Carefree Cruise Line Crisis case study PDF

Question 1: Carefree Cruise Line Crisis case study (40 marks)
Scene A
It is Friday, a little after 5 p.m. in Accra, the location of the headquarters for Carefree Cruise
Lines. The majority of your cruise ships have the Carefree brand, but your company also owns a
number of smaller cruise lines, what can be called sub-brands. A call comes in that a cruise ship
in one of the sub-brands is in distress. The ship is off the coast of South Africa, and that is a 6-
hour time difference from your location. The call notes that, a distress call has been issued and
that the ship is being evacuated. You are the public relations personnel assigned to the crisis
management team for Carefree Cruise lines.
i. What are your first thoughts after receiving this call?
Response: in managing this crisis as a public relations person; the first thought will be to calm
the situation as it is happening on the coast off South Africa by assuring those on board that, help
is on the way; this must be done in a very calming manner as panic would be rife in such a
circumstance. Calm must also be exercised internally thus; by not spreading panic and keeping
tabs on the situation in order to prevent leaks that might misinform the public. After this, I will
gather all information available on the particular cruise line to determine the number of people
on board thus, number of crew, guests and so on, which will give a fair idea regarding the
number of experienced and skilled personnel on board. The call noted that, people are being
evacuated which implies that, the contingency measures are working and the situation is under
control. Since it is the close of work on a Friday, it will be difficult to make a 6-hour journey to
the coast off south Africa, so the nearby coast guards (water patrol security services) will be
contacted for assistance in the evacuation process. They will be furnished with all the necessary
information including radar location of the cruise line for quick response. The situation will then
1

be communicated to the Carefree Cruise Lines organizational leaders in order to decide what
should be done for the evacuated people. The last thing to be done in this situation will be to
issue a public statement when the situation is completely under control and that adequate
information is available to respond to public questions.
ii. Who are the Key Stakeholders in this situation?
Response: in such a situation such the management of a crisis, the key stakeholders become the
ones who stand a chance of losing something. In this situation, the lives of the people on board
the Cruise Line become the most important stakeholder as casualties recorded will not stand the
organization in good stead. The titanic for instance, had rave reviews but after the accident; the
company responsible for it suffered greatly. Also potential clients could be key stakeholders as
the situation can reduce patronage astronomically. Secondly, the Carefree Cruise Lines owners
are key stakeholders in this situation as they have an interest or are concerned with the
happenings in the business. In the case where, the situation turns into a “PR nightmare” with
information being drafted in from all angles and spreading the situation on the ground; this has
the potential of disrupting the operations of the Carefree Cruise Lines as bad mouthing spreads
faster than good news. If the situation is not managed well, another key stakeholder likely to
benefit from such an unfortunate situation will be the competitors in the Cruise Lines business as
this gives others the opportunity to drum home their products and services, especially in the area
of safety. In addition, the sub-brands of the Carefree Cruise Lines are likely to be worse affected
and this can lead to its collapse given that, the situation could derail the entire Cruise Lines.
Lastly, the PR department are key stakeholders as their management of the situation could
determine the future of the Cruise Lines and this can be positive or negative.
2

iii. How should the organization respond to the crisis?
Response: in the midst of the crisis; a statement must be released to the public first of all
apologizing for the unfortunate situation and also assuring them of the safety of all people on
board the cruise, their current location and assure them of new developments as the situation is
being brought under control. In a bid to arrest the situation, the organization must make refunds
to all guests on board and also take responsibility of all medical bills of all on board (guests and
crew) if injuries or some level of casualties were recorded. Also relieve packages must be sent
out immediately to avoid escalations in the situation. Communication with the families of all
victims and the public should be cordial and prompt thus, reassuring them of positive results. the
organization must take advantage of the weekend since the situation happened on a Friday and
resolve everything swiftly so that, calm can be restored before the working week commences.
iv. How should the organization communicate these actions to key Stakeholders?
Response: business success in the millennial era is no longer about turnover, but what the
business can generate and this can be done effectively through communication. There is a
plethora of communication channels available to a PR team but communicating with key
stakeholders must occupy a more formal approach. Communicating with families, friends or
acquaintances of victims must be done face-to-face if applicable. If not, communication through
phone calls will be appropriate. The communication must be two-way in all dealings for the sake
of clarity of facts. This action must be taken before public statements in order not to over exert
the situation. Organizational leaders and business owners must also be informed accordingly so
that, they know exactly what is happening at every given time. this limits an influx of multiple
stories being leaked to the public and also proves that the organization is efficient. Regular
interactions must exist between organizational leaders and the PR team in the form of progress
3

reports thereby creating an effective two-way communication system. all publications must be
authorized by the organization as all other forms of unauthorized publications will reek of
unprofessionalism and this would resound negatively in the minds of key stakeholders and also
show that, the organization is not on-top of the situation.
Scene B:
It is 12 hours since the report of a distress call from a ship in one of your sub-brands off the coast
of South Africa. The crisis is already generating a great deal of media coverage on the continent
and, to some extent, the US and Europe. This coverage is found in both traditional and online
news media. The ship hit a rock and sank quickly not too far from shore. The ship was evacuated
but there are passengers and crew who are unaccounted for and authorities have begun to locate
bodies of the crew and passengers who died in the accident. There is not a clear number of
injured or dead yet. Pictures are appearing on television, in print publications, and online of the
cruise ship lying on its side in the water. There are also images of and interviews with passengers
who survived the sinking. Carefree Cruise Lines has a very active Facebook page. The company
regularly posts messages to the site and people comment on posts. There are over 250,000 fans
of the Carefree Cruise Lines Facebook page. The company and the CEO each have a Twitter
account. Neither the company nor the CEO has a blog. While active, the company’s Twitter
account has a little over 50,000 followers. Messages on the Facebook page and Twitter are
coordinated, a basic message is adapted for each channel. Your social media manager oversees
the creation of social media messages and monitors the online discussion about Carefree Cruise
Lines. The increasing media coverage is intensifying the crisis.
4