ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KSDK) - Spring break is right around the corner, and consumers may be less than anxious to hop on a cruise after Carnival Triumph passengers spent five days without power, toilets and a raw sewage problem.
Associate Professor of Hospitality at Forest Park Community College and former travel agent, Craig Mueller, says "You may have a little dip in cruise demand. That has happened in the past."
In 2010, hundreds of passengers aboard the Celebrity Mercury got sick due to a Norovirus outbreak.
The Costa Concordia is still in the waters off Italy's coastline after it ran aground last January. Thirty-two people died.
Mueller says this string of events certainly doesn't help sales.
"Costa [Concordia] is actually owned by Carnival as well. So if people are doing their homework and realize Costa and Carnival are under the same banner, people might say I'll take a cruise but stay away from Carnival brands," said Mueller.
But he also added, Carnival and its competing brands will fight back.
"The industry is going to respond with a lot of promotional possibilities and when that occurs it's going to help bring people on board," he said.
Approximately 17 million people cruised the high seas last year.
KSDK