How are Cruise Ships and Hotels Handling the BP Oil Spill?

June 17, 2010 at 3:50 PM | by Omri | Comment (1)

It's hard to tell what effect the oil spill is actually having on beach tourism. Part of the problem is that Florida tourism officials blow things out of proportion too soon. Another problem is that government officials are inclined to bluster in general, like the New Jersey politicians who demanded to know what their environmental chief was doing to prepare for the oil slick (answer: not much).

But the real issue is that nobody knows how the worst environmental disaster in the history of the United States is going to play out. One of the things about being the worst ever is that we don't really have any basis for comparison. The slick could very well reach the Bahamas in the near future. And when you're talking about the Bahamas and tourism, the immediate issue becomes the Caribbean's billion-dollar cruise industry.

It's not obvious until you think about it, but the oil spill is a disaster for cruise lines on a bunch of different levels. Ships not only face the potential of making a call in a port that's coated with oil, which would put a damper on the enthusiasm of disembarking passengers to book a snorkeling package.

There are also safety issues in play. Oil-filled waters are not ship-friendly waters. The results thus far have been slight route changes and a little bit of circling around, but Carnival has already ordered their vessels not to sail through any oily areas at night.

The longer the oil is allowed to gush in the Gulf, the more adjustments they're going to have to make. New England is already expecting a record cruise ship season this summer. We're guessing that next year is going to be even better for them.

If cruises aren't your thing but you're still concerned about what's really going on in Florida, Orbitz is offering a full money back guarantee if your Florida hotel room is within 20 miles of a beach that gets closed or declared dangerous. There are some restrictions; the offer expires July 31, the room couldn't have been booked as part of a package and etcetera, but it looks straightforward enough. The punchline, of course, is that as of yesterday all of Florida's beaches remain open.

[Photo: United States Coast Guard / Wiki Commons]

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