Cruise ship safety. Very long, but interesting & scary!

[mommaU4]

I read an article in a People magazine that I bought today (January 9 issue) titled Lost at Sea. It was an article about people who have disappeared while on a cruise ship.

There was Christopher Caldwell who disappeared on a cruise from Miami to Cozumel in 2004. His fiance says that "Carnival notified the Coast Guard of his disappearance only after the vessel had been thouroughly searched and the rest of the passengers let off at port- a process that took 3 and a half hours."

It also talked about George Smith IV who "vanished on the seventh night of his cruise leaving behind a trail of blood and a devastated bride".

There was Merrian Carver age 40 a retired business woman from Mass. who booked a 7 day trip on a Celebrity Cruises liner to Alaska. She disappeared on the second night of the cruise. "According to her father, Kendall Carver, Royal Caribbean didn't start investigating her disappearance until he contacted them. That was three weeks after the boat docked in Vancouver- where Carver's effects were donated to charity on the assumption she left them behind."

Michael Pham's parents Hue Tran and Hue Pham went on a 7 day cruise in the Caribbean aboard the Carnival Destiny. They disappeared and Michael still isn't sure what happened to his parents. "No trace of the couple was ever found, and an international search effort over the next 3 days turned up no bodies. An FBI investigation concluded that the couple had gone overboard but found no evidence of foul play."

According to the article, "typically when a passenger is reported missing, the protocol is to page the person repeatedly, then do a meticulous search of the vessel that can take hours. Only then does the ship alert maritime authorities, which may order it to turn around to help search the ocean."

Also there are reports of serious crimes from rape to robbery that often go unprosecuted due to "jurisdictional issues, distance from shore, and a lack of evidence. What's more cruise lines are not required to report criminal matters."

I found this info online:
It is estimated that in the past two years, about a dozen people have disappeared while aboard cruise ships.

"The bottom line is we are suspicious, candidly, that there's some huge problem in the cruise industry," said Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn. "We think that people are not aware of some of the challenges and some of the potential problems they encounter."


Anyways this just totally freaked me out!! HOW do you disappear on a cruise ship for goodness sakes? Are we supposed to believe all these people fell over board? And if they did they would be dead by the time the cruise ships did anything about it, at least according to this article. I just don't know what to make of this. It's scary especially if your traveling with kids.

 

[eclectics]

I'm glad this issue is finally getting some air time. The Cruise Industry does their darndest to keep these stories out of the news. Very scary indeed! It wouldn't stop me from cruising though. It just comes back to common sense, as most things do. Keep an eye on your kids and traveling companions (especially after dark). Don't let strangers into your cabin or buy you a drink (date rape pills). If traveling alone, keep an eye out for suspicious people (that includes stewards and waiters) and try not to walk alone in secluded spots. If your cabin steward gives you the creeps, ask for another. Just keep your eyes open and don't do anything foolish, and you will have a great time!

 

[simba928]

Wow, thats kinda scary. I also don't get how you disappear on a cruise ship. There is nowhere you can go except overboard and isn't someone bound to see you whether through a window or standing near you on deck? I mean the ships aren't all THAT big.

 

[DawnCt1]

