being representative of the ship's 4,363 passengers.
It goes without saying that Carnival has a perception problem that is the result of four significant safety incidents inside of three years. And every little incident that comes along, no matter how small, is going to magnify the past.
Somehow, Carnival has to re-assure its public that thorough checks of its ships means the chances of a recurrence are minimal.
Or less.
Celebrity Infinity
12 nights
May 1, 2013
Fort Lauderdale: Ponta Delgada, Cherbourg, Zeebrugge, Harwich
Inside: $669
Cost per day: $55
www.celebritycruises.com