5 Rules of Crisis PR to Help Carnival Cruise Lines Stay Afloat

Carnival, the parent company of the tragically half-sunken cruise ship off Italy, might be doing more to sink its brand than Captain Francesco Schettino.

I have 5 rules in Crisis PR and here is why Carnival needs to stop breaking all of them:

1. Control the face and voice of your brand. You can't manage a crisis from 5,000 miles away. That's why the only face and voice we have heard on the news is that of Schettino. It's inexcusable. Carnival's CEO needs to be on site immediately and ready to do interview after interview.

2. Alter the optics on the ground. All I see on the Today Show is a reporter with an eerily grounded ship in the background. Insert Carnival's CEO and half the screen is already filled. Carnival can also alter the optics with company executives comforting victims and company rescue and recovery workers in the water. For all the grief we gave BP after the oil spill, they at least tried to alter the optics by drilling a new well.

3. Establish order. No one currently knows how many crew officers stayed or fled the ship when things went south. As a result, consumers will not be booking Carnival cruises if they don't know who will stay and help them if there's a problem. It's obvious that the captain is a grease fire, so Carnival needs to release accurate statements from the rest of the crew - regardless of how embarrassing they might be. It's the first step toward restoring "order".

4. Be decisive. I've heard that Carnival hasn't fired Captain Schettino because Italian employment law makes it almost impossible to fire anyone - regardless of competency. That is probably true, but are you kidding me? Fire him! If the Italian government protests. it would be a game-changing PR gift to Carnival. When in a crisis, looking like you're afraid to make a decisive move can be a death sentence for your brand.

5. Accept partial defeat. No one gets out of a crisis unscathed, so Carnival needs to decide if last weekend's tragic grounding will compromise its brand in Italian ports or worldwide. The Italian government already looks ridiculous by allowing Captain Schettino to return home. I think Carnival needs to accept a regional hit because ultimately, travelers worldwide will distrust a nearly bankrupt, clueless Italian government already mired in multiple corruption scandals more than a successful cruise company that operates safely throughout the globe.