Cruise Ship Blues : The Underside of the Cruise Ship Industry

Rating:
Summary: Misleading and Misinformed
Review: "Cruise Ship Blues" is a one-sided slam against the cruise industry that does not provide an industry viewpoint in it. Based largely on Klein's personal experience and shoddy research, the book makes a number of misleading accusations about the cruise industry while not providing sufficient substantiation of Klein's allegations.

From interviews with disgruntled employees Klein gleans information to back up his argument that cruise lines exploit workers, while blithely alleging that cruise directors make $250,000 per year in kick-backs from retailers in ports of call.

His typical approach is to present some negative "evidence" and then waffle on whether there is indeed a clear and present danger to passengers. For example, "the risk of accidents, attack and disease onboard a cruise ship is relatively small. Disease and harm are certainly not rampant but there is a degree of risk."

Klein claims that his childhood viewing of "The Love Boat" TV series gave him a false idea of what the cruise experience actually is. Then, he faults the cruise lines for advertising , or, as he puts it, "attempting to appeal to consumers' emotions through their ad campaigns." As if Ford and Toyota don't do the same with car ads.

Overall, Klein's book shows a lack of understanding of the cruise industry. It seems he identified a niche -- writing negative things about cruising -- and has pursued it with little regard to truth or accuracy.

Rating:
Summary: Ross A. Klein depresses everyone
Review: Have you ever hung around someone that is just depress and negative about everything. That would be Ross Klein. I have cruise many times and learned many things. I know the cruise industry is not a perfect world but this writing has nothing positive to say about anything in the cruise industry. Be on the lookout for him on your next cruise. He could make it miserable for everyone.

Rating:
Summary: Cruise Ship Blues Review
Review: I first heard of this book while on a recent vacation on the Hawaiian isle of Molokai. The locals were fighting to prevent some cruise ships from incorporating their island on a new tour package. They were trying to point out that only a few local merchants would benefit while leaving the town as a whole with increased litter, periodic crowding, massive overuse of port bathrooms & possible pollution from the ship while at anchor or when cruising nearby.
This book was surprisingly mild in its tone and always cautious in its conclusions. Overall though it is a long overdue and much needed antidote to the hundreds of millions spent by the cruise industry in promoting their blissful, 'love boat' -type vacations. The most stunning chapters concern the pollution & sewage these ships so often discharge, and the widespread abuse of workers and profiteering by management. Also of note are the hushed up incidence of sexual assault and frequent outbreaks of food poisoning. The author continues to chronicle the industry on his website , cruisejunkie.com. The book & website are a Must Read!

Rating:
Summary: Must Read for anyone considering a cruise vacation
Review: I first heard of this book while on a recent vacation on the Hawaiian isle of Molokai. The locals were fighting to prevent some cruise ships from incorporating their island on a new tour package. They were trying to point out that only a few local merchants would benefit while leaving the town as a whole with increased litter, periodic crowding, massive overuse of port bathrooms & possible pollution from the ship while at anchor or when cruising nearby.
This book was surprisingly mild in its tone and always cautious in its conclusions. Overall though it is a long overdue and much needed antidote to the hundreds of millions spent by the cruise industry in promoting their blissful, 'love boat' -type vacations. The most stunning chapters concern the pollution & sewage these ships so often discharge, and the widespread abuse of workers and profiteering by management. Also of note are the hushed up incidence of sexual assault and frequent outbreaks of food poisoning. The author continues to chronicle the industry on his website , cruisejunkie.com. The book & website are a Must Read!

Rating:
Summary: Cruise Ship Blues Review
Review: I was initially hesitant to read this book because I love to cruise. I am a cruiseline travel agent, my partner and I own our own Travel agencythat specializes in selling cruises. A friend gave the book to me so I decided, "What the Heck!". At first I felt the books Author, "Ross Klein" was doing too much complaining (maybe he didn't get enough comp upgrades?) and felt the information in the book was a bit dated. In the cruise industry, things change quickly! If you read this book, don't take everything you read as gospel, this is only one persons opinion of an entire industry. Happy reading

Rating:
Summary: Corporate Chicanery Expossed
Review: Ross Klein has done for the cruise consumer what Ralph Nader has done for the auto-buyer... pointed out the lemons and then some! After establishing himself with his definitive cruise work "Death By Chocolate," his critical insights have become known to an even wider audience through the release of his latest cruise industry critique: "Cruise Ship Blues: the underside of the cruise industry."

