"Inappropriate fondling" news story kill your buzz?

[DMMarla07860]

Not canceling my cruises(none booked for a sure time at the moment). Now if a airplane crashes I might stop flying

 

[owensjro]

What amazes me most is all of the people that accept what the media reports as the only version of the truth. I know some people have rose colored glasses when it comes to their favorite companies such as Disney, but apparently some people have the same towards the media.

What has been reported is so far from the complete picture that I would never make a decision on whether to "boycott" a company or not. We have no idea what led that ship to do what it did. It could have been a mid-level person deciding to get all of the facts before escalating to the captain/senior-level personnel. It could have been the process to investigate simply took that long. Yes it could have been a financial decision on DCL's part not wanting to delay the cruise. The point is, we have no idea...yet people are ready to condemn Disney.

In the end it looks like justice was served and that's what should matter. The perpetrator was handed over to authorities at the next port. Of course we have no idea what happened to him after that so I can only imagine the doom and gloom folks will assume he was set free to continue on molesting kids.

Jim

 

[sweethannah]

What amazes me most is all of the people that accept what the media reports as the only version of the truth. I know some people have rose colored glasses when it comes to their favorite companies such as Disney, but apparently some people have the same towards the media.

What has been reported is so far from the complete picture that I would never make a decision on whether to "boycott" a company or not. We have no idea what led that ship to do what it did. It could have been a mid-level person deciding to get all of the facts before escalating to the captain/senior-level personnel. It could have been the process to investigate simply took that long. Yes it could have been a financial decision on DCL's part not wanting to delay the cruise. The point is, we have no idea...yet people are ready to condemn Disney.

In the end it looks like justice was served and that's what should matter. The perpetrator was handed over to authorities at the next port. Of course we have no idea what happened to him after that so I can only imagine the doom and gloom folks will assume he was set free to continue on molesting kids.

Jim

He was put on a plane back to his home country. He was not arrested.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

not canceling any cruises because of this but its just a sad reminder of our sick society

So True!

AKK

 

[rentayenta]

So I have a trip planned for next year, and I was super excited....until this news story surfaced. I am aware that stuff can happen anywhere, but instead of being excited, now I am thinking about how I am going to have a "have your guard up" conversation with my daughter which will probably worry her. I know I have had that talk with her before,(she is only 5)but I feel she might need a refresher when going on board. i have even read that people were considering canceling their cruises because of that incident. Now I am extremely weary about utilizing the nursery and kids clubs.

No, it didn't kill my buzz. If I avoided every place this happened, we'd never go anywhere. It happens in churches, school, stores, etc...Have the talk with your child and go with your instincts.

 

[PatriciaH]

No offense, but I think this a pretty silly and petty reason to now be a Disney hater.

So you don't want to be an Imagineer now?

Mike

I never said I was a "Disney hater." Quite the opposite. I love Disney. That is why I am so disappointed in them. If you read this thread you will see that both my husband and I worked for Disney for many years. I lived in Celebration. I have many friends that work for the company. I choose not to give them my money at this time because of how they handled this. I do not even have children so it is not a question of warning them before I cruise. This is my choice due to how they handled this incident. I am frankly amazed at how many people with children think this was all OK. I have had several people PM me that they are shocked and will be canceling as well.

Also, if you read the thread you will see that tag came from the "Tag Fairy" years ago. I have no way to change it and in fact never put it there in the first place.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

No offense, but I think this a pretty silly and petty reason to now be a Disney hater.

So you don't want to be an Imagineer now?

Mike

To be honest and up front.........I don't agree with ParticiaH about cancelling the cruise, but this is anything but a * silly and petty* matter...........It's a dam serious matter involving a 11 year old girl that was attacked.

All the correct facts are not out yet, but more then enough are supported from DCL and the authorities at this point not to be laughing about it!

I can only hope your not serious.

AKK

 

[owensjro]

He was put on a plane back to his home country. He was not arrested.

And I am sure you have been following his every move since then and know that he wasn't prosecuted in his home country.

Oh, and of course it is Disney's fault that the Bahamian authorities only extradited him and didn't put him in jail.

Jim

 

[slg]

I am not cancelling. As others have said, bad stuff happens everywhere, even in our own homes. I was molested by a family friend when I was 12...same sort of thing as the girl.

Will it change my cruise rules...no. I thought we were reasonable before, and this is not going to change how I live my life.

I also think that I haven't exactly heard both sides of the story. If at 4:48 an incident report was filed and at 5:02 the ship sailed, well there is only about 15 minutes in between. Had they even identified beyond a shadow of a doubt who it was? Had they even questioned him? Perhaps Disney was in the wrong...they have made mistakes in the past. But do I know this for sure? No.

This is a complex story and different people will react in different ways. Will I allow my kids to swim because a little boy almost drowned? Yes. Will I fly even though planes crash? Yes. Did I run our cities 10K one week after Boston? Yes. Life is full of scary stuff, we just have to be on guard. Unfortunately, its isn't all "disney".

 

[omalley1118]

We have, as I posted earlier, always taut our kids how to be aware and smart about things. Last Fall, ther was a young girl who went missing within an hour of where we live. Sadly, she was found dead, and the suspects are her age. That was really a tough one to explain. We also had an issue with an attempted abduction of a 12 yo within 10 minutes of our home. With the recent events in Boston, there was yet more explaining to do. In some ways, I think that we grew up in a different world. Yes bad things happened, but I don't think that they were so publicized... I know that my Mom always says she's glad her job is done!! LOL!

