How cruise lines weather Hurricanes and Tropical Storms

Cruise line operations managers are seasoned sailors employed by cruise lines to make daily operational decisions. They also have a reputation for being unflappable in stressful situations. But managers for Royal Caribbean International and Carnival Cruise Lines have been getting the ultimate test of their cool under pressure these past two weeks with three hurricanes in a row and a tropical storm in the Pacific.

War room
“We’ve gone through 36 hurricane seasons,” says Tim Gallagher, Carnival’s vice president of public relations, “So it’s not really new to us.” Carnival activated its emergency command center last week when Hurricane Gustav strengthened and threatened the line’s homeports of Galveston and Mobile.

Gallagher says the command center is a conference room located in a “hurricane resistant” area of Carnival Cruise Lines’ complex - an important factor if the storms directly impact the South Florida area. The entire building is supported by generator backup so the command center has an uninterrupted power supply.....

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