This latest book is easily the most comprehensive work of its kind anywhere. It is a roadmap to understanding what the social and ecological costs are of boarding a modern luxury liner. It is a book which should be on the desk of every travel agent, social change activist and industry regulator.

Cruise Ship Blues is an invaluable guide full of little-known details about cruising the industry would hope you and your lawyer will never learn. Shoulders above the usual pr fluff you'll read from travel beat cheerleaders about individual ships and their destinations, and the people who run them.

Ross Klein is surely to become the most respected cruise tourism historian and critic of his generation. His book is a must buy -- before you buy a cruise ticket!

Rating:
Summary: A book with some facts BUT ..........
Review: Some of the author's claims of the cruise industry are indeed correct, but one thing he certainly ignores is the fact that cruise lines are public companies, and they are not there to entertain passengers free of charge.

Three notes before this review:
1) I am responding to the author's abstract of his book at this website ...
2) Public companies' major goal is to maximize their profits, and Profit = Revenue - Cost - Taxes. No matter you like it or not, it is a "law." In addition, you pay for what you get and there is no free lunch.

Here are some of the author's claims and some of my thoughts.

The "all-inclusive" illusion - this claim is very true on many of the cruise lines, but I also believe that most passengers (even the first timers) would not expect their times on the ships will be money-free (or shipboard credit-free). I would suggest that if one is looking for an all-inclusion cruise vacation, he/she should look at those high end cruise line like Cunard. For the mass market cruise line, what passengers pay actually are relatively cheap. I wonder if an inside-cabin passenger, who pays only $500 to get aboard a ship for 7 days, keeps on asking for expensive wines at the dinning rooms, how long can this ship "stay afloat" if many passengers of this kind come aboard? People are greedy in nature, and the only way to limit the consumption of such expensive item is to charge the consumer for what he consumes. Isn't it fair enough? Many cruise lines can certainly provide an all-inclusive vacation onboard by simply not supplying items that can easily bankrupt a cruise lines like the above mentioned wines and other products. The question is would you like to have this kind of holiday?? You get what you pay for, isn't this what we are experiencing everyday in our society? Who told the author that a cruise ship is suppose to be a heaven at sea where you can consume everything you want in large quantities without paying??

Economic domination - The author says "today, cruise lines increasingly are the owners of buses, railcars, and end-point resorts, controlling much of the shore side activity." I wonder that isn't this the meaning of an all-inclusive holiday in which you don't have to worry about safety while you can still explore the ports or wild life areas that your ships take you to? The author just seems to be against the development of land-based resort. Well, it is true that the cruise lines are also trying to lure you to spend money even when you are ashore, but with the multi-million dollars land-based development that the cruise lines spent in order to provide you a troulbe free holiday, shouldn't you at least enjoy yourself a bit and not to complain about everything?

Industry pays virtually no tax - I think this claim is ture but is also the funnist. I wonder if the author have ever tried to LEGALLY avoid paying some taxes of his own? Quite simply, this is what the cruise lines are trying to do - to minimize the cost and TAXES of their operations LEGALLY. If the author believes tax avoidance is inappropiate, he should also complain about all the companies in the world which use accountants to calculate their taxes.

Few regulations - The author is mostly talking about the pollusion part of the cruise industry. I do agree with the author's view generally.

Alaska's love-hate relationship - I think the cruise industry is bringing tens of thousands of passengers to Alaska every summer. Is this a bad thing that many people, who without the cruise ships would hesitage to travel to this part of the world due to physical, safety, or other concern, can now enjoy the scenic Alaska in a leisurely pace? Yes, Alaska has changed in the last few decades, but should this area remain undeveloped because the author prefer the old Alaska where only a few people can go to??

