Working with a glamorous product that is a symbol of western culture could draw more than the admiration of people and repeat business. After the events of 11th September 2001, the U.S. Coast Guard identified cruise ships as ‘‘high interest vessels’’ which ba- sically means that they are potential targets. These new constraints are also similar to the air transport industry, which has seen one of the largest impacts of the post 9/11 reform. Hence, one of the biggest challenges right now for cruise supply chain is Homeland Security in the States, as well as health requirements in other countries. In the past, they could ship product back and forth from one country to the other. They only needed the manifest and import document.
Most managers and employees also recognize the fragility of cruise ships. Managers who have seen previous cruise companies they worked at go bankrupt were the ones bringing up this issue the most. ‘‘It’s a vacation. If the economy has been impacted se- verely and people do not have the means or even are afraid to get to destinations, then we have an issue’’. It is also recognized by many managers that the companies still standing today after the 9/11 events were quite creative and showed resilience by quickly changing and adapting itineraries to let people drive to their local ports instead of risking a flight. Although as some individuals pointed out, it was not enough for the entire cruise capacity at the time and the smallest companies were either absorbed in mergers or went bankrupt. Renaissance Cruises is an example of the latter. Like other industries, the cruise industry is not exempt from the risk of disaster or crises to strike. As a supply chain manager ex- plains, the company does put a significant effort when it comes to prevention. ‘‘We can control crises much better like a Norwalk virus outbreak, than controlling disasters. Crises are within our control. We make sure that they don’t occur’’.