Crisis? What crisis?

The loss Saturday of the Costa Concordia off Isola Giglio in the Mediterranean at the hands of a show-boating skipper is a disaster that needs no introduction.

As the corpses pile up, I am stunned by the fealty of the ship's parent company, Carnival Cruises and the Cruise Line Industry Association (CLIA)'s utter near-silence in the face of a reputation meltdown that will submerge earning and sales for years to come if they don't get to their crisis communications muster stations soon.

As a fan of cruise vacations which offer abundant good food, entertainment and lodging at great value for the price, it just seems to me the industry is in communications lock-down just when the public expects to hear from them.  On a flier, I recently emailed the following helpful hints to CLIA:

I found your contacts via the CLIA web site, but otherwise found little 411 of value to the industry (retail customers, travel agents, investors) in the wake of the Concordia disaster.

While I understand CLIA is not directly responsible for the incident, it will likely suffer the consequences:

-Reduced bookings

-Frustrated capacity sellers and agents

-Reduced share prices

-Increased government oversight and compliance costs

As an expert in crisis communications, as learned from 25 years in politics and through high-visibility, high-risk industries (energy and aerospace), I am writing to say that CLIA needs to take a much more pro-active role in shaping opinion following this disaster.

-Have you issued a fact sheet to travel agents that provides safety statistics they can quote to passengers who are calling in to cancel reservations?

-Have you prepared a briefing on the industry’s safety procedures to share with key media and your allies in the Coast Guard and other agencies?

-Have you distributed any news releases that explain/show how Concordia passengers are being cared for?

-Have you distributed a FAQ to explain what the industry’s contingency plans provide for in incidents such as this?

These are just a few suggestions of actions I would take that will not muddy the legal and liability waters that face the Concordia’s owners, but which could benefit them immensely...

Mmmmm.  So far, no reply.  Or was it something I said?