Saturday, February 18, 2012

Cruise Culture and Captain's Role

By Promod Puri

The titanic disaster of Costa Concordia beside being investigated and the legal proceedings against its captain, offers an opportunity to review the prevailing culture on a luxury cruise ship.

In its ever changing community of a few hundred or thousand vacationing passengers the captain beside being the top man to run his empire of floating small kingdom, is also the socialite icon to host and enthusiastically participate in lots of exclusive parties both for his crew and many priveledged customers belonging to all sorts of cruise clubs promoted by all the cruise lines.

All these social events,probably part of cruise holiday attraction, gives a very vivid impression that the main job of the captain in his well groomed personality is socializing with lots of food and booze. And the latest revelation that the captain was having alcohol with a blonde girl just before the disaster supports the fact that romantic socializing is an acceptable cruise social norm.

In this role of a socialite captain the basic responsibility of running the ship in utmost safety is either becomes secondary or forgotten. In view of this latest tragedy, it is advisable to restrict the ship's captain to his primary job of just looking after the ship and sailing it with maximum safety.

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