Cruise Operations Management, Philip Gibson. Butter-

worth-Heinemann, London (2006), 178pp., £27.99, Paper-

back, ISBN 13: 978-0-7506-7835-3

The cruise shipping industry is an area of studyattracting more attention amongst academic researchers,evidenced by recent publications (Dowling, 2006; Peisley,2006). Philip Gibson has produced a timely addition to theliterature with a significantly different focus. As the authorpoints out in the introduction ‘there is a dearth of literaturefocusing on contextualized operational management onboard cruise ships’ (page xiii), a gap which this volumeaims to address. The concept of the book and much of thecontent has been developed to service the B.Sc. (Hons)Cruise Operations Management at the University ofPlymouth, where the author is Programme Manager.However, I did find much of the material in the earlierchapters appropriate for HND or year 1 degree level thanfor final year degree students or postgraduate students andis not entirely clear at what level this volume is primarilyaimed.

In terms of structure, the first 4 chapters give anoverview of the Cruise Shipping industry, whereas Chap-ters 5–12 are more detailed chapters on the operationalmanagement issues. Chapter 1 provides a solid introduc-tion to the cruise industry including a brief history of itsdevelopment, overall market size, the cruise product andmarket segmentation. It goes on to illustrate the variety ofcruise products aimed at different target markets usingsome examples like Windstar, Ocean Village and the QueenMary 2, although some of the discussion focuses on cruisebrands and some on specific ships (QM2 rather than onCunard). However, the approach taken is illustrative andtherefore not as comprehensive a summary on marketstructure as some alternative sources. Although the chapteridentifies the three largest companies, Carnival, RoyalCaribbean International and Star Cruises/NCL, theoligopoly they form is less apparent. That is perhaps dueto much of the discussion being about cruise brands, withno comprehensive section identifying who owns particularbrands, so when Table 1.7 includes data on severalCarnival owned brands and one RCL owned brandindependently, the market share for these groups is notobvious.

These introductory chapters are a little too basic anddescriptive in places. For instance Chapter 2, ‘SellingCruises and Cruise Products’, missed the opportunity tomove beyond the descriptive and develop discussion oncruise spend. The second half of the chapter focuses on the‘cruise product’ with sections on accommodation, diningon board, bars, entertainment, shore excursions, beauty/therapy and hair care, shops, photography and casino. Thechapter takes a very descriptive approach, basically listingeach element of the product in turn and then giving a briefdescription of it. There is scope to develop this as several ofthese elements are important revenue earning opportu-nities, and yet this is mentioned briefly in the case of the

bars. I was surprised that a volume with a focus onoperations management did not at least identify which ofthese components were the most important revenuegenerators. A more wide ranging discussion on the relativeimportance of ‘on board’ spend to modern day cruiseeconomics would also add considerably to this chapter.The well documented trend for heavy discounting ‘tomaximise occupancy rates by reducing prices whileincreasing yield through the combination of volume ofsales of cruise vacations and revenue generated on board’ isdiscussed in Chapter 9 (p. 129) further adding to the casefor linking these issues and exploring the ‘on board’ spendin more detail.Some introductory chapters are too long and I find

Chapter 4, ‘Cruise Geography’, relatively laborious.It appeared to be a long list of cruise destinations,beginning with the world’s main cruise regions and foreach region the main ports were listed with brief singleparagraph descriptions. My initial observations were thatthe chapter lacked analytical content, however upon re-reading, there is numeric data on the relative size of theleading destinations and indeed some interesting discussionon the impact of 9/11 on cruise capacity in various worldregions, particularly between the Caribbean and Europe.However, the analytical commentary is somewhat lost inthe sheer volume of material. Whilst students clearly doneed a knowledge of the main cruise destinations, andidentify where they are, this chapter would benefit fromrobust editing.Having said that, a strength of the book is in the use of

case studies to discuss important concepts and topics. Thedescriptive Chapter 4 concludes with two interesting casestudies, one on the successful policies and strategies togrow the SW of England as a cruise destination, and thesecond which discusses the use of cruise line owned privatebeaches and islands as destinations in the Caribbean whichthrows up certain conflicts including the contribution ofcruise spend to the local economy. A feature throughoutthe book, is that many of the most thought provokingarguments and dilemmas emerged from discussion withincase studies.The implications of the dramatic growth of the cruise

shipping industry on the availability of skilled labour andthe impact this has on training requirements are wellcovered and offer an interesting challenge for the industry(Chapter 11). Furthermore this has implications onaccelerated promotion prospects. The case study ofManaging Accommodation in Chapter 9, also introducesa number of thought provoking issues. One particular issueis the increased productivity of stateroom stewards nowservicing 19 cabins instead of 12 cabins. It would beinteresting for the text to discuss the causes and implica-tions of this development further. What were the pressuresto bring about this change? Clearly there are cost savingsbut was the driving force internal management structuresor external, as the case study is for Princess Cruises, whichhas recently been acquired by Carnival? Are Princess

ARTICLE IN PRESSBook reviews / Tourism Management 29 (2008) 597–608 601

Cruises moving towards staffing levels achieved elsewherein the group? What are the implications for quality ofservice?

