Cruise industry plans media blitz
Written by Joan Lownds,

Hersam Acorn Newspapers

The cruise industry plans a heightened lobbying and media blitz to counteract a recent spate of damaging publicity, according to an internal memo obtained through e-mail exclusively by the Post. The negative headlines began with the highly publicized disappearance of a 26-year-old Greenwich man, George Smith, from his Royal Caribbean honeymoon cruise in July 2005, and have spawned a grassroots effort to reform the cruise industry.

The Smith family could not be reached for comment on news of the public relations proposal.

Dated June 26, the memo, from Lanie Fagan, director of communication for the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), detailed a "reputation management and outreach" plan. It includes the "mobilization of industry allies" in lobbying roles and blanketing targeted media with op-ed columns.

The cruise industry has been the target of legislative efforts, including congressional hearings and a bill introduced last Thursday by United States Sen. John Kerry, aimed at improving ship security, transparency and environmental policies. In Alaska in 2006, voters passed the Cruise Ship Initiative, which would require ocean rangers on cruise ships to monitor discharges from ships and monitor water and air pollution limits.

Following the CLIA memo's release last week, Ms. Fagan called the Post and confirmed its internal nature, asking the Post to "disregard it."

According to the memo, the "heart" of the stepped-up lobbying effort would be "the mobilization of hundreds of travel agents and other industry allies and partners under the banner of ‘Cruise Line Ambassadors.'" These "allies" would also receive "training in public relations and lobbying" and be rewarded for their efforts with "perks" such as trips to Washington, D.C.

"Events in Washington will be arranged where they will visit their members and receive various perks such as a visit to the White House, a briefing at the State Department, tour and briefing at the Defense Department and dinners with their senators and top administration officials," the memo said.

Eric Ruff, the intended recipient of the e-mail, CLIA's executive vice president of public policy and communications, was formerly the Bush administration's Pentagon spokesman. Jeb Bush, brother of President George W. Bush, has been criticized for awarding a $236-million federal contract to Carnival Cruise Lines in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The public relations plan would also attempt to "identify new allies ... to include Coast Guard and other government agencies in port cities; additional conservation and moderate environmental groups willing to act as advisers and supporters; non-traditional allies such as the Sea Cadets (a youth organization) and the AARP."

A recent Senate hearing held by Mr. Kerry was the first in the 60-year history of the $35-billion-a-year cruise industry that has ships incorporated throughout the world. The Senate action followed House hearings led by 4th District U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays.

Cruise industry spokesmen told Mr. Shays' House subcommittee in March 2006 that from 2003 to 2005, 178 passengers on North American cruises reported being sexually assaulted, 24 people went missing and four others were robbed. Since then, there have been about six more reports of missing passengers and more than 100 more sexual assaults. However, Mr. Shays questioned the accuracy of these self-reported statistics, and included in his current bill a provision for mandatory reporting of cruise crimes.

Kendall Carver, former Darien resident whose 40-year-old daughter, Merrian, went missing from a 2004 Royal Caribbean Alaskan cruise, co-founded International Cruise Victims (ICV), an advocacy group, with the Smith family. He said he recently obtained documents from Royal Caribbean that showed that from 2003 to 2005, at least 273 people on Royal Caribbean alone had been the victims of sexual assault, battery, harassment, and inappropriate touching.

In a previous interview with the Post, a spokesman for Royal Caribbean said they testified only about the "most serious reports."

ICV recently supported a bill in the California state Senate introduced by state Sen. Joe Simitian that would place ocean rangers on cruise ships operating from California ports, to protect passengers from crime and monitor the ships' environmental law compliance. However, the bill was tabled last month.

In the cruise industry memo, Ms. Fagan described the public perception about the industry's environmental policies as a "misunderstanding regarding the industry's operations and environmental footprint."

The memo said that although the industry has been "extremely proactive and responsive on these fronts, this is perhaps not well understood or appreciated by the media and other key audiences."

Ms. Fagan called for a plan that will include an "aggressive, 12-month multimedia outreach program that will showcase the cruise industry as a recognized leader, innovator, model, partner and vital contributor to the U.S. economy."

As foreign corporations, cruise companies pay limited taxes.

According to Ross Klein, a professor of social work at Memorial University of Newfoundland, who testified at the recent Senate hearing, Carnival Corp. in 2003 paid $29 million in taxes, one half of 1% of its $6.7 billion in revenues.

In response to questions about the proposed media blitz, Ms. Fagan said the plan is "a way to get our message out there and tell our story, and it is a good, positive story." She said the cruise lines have made "tremendous advances" in environmental and safety measures.

In a follow-up e-mail, she said, "We are a growing industry that is doing a lot of good things ... but we realize we can be doing a better job communicating the good things we are doing. This was simply an internal, draft document with some ideas on how to go about doing that."

The document recommends spreading this message by training the "network of grassroots industry allies - travel agents, vendors and executive partners and cruisers" - in media relations. The plan would "equip them with tools needed to deliver positive messages about the industry to Congress and to local media on a variety of issues ... to include letter and op-ed writing, meetings with lawmakers and staffers on the Hill and in their home districts/states," the memo said. It proposes targeting national publications such as Parade, USA Today, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Business Week and international publications such as Time, Newsweek, The Economist, and The Christian Science Monitor, as well as 10,000 weeklies.

The cruise industry has spent more than $600,000 on federal lobbying this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. From January 2004 to July 2005, the industry spent $2.9 million on federal lobbying, nearly $1 million more than Wal-Mart did during the same period.

In an interview with the Post, Mr. Simitian said the industry launched an "aggressive lobbying campaign" to derail his bill.

The CLIA memo said the cruise industry's media message would "highlight the industry's economic impact and leadership and innovation on environmental issues. Identify and work with key editors, writers, columnists to encourage ship visits."

Mr. Carver said the memo illustrates that the cruise industry is "under siege" with bad publicity, and shows that it is "willing to try anything, any means necessary to preserve the status quo."

ICV has proposed a 10-point plan for cruise ship reforms, which includes a trained, independent security force, background checks for crew

members, passenger security bracelets, and upgraded video surveillance.

Mr. Carver said the cruise industry has disregarded that plan and made no attempt to work with ICV, now an international organization.

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