The Ship Sails Smoothly

In USA Today travel news, it was brought to my attention that smoke was seen rising from the Grand Princess, apart of Princess Cruises, last night.  It is being reported today that the smoke was simply caused by engine failure.  Not a big deal, right?  Well...perhaps.  However when eye witnesses in Ocho Rios (its port of departure) assumed it to be a fire, media outlets in Jamaica went crazy.  Papers such as the Jamaica Gleaner published a story about the "fire" and how there were nearly 1,500 passangers on board in danger.  It became clear that another paper, the Jamaica Observer, does not check their sources when journalists reported that it was an oven fire that caused the smoke.  Naturally, these published assumptions create panic, concern, and more rumors, which only spells trouble for Princess Cruises.

With a solid PR move, a statement was immediately made by Princess spokeswoman, Julie Benson, in response to the false, conflicting, and confusing Jamaican news stories.  She assured people that the smoke was due to the failure of one of the ship's engines, not a fire.  She went on to calm peoples nerves by  exclaiming, "there was no fire, and the safety of the ship and our passengers was never compromised."  

Benson first explained to the public the issue, "Upon departure from Ocho Rios yesterday, one of Grand Princess' engines suddenly stopped, emitting a large amount of smoke into the engine spaces."  She then went on to calm peoples nerves by exclaiming, "there was no fire, and the safety of the ship and our passengers was never compromised."  Further more, she kept the public informed by updating at 1:45 when new information was brought to the cruise lines attention.  Benson told USA Today that the damaged engine will be out of commission for the rest of the week while it gets repaired, and that additionally, two of the other engines failed as well.  She assured voyagers however that the vessel is getting power from three of the six engines, which is enough to finish the trip with no more delays.

I think this is a great example of settling a minor crisis and not allowing the situation to get worse.  Having one spokesperson for the cruise line that everyone could turn to for accurate, up-to-date information is key.  She was not only immediate with a response for the public and to the false Jamaican reports, but she was honest and informative.  When people know what exactly is going on behind the scenes, they are able to calm down and lower frustration.  This can also create a sense of trust in the business.

In addition, I like how Benson kept the media in the loop and updated when new information was brought to her attention.  Even though the news of greater than anticipated engine damage wasn't necessarily good for the business, it was for the good the concerned public.  I believe that any issues people may have had with Princess Cruises from this incident will now be settled and even irrelevant due to the wise way it was handled.