There are further examples where the book raisesinteresting questions, but ends the argument prematurely.The discussion of tipping in Chapter 7 is fascinatingincluding the approach of levying a daily service charge.However, the book stops short of discussing the ethicalissues of staffing certain departments (the hotel depart-ment) almost exclusively from developing countries onvery low rates of pay with employees being particularlyreliant on tipping. Are cruise companies reducing their owncosts (and prices) by passing on what should be their wagecost to the consumer? There are small examples ofrepetition such as the section in Chapter 8 ‘ManagingFood and Drink Operations’ which introduces the USVessel Sanitation Programme (VSP). The same inspectionregime is discussed in more detail in Chapter 10 ‘Health,Safety and Security’ with some overlap between the twosections. Whilst clearly the VSP is appropriate to bothchapters there is some scope to include the detail inone chapter and make reference to it in the other rele-vant chapter or chapters to avoid unnecessary repetitionof detail.

Likewise Chapter 3 ‘Maritime Issues and Legislation’ isa particularly valuable introduction to the legal andregulatory framework and the most important interna-tional conventions. Students from a tourism or hospitalitybackground with no real background in maritime studieswill find this a short and very readable introductioncovering important responsibilities over marine pollu-tion (MARPOL), safety (SOLAS), hygiene and security(MARSEC). However, this introductory chapter isfollowed by a much more substantive chapter on ‘Health,Safety and Security’ (Chapter 10) and there is somerepetition between the two. I did question whether thetwo chapters could have been combined. This may alsohave resulted in a more comprehensive linking of thecombined issues raised over the two chapters. For instance,there is a discussion in Chapter 3 of ship registration,and although the term is not specifically used ‘Flagsof Convenience’ (Panama, Liberia, Bahamas etc.).Although Chapter 3 outlines some of the advantages ofsuch registration I am not sure the implications areexamined fully. Whilst it is clear that annual safetyinspections are the responsibility of the country ofregistration, some further discussion on the division ofresponsibility for enforcing both international and nationalregulations is warranted. Clearly the regulatory authoritiesat the ports of call have a role to play as well as the countryof registration as evidenced by ships that call at US portsbeing subject to inspection under the Public HealthServices VSP.

Generally the later chapters include a wide range ofcruise specific case study material. However, Chapter 5,dedicated to ‘Planning the Itinerary’ is the exception and inmy view too generic. It incorporates a number of wellknown models and frameworks for evaluating itinerariesand cruise destinations (SWOT, PESTLE, Porter’s FiveForces and Boston Consultancy Group Matrix) but doesnot explore the specifics of planning an itinerary orselecting a port of call in enough detail using case studyexamples. There was brief discussion as to the ideal numberof ports of call for a specific length of cruise, and a mentionof the fact that higher ship speeds result in significantlyhigher fuel burn and therefore higher costs, which hasimplications for the ideal distances between ports of call.The attractions of the destination port of call are alsoimportant in the design of cruise itineraries but there waslittle discussion as to how all these factors were all broughttogether in the itinerary planning process. A case studyusing a current cruise itinerary could have been developedto illustrate the various trade offs and compromises thatare necessary.The volume succeeds in introducing the student to

operations issues that are not covered in most texts oncruising. Particular strengths include Chapter 6, whichprovides a thorough review of the departments on a cruiseship and the overall organisational structure, even if thedescription of management seniority (stripes) seems unu-sual to those not from a non-maritime background, andChapter 10. This provides students contemplating a careerin the cruise industry a sound introduction to the mainlaws, statutory responsibilities and international conven-tions covering the industry. Each chapter includes a set ofreferences at the end to encourage and direct furtherreading, a glossary (essential in a volume that uses so manyabbreviations) and a set of chapter review questions.Whilst this volume does not fully meet all its objectives, it isa useful addition to the literature, particularly for studentsof hospitality and tourism, who have an interest in thecruise industry. Read in conjunction with other texts, itoffers primarily a supply sided perspective of the rapidlygrowing cruise shipping industry.

References

Dowling, R.D. (Ed.). (2006). Cruise Ship Tourism. Wallingford: CAB

International.

Peisley, T. (2006). The future of Cruising—boom or bust: A worldwide

analysis to 2015. Colchester: Seatrade Communications Ltd.

Derek RobbinsSchool of Services Management, Bournemouth University,

Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, Dorset BH12 5BB, UK

E-mail address: drobbins@bournemouth.ac.uk

doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2007.05.013

ARTICLE IN PRESSBook reviews / Tourism Management 29 (2008) 597–608602