I imagine every industry has one or more associations that involve companies from across that industry working together on legally permissible topics. There are thousands and thousands of such associations. If you have ever visited one of the Senate or House office buildings in Washington DC, it often appears as if all of these associations are walking the halls of Congress at the same time. Most of these associations have professional (i.e., full time paid) staff and volunteer leadership from executives within the industry.
The cruise industry is no exception to this rule. Sometimes it seems as if we have more associations than we have cruise lines. Typically, in the cruise industry each association is allocated its own geography. For example the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association or FCCA looks after the industry’s interests in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico region including Mexico. The European Cruise Council or ECC has (surprise!) Europe. Abremar is the industry’s association for Brazil. And so on.
Within the U.S., the primary association is called Cruise Lines International Association or CLIA. CLIA has a large membership of dues paying travel agents, travel agencies, business partners and of course the cruise lines. We are very fortunate to have Christine Duffy as CLIA’s President along with a very capable staff. Almost all of the industry’s top US-based executives have some volunteer role within CLIA. In my case, I sit on the Executive Committee and on the Board of Directors. There are also committees for environmental and technical matters, government affairs, marketing, etc. CLIA’s primary focus at present is to complete an Operational Safety Review that will result in policies enabling the member lines to enhance the industry’s already enviable safety record. CLIA has recently announced a policy that calls for all guests to attend a muster drill before their ship leaves the port of embarkation, and a policy that all relevant information concerning marine accidents be maintained in a robust database under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization or IMO.
Not to worry. The cruise lines still compete like cats and dogs to offer you the best vacation amenities and the greatest value. But I thought you should know that where we are allowed to work together we put a lot of time and effort into making sure the industry is doing the right things in the right way.
Thank you for working together to keep us safe.
You’re more than welcome, Robert.
why doesnt royal carbbean have specials more offen if you book early..i feel when you book a criuse early the price never goes down…
Vey interesting article, I especially like that the Muster Drill will be before sailing. Having to do it after being on the Ship for awhile was always awkward, it broke up the “Getting Settled” time. This way, when we sail, we will really bw on vacation!!
Thank you for the article and explaining the association with other Lines.
You’re welcome, Joyce. Thank you for your comment.
I will like to see Royal Caribbean going to more destination in the Caribbean out of Florida ports during the month of sept,oct & nov. Looks like they have those destinations like Belize Dominica and others but early in the year during the month of Jan/Feb and March. Please let’s us know since my wife and I we love sailing with RCCL.
Hi Angel, feel free to stay up-to-date with the most recent itinerary changes here.
We were once on a cruise where RCCL and Carnival were doing the same route and someone missed the ship…the other welcomed the family aboard and met up with their ship at the next port. I hope the cooperative spirit took place in not charging an excessive fee for that service, though I’m sure it would have cost them thousands otherwise.
Thank you for sharing that story with us, David.
Royal Caribbean needs to leave a ship doing 4 or 5 day cruises out of Ft Lauderdale or Miami to the Caribbean. All left here are 7 day cruises. 3 and 4 day on the Monarch or Majesty get old. Even a ship out of Tampa would be great year round. Keep up the good work.
We appreciate your suggestions, Thom. Thank you.
Thanks for the info on how cruise lines work together through the various associations Adam. I do have a Royal Caribbean question for you. Is there any chance Royal Caribbean will change its policy concerning cruise points for those of us who pay double so we can have our own cabin? I’ll explain just in case I’m not clear enough in my question. I don’t like sharing a cabin on your cruises. In order to avoid having to share, I pay twice the cabin rate since every cabin is based on double occupancy. If I and another person did share, both of us would get the applicable cruise points. However, in my case, I only get 1 set of cruise points even though I paid twice. It would be nice to get double the cruise points since I am paying twice the cabin rate. Hope to hear from you. With kindest regards.
Is there any discussion on adding short cruises to Galveston or being in Galveston year around? Right now our only option is Carnival and I know many people that would love to have Royal Caribbean as an option.
Is there any discussion of adding cruises out of Mobile or Pensacola? The only close departure now is to drive to New Orleans – not a locally popular choice.
Hello Maureen, at this time we have no plans to add either Mobile or Pensacola as Royal Caribbean Ports.