Cruise Fans Say You Unpack Once Despite Scares as Trips Hit Record

Earlier in the year, in April, the MV Hondius left Ushuaia, Argentina, bound for Antarctica. Hantavirus spread among passengers and three people died.

Why people keep booking

Stewart Chiron, known as "the Cruise Guy" for his expertise on the industry, says convenience wins. "You're not packing and unpacking; you're not checking in and out of hotels; and you're not waking up in the same boring place each day," he said.

He added that a disliked port is no problem. Passengers simply get back on the ship and wake up somewhere new.

Chiron argues the headline cases are outliers. "The confidence that consumers have in cruising is extraordinarily high," he said. "They know these one-off situations are meaningless. Accidents are accidents."

What the numbers show

A study in the International Journal of Travel Medicine and Global Health counted 439 reported deaths on 78 river and ocean cruise lines from 2010 to 2019. In that period more than 215 million people took cruises, according to the trade group.

Illness is a separate worry. Cindy Prins, an epidemiologist and associate professor in population health sciences at the University of Central Florida, said a cruise is not riskier than a bus tour, flying or "just being in crowds".

The Covid shock

The industry has recovered from a far bigger blow. In January 2020, the Diamond Princess, owned by Carnival, was sailing around Asia with about 3,700 passengers and crew when the captain learned a passenger who left the ship in Hong Kong had tested positive for Covid-19.

Passengers spent two weeks quarantined in their cabins. Fourteen people died and 712 were confirmed to have the virus. Cruise operators wondered whether the industry could recover.

Famous mishaps have not dented demand either. Last year Netflix released Trainwreck: Poop Cruise, a documentary about a 2013 voyage on the Carnival Triumph, where a fire cut the power and sewage flooded the ship.