New York Times Magazine did a lengthy article about 7 years ago about sexual assault, etc on board cruise ships. Its not a new phenomenon, only a well covered up one. I love cruising. I could happily cruise every year but I have had my eyes opened as well. I am not a mom who lets her teens "just disappear" for a week, but that is not atypical on a cruise. Four years ago I was looking for DS14 in the teen lounge on the Voyager. I found him quickly. This was an area of the ship that was "supervised". I put that in quotations because it is often supervised by young adults from other countries whose values may be very different from your own. Let me just say that I was glad I have boys. I saw young 13 and 14 year old girls being groped by 16 and 17 year old "new boyfriends". No adults intervening. Teens and young kids often cruised the open areas of the ship at night with only the cleaning crew out and about, congregating at the ends of the ship, in stair ways, pool area, etc. I have seen my share of kids passed out in a lounge chair on the upper decks at 2 am. All of the children and young adults are easy potential victims. During a tour of the bridge, I asked the officers what was the most ongoing, troublesome problem on board the ship. The answer was discipline, unsupervised teens, young adults involved in fights with other passengers over girls, violence among intoxicated passengers. Apparently it was enough of a problem that a couple of years later, RCCL instituted a curfew for teens under 18. of 1 am. Of course, when I brought up the subject of a curfew of teens on a cruise ship on the debate board, I was "unreasonable". After all, what could happen to kids on a ship, or adults for that matter. Well, we know that a lot can and does happen. When you look at the numbers of people that cruise, the crime rate isn't as bad as say a major city, but no one expects to be a victim of crime on a vacation that is as confined as a ship. If parents do not think that there young teens can have access to alcohol, they are very much mistaken. A friendly bar tender will serve them for a nice tip. There is alcohol that is easily bought in ports with no drinking age. It isn't hard to sneak it aboard. Parents should supervise their children as carefully as they would if they were vacationing in San Francisco. SFO is a great city, but bad things happen there too.

 

[scoutsmom99]

Wow that is so scary. I remember Dateline or 20/20 did a special a couple years back on someone disappearing from a cruise.

 

[itsagloomyday]

My husband and I cruised quite a few years ago and stood at the back of the ship watching the water spray and both commented that if you ever fell off of the ship, that would be it. No one would hear you and by the time anyone realized you were gone, even if they saw you fall off, it would be too late. Turning a ship that size around would take more than a few minutes. And yes, some of the ships are huge and not all areas are visible by the staff at all times. If someone wanted to dispose of you, I'm sure they could find a way.
I would still cruise again, but anytime you are in unfamiliar territory, be it land or sea, you have to exercise caution.

 

[Blueeyes101817]

Im leaving for my third cruise on Saturday and Ive been worried about this too--Not worried enough to not go but i know that i just have to be more aware

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

Bad people take vacations too....you think people who murder don't go on cruises...

I wonder about the guy who just disappeared on his honeymoon...is wife was in the spa at 4am?? That seemed weird to me and she isn't talking to his family...very odd

 

[Pea-n-Me]

This is a website that keeps track of untoward events at sea. Nice to see there aren't too many incidents on Disney (unclear as to whether they don't happen or if Disney is just good at covering them up, LOL).

http://www.cruisejunkie.com/events.html

 

[GEM]

Honestly, I'm willing to bet that more of those people fell or jumped overboard than were pushed or thrown. Yes, I know that murders take vacations, too. However, I've seen enough people do enough dumb things that I'm willing to bet most of the cases were instances of stupidity (or suicide) rather than foul play. There's a lot of alcohol flowing on those cruise ships . . . I'm sure more than a few people decide to climb over a railing for a closer look at the water while intoxicated or decide to perch on the railing and rest for a while or someone decides to climb out on some area they shouldn't be on - and then, SPLASH! I'm not saying no one gets tossed over, but I would bet these other scenarios happen more often.

 

[Chris2597]

I also think many of the missing may have fell overboard....When we cruised we saw many tipsy passengers. It would be very easy to fall over a railing especially if alchohol was involved.
I think there should be protocol set up by whatever agency governs CL as to procedure when a passenger is missing....However....by the time someone is deemed missing by their family it would probably be too late if they fell overboard.

 

[mcnuss]

Honestly, I'm willing to bet that more of those people fell or jumped overboard than were pushed or thrown. Yes, I know that murders take vacations, too. However, I've seen enough people do enough dumb things that I'm willing to bet most of the cases were instances of stupidity (or suicide) rather than foul play. There's a lot of alcohol flowing on those cruise ships . . . I'm sure more than a few people decide to climb over a railing for a closer look at the water while intoxicated or decide to perch on the railing and rest for a while or someone decides to climb out on some area they shouldn't be on - and then, SPLASH! I'm not saying no one gets tossed over, but I would bet these other scenarios happen more often.