I can say a lot more responding to the author's views, but I think you get the idea.

A quote from the author - "I can't criticize them for doing business in a way that maximizes profits, but I can criticize them for their lack of concern for local issues, local needs, and the environment."

Om .... I can't criticize the author for making many naive claims against the cruise industry in a way to attract readership, but I can criticize him for his lack of concern for the public companies' responsibilities to their shareholders, and the law of economics and the human nature of selfishness and greed.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, my bottom line is that because of the recent development of the cruise industry, millions of people (many seniors especially) can now safely travel around the world at ease aboard cruise ships every year. Is this a good thing? Of course it is! Is there a darkside? Of course there is! Driving your car everyday causes pollusion too, so should the author give up driving altogher?

Readers can determine whether the author has indeed exposed the "darkside" of the cruise industry, or is he merely a "sociologist" critic who doesn't understand the business model of the cruise industry and often overlook the positive side of the industry.

Most of the author's claims are well-known facts, and quite simply, most passengers just don't think these are great deals. Of course, sociologists can create many issues out of ordinary life for the sake of "academic interest." Unfortunately, I think this book is just a typical case of this common practice in the ivory tower.

Rating:
Summary: The Other Side of the Medal
Review: The problems of mass-tourism and fast growing industries are widely known. Ross Klein points out the specific problems of the cruise industry, like the strong demand for onboard workforces or the constant pressure to reduce cost, and he does that with much accuracy and much emphasis on the sources.
Of course, any account of all the negative aspects must result in a somehow distorted picture of the cruise industry, but after reviewing all the sources available on the internet which Ross Klein mentions in his footnotes, I must say that there are several problems associated with the cruise industry which need to be solved if cruises should remain a popular form of travel.
Most aspects Ross Klein talks about, even the environmetal issues, have an impact on passenger's satisfaction. So any cruise line executive should read this book to be aware of the problems which - quite certainly - all cruise lines have to deal with - sooner or later. Even if only a few cruise lines do not pay attention to these negative aspects, all others may get into troubles too, especially if the passengers start to feel that they get less than they have paid for.
And to potential cruise passengers the book might show what they can really expect from a mass-market cruise line. It is not all gold that glitters.
It is an excellent book, despite the fact that it is in contrast with the glossy cruise brochures published by cruise lines. There is much going on behind the scenes - and that makes the book a most interesting reading.

Rating:
Summary: What every cruiser ought to know
Review: What you should know if you're taking a cruise

Tax avoidance, false advertising, shady business practices, sexual harassment, risks to health and safety, rape, environmental destruction. This is not only a list of abuses wrought on society. As Ross A. Klein describes in Cruise Ship Blues, these are also abuses the cruise industry dumps on its customers, workers and the world's oceans.

To make his points, Klein mixes his experience of more than 300 days on cruise ships together with in-depth research on the industry to present information one does not find in glossy brochures or television ads. The truth behind the hype is that cruise companies rarely deliver on their lofty promises. Instead, they deliver appalling amounts of pollution to many exotic and otherwise pristine ocean areas. The book also describes the industry's substandard working conditions including graft, sexual abuse, and poor health care.

Cruise ship advertisements projecting "all inclusive" vacations at reasonable prices lead to disappointment when passengers find they are required to pay extra for drinks, photographs, shore excursions, on top of their tickets, and their spending in casinos, bars, alternative restaurants and shops. On average, Klein reports passengers spend about $220 extra per day, while some spend much more than that.

By flagging their ships in countries "of convenience" like Panama and Liberia, the industry also avoids U.S. taxes, while those nations rake in millions. In 1995, for example, Panama earned over $47 million in ship registration fees and taxes. Foreign flags also complicate enforcement of environmental rules and fair labor practices.

Klein's journalistic style laces together anecdotal experiences of his own and others to create an important commentary on nearly every aspect of the industry. Whether one is considering a cruise, or just interested in the oceans, Cruise Ship Blues is a must read. But pack it for yourself, because it's one thing that definitely won't be sold in the ship's store.