Introduction
In 1960, Boeing initiated the sale of 747s and other aircrafts, which led to the birth of cruise ship industry. Around the same time, Boeing collaborated with the United States of America and started manufacturing more sophisticated airport network that had special features such as air traffic regulators. In 1970, there was a Classic Love Boat show, which is highly linked to the growth of cruise ship industry as a luxurious means of commuting rather than a necessity (Turconi, 2011).
Many people started to take vacations using the princess cruise ships since they offered a lot of comfort and luxury. The travelers were exposed to various types of sceneries such as oceanic views and onboard entertainment and this increased the popularity of the cruise ships.
By 1974, cruise ship market had started to dwindle and in response to this, Cunard line limited decided to offer onboard entertainment in form of cabaret acts from international celebrities. This move was of great benefit to the industry in that their customer base increased and all customers received the same service regardless of the class booked (Turconi, 2011).
In 1980’s, the industry moved a step ahead with the establishment of fleet passenger liners with a capacity of 2000 people. These cruise lines were known as the carnival cruise lines that were solely meant for vacations and they had in built casinos and floating hotels among other services that the previous lines did not offer.
Over the years, more environmental friendly cruises have been established such as the eco tours cruises. The eco cruises focus on giving services that are environmental friendly such as wildlife and education as opposed to the predecessors that mainly offered entertainment (Turconi, 2011).
Cruise industry has quite a number of industry associations such as the Florida-Caribbean cruise Association (FCCA). FCCA works closely with private organizations that in one way or another are affected by the cruise industry with the primary aim of having better work relations. North West Cruise ship Association works hand in hand with Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S coast guard among other organizations.
This shows that the industry is committed to protecting the environment. From the examples above, it is clear that the cruise industry has a correlation with other organizations. The following is a case study of one of the cruise lines namely Disney cruise lines (Turconi, 2011).
Disney cruise line (DCL)
Disney cruise lines are cruises that are designed for families i.e. both parents and children who want to go on vacation. They have special features that are in-built to suit both adults and children and offer the required luxury (cruise reviews, 2012). Disney cruise line is owned and managed by Walt Disney parks and resorts although it is run by Karl Holz. The cruise line is American and its headquarters are based in Celebration, Florida.
DCL has a fleet of four ships namely Disney magic, Disney wonder, Disney dream and Disney fantasy. The ships sail various places such as Europe, Panama Canal, Caribbean, Alaska & Pacific Coast, Bahamas, Mexican Riviera, Hawaii, and Transatlantic destinations (cruise reviews, 2012). Disney magic started its operations in 1998 and has a passenger capacity of 2400; Disney Wonder followed in 1999 and has a capacity of 2400.
Disney dream is the third line that started its operations in 2011 and has a capacity of 4000 while Disney fantasy is the last one with a capacity of 4000. Port Canaveral is the homeport for all the Disney’s with an exception of Disney wonder whose homeport is in Los Angeles (cruise reviews, 2012).
Disney cruise line has a capacity of between 2700-4000 guests (Disney cruise line, N.d). Out of the total guests, about 1000-1500 are children who accompany their parents on vacation. The cruise line has a crew number that ranges between 1000 and 1500. From the statistics provided above, it is possible to conclude that the crew to passenger ratio is 1:3. This implies that for every three passengers, there is one cabin crewmember to attend to them (DCL jobs par.1).
The company owns several assets as listed below. First, the company has entertainment studios namely; Disney Interactive Media Group, The Walt Disney Studios, and ESPN Inc. secondly; it has consumer products such as Disney Store, Disney Food Health and Beauty as well as Disney Shopping.Com.
The third line of assets includes parks and resorts such as Disney land Paris, Tokyo Disney Resort and Disney Vacation Club among many others. Other assets include Marvel Entertainment, Jetix Animation Concepts and BVS Entertainment (Walt Disney’s company corporate information site, N.d).
Disney cruise line has an executive management that is headed by the president (Karl Holz). The president is assisted by the senior vice president of operations. Under him, there is a vice president who is in charge of hotel operations. The organization has another vice president who is in charge of marine and technical operations.
There are two directors in charge of marine and security operations as well as purchasing and logistics. The last member of the executive management is the manager of island recreation. The shipboard organizational structure is common to other cruises and it is divided into various department as listed below; activity and entertainment jobs, hospitality jobs, spa jobs and office jobs (Cruise ship, 2012).
The cruise industry has been recording tremendous growth of about 7% per annum and the utilization being over 100%. The Caribbean has been popular as the most preferred destination. The number of people willing to go on vacation is large and this has really boosted industry growth (Cruise industry overview, 2012).
Conclusion
Cruise lines have earned a lot of popularity and are preferred for vocational purposes. Some of the earliest cruise lines include princess, Cunard and carnival. However, advanced and upgraded cruises have been launched such as Disney cruise lines.
References
Cruise industry overview. (2012). FCCA Website.
Cruise Reviews. (2012). Disney Fantasy Expert Review. Web.
Cruise ship. (2012). Cruise ship departments. Web.
Disney Cruise Line. (N.d). The Disney Experience: Where family and Crew experiences last a lifetime. Web.
Turconi, S. (2011). The Quest for Profitable Growth in the Modern Cruise Industry. San Francisco, CA: Grin Verlag.
Walt Disney’s Company Corporate Information Site. (N.d). Walt Disney’s Company. Web.