I would not consider allowing either of my kids to sign themselves out of the clubs. That is strictly our personal opinion. People should do what is comfortable for them. I'm sorry that this horrible thing has happened, and I can only hope that this girl will get some counseling.

 

[chris31997]

What would have happened if DCL had reported it to FL and the family still refused to press charges and refused to leave the ship to talk to the cops? Nothing can happen if the victim refuses to talk/work with the authorities.


PatricaH has the right to spend her money where she wants.

Just like I have the right to continue with my plans for my DCL cruise next year. Anything can happen anywhere. You have to be aware of your surroundings.

 

[PatriciaH]

What would have happened if DCL had reported it to FL and the family still refused to press charges and refused to leave the ship to talk to the cops? Nothing can happen if the victim refuses to talk/work with the authorities.


PatricaH has the right to spend her money where she wants.

Just like I have the right to continue with my plans for my DCL cruise next year. Anything can happen anywhere. You have to be aware of your surroundings.

Actually if you read the article and the article about the AG in Fl, they would have pressed charges without the victim.

 

[Yokelridesagain]

It comes down to the famous question, doesn't it? "What did they know and when did they know it?"

With the family eventually deciding not to press charges, the possibility of a successful prosecution essentially ended once the ship left the port. Even if Disney had been able to hold the employee on board until the end of the cruise, without a complainant there's not enough on that video to put him in prison.

So the question is, did someone in authority (the master of the vessel, or higher up) make the decision to sail away from a port without reporting a sexual assault? Or did someone in a lower position make a poor judgment call not to report this up the chain of command until after the ship was out of port?

That question is going to remain unanswered. I have my suspicions--DCL has an obvious motive, particularly on a short cruise, to not want a multi-hour delay before departure--but that doesn't prove high level malfeasance.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Will Disney make an official comment about this? Looks like the other cruise news links are talking about it, and things spread super fast online?

 

[Lori1960]

one thing since your daughter is only 5 she should be with you at all times.The girl and the grandmother probably didn't want to press charges since they are from braizl and didn want to have to go to trail in Nassau or the uSA and also maybe the grandmother is afraid that the court would make it look like its her fault cause she let her granddaughter go on the elevator by herself

 

[Yokelridesagain]

And I am sure you have been following his every move since then and know that he wasn't prosecuted in his home country.

Oh, and of course it is Disney's fault that the Bahamian authorities only extradited him and didn't put him in jail.

Jim

Seriously? You think he could be prosecuted in India for a crime that occurred in a US port on a Bahamian vessel? It doesn't work that way.

Unless of course you mean that he could have been prosecuted for molesting someone else...which is part of what we're concerned about.

 

[ladyj0212]

one thing since your daughter is only 5 she should be with you at all times.The girl and the grandmother probably didn't want to press charges since they are from braizl and didn want to have to go to trail in Nassau or the uSA and also maybe the grandmother is afraid that the court would make it look like its her fault cause she let her granddaughter go on the elevator by herself

I absolutely agree. I have no intentions on leaving my child to wonder the ship alone, even(for example) if its on the pool deck and she wants to go get some ice cream while I am laying on a deck chair. I try my absolute hardest to never let my little ones out of my sight. At this point as a concerned parent, what I am most concerned about is the staff.

I understand things happen everywhere, but what I am worried about is how DCL allegedly handled the situation...and again, I said allegedly...they seemed to be nonchalant and just go up the chain of command instead of reporting it to the authorities right as the grandmother complained...who knows if the employees are seeing that as an example. "what's the worst that can happen, lose my job and go back to my country"...all for a crime that was committed. I just don't want there to be other perpetrators who think they can get away with something like that with barely a slap on the wrist.

Thankfully the kids club is pretty open, and I will have a in depth conversation with my daughter about playing in groups and inappropriate actions, and so on and so forth.

What is boils down to for me at least is how DCL handled the situation. Who knows what other lax measures they have in place for other situations...the bittersweet part is that usually in any given horrible situation, is that all it takes a bad situation for rules and security measures, etc to be re-evaluated and put in place in an attempt to avoid said situation from happening again as best as they can.

 

[MND]

To be honest and up front.........I don't agree with ParticiaH about cancelling the cruise, but this is anything but a * silly and petty* matter...........It's a dam serious matter involving a 11 year old girl that was attacked.

All the correct facts are not out yet, but more then enough are supported from DCL and the authorities at this point not to be laughing about it!

I can only hope your not serious.

AKK

Of course I am serious. Canceling a cruise and a trip to WDW over this is silly at best. Although, I don't know for a fact that the PP really had a cruise booked and a WDW trip planned, but that's really beside the point.

Also, I haven't made a joke about the incident, nor am I laughing about it. I don't think the alleged incident is funny. However, I think people are making a big deal out of an isolated incident that happened awhile back.

Mike

 

[Beermam42]

This is another Chocolate Milk story, question asked and answered, we are so far from facts this needs to end.

 

[Yokelridesagain]

Isolated? Do you really think that was the first time the guy did anything like that?