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