I tend to agree with you.

I'd also mention that you should also be very cautious in hotels any and every where. I've seen more kids cruising the hallways of hotels unsupervised during all my years of business travel than I can count. Last week, I saw 2 kids, maybe 9 and 10, roaming the elevators of the Westin in NYC. I also see parents really let their guard down at the "nicer" resorts. We were at the Scottsdale Princess this summer, a HUGE property, and there were unsupervised kids everywhere. This just struck me as naive.

 

[DawnCt1]

We were at the Scottsdale Princess this summer, a HUGE property, and there were unsupervised kids everywhere. This just struck me as naive.

I agree. Its a pervasive problem everywhere. I remember sitting at an adult comedy show at midnight on the cruise and the cruise director said "This show is geared for an adult audience so all of you children who don't belong here, please return to the casino where you also don't belong". It was a funny line because there was definately truth in it.

 

[jennyl772003]

I have not read the article. Having said that...

People seem to forget a few things about cruising. One of which is the ports of call. People go on a cruise, stop at some island, decide their life sucks and they want to start over, and never get back on the ship.

having been on DCL twice, I think it would be hard to accidently fall overboard. Darn near impossible actually. I think if someone does go overboard, it is because THEY WANT TO! I don't necessarily think foul play would have to be involved at all. I remember a couple years ago, some punk kid jumped overboard on one of the Disney ships. Luckily he wasn't killed.

I do think people need to be careful though.

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

Yes, I know that murders take vacations, too. However, I've seen enough people do enough dumb things that I'm willing to bet most of the cases were instances of stupidity (or suicide) rather than foul play.

I was thinking of the recent man who's blood was found smeared on a door and railing and who was heard outside on his veranda with someone

I was on some really rough seas in October and if someone is stupid, maybe, but those railings were pretty high and The Magic is a "smaller" ship

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

I have not read the article. Having said that...

People seem to forget a few things about cruising. One of which is the ports of call. People go on a cruise, stop at some island, decide their life sucks and they want to start over, and never get back on the ship.

Then the person would show as not getting back on the ship...not "lost at sea"
remember using your card to get on and off...it shows who has left and who has not returned

 

[WIcruizer]

It's all a numbers game. When you have millions of people on cruise ships every year, there will be crimes a small percentage of time just like anywhere else. These are floating cities. Just like occasionally someone dies riding an attraction at WDW. Nothing I even think twice about when I go on a cruise.

 

[GEM]

Yep. That's right. The card keys let them know if someone got off the ship, and it would let them know if they didn't get back on.

I haven't cruised on a Disney ship, but I have done Carnival and RCI. There are many, many places where the only thing separating you from a very long drop down to the sea is a waist high railing. A few too many drinks plus a little stupidity (or drunkeness) - and over you go.

On an unrelated note, we took our 2 year old on our last cruise and I was a nervous wreck the entire time that he might tear away from us, make a run for the railing, and slip right under or through - which he could have done in about 15 seconds. All over the ship the rails were just waist high "fence" type railings with posts every few feet and three horizontal rails running between them. Very easy to climb over (or for a little one - under or through.)

 

[keishashadow]

During our 1st cruise on the Wonder, I was appalled to see the number of kids standing, beside adults, who were hanging over the railing (slightly, but still with their little feet dangling off of the deck) with the accompanying adult smiling dotingly @ their charges! Yes, theWonder's railings are covered with plexiglass, but the kids were getting a slight toe-hold & hoisting themselves up...I had to turn away.

Secondly, I was surprised by the many groups of quite young children (perhaps 8 or 9 years of age) wandering around the ship unattended. Yes, there's safety in numbers but, kids are kids and horseplay comes naturally...?

As for missing people, where better to disappear...no pesky bodies for evidence.

 

[GEM]

As for missing people, where better to disappear...no pesky bodies for evidence.

And, on that note, I'm off to make a list of people to invite along on our next cruise . . .