Not a pleasant topic but is anyone concerned about recent events in Europe and safety?

[MillauFr]

Wasn't going to mention this but there was a warning from about two weeks ago that terrorist attacks in Spain are "likely". I am travelling with my children. Hopefully the threat will tone done over the next few weeks. They arrested nine in Barcelona who were involved in the Belgium attack. It does give one pause even if we are not concerned. My trip is booked but we will cancel the one for next summer and go elsewhere.

Terrorist attack "likely"... Hundreds of people killed in car accidents this weekend... 100% certainty.

 

[tink1970]

It won't stop me, when it's my time, it's my time. I've lived a full life and been in some unpleasant experiences already. I am more concerned about my DD who is 16 and traveling with a school group to Italy and Greece later this week-only because she has no situational awareness and some, but not a lot, of common sense. So I'd worry regardless!

Last year when I was in Ireland, there was a lot of news regarding the riots (race) in Dallas and Baton Rouge. If you watched the news and weren't from the United States, you might have concluded that the entire country was in a state of war. I told my mother "if I weren't an American I wouldn't want to go there." So I completely agree that the media portrays/conveys frightening images that are rare versus the everyday humdrum existence of 99.99% of the population. Boring is good but doesn't pay the (advertising) bills.

So I'm still headed to Europe twice next month and DD is headed to Europe (apart from me) twice. Life is meant to be lived, and for me that means seeing the world.

 

[kaseyC]

Honestly, I don't worry about it too much. We travel smartly- always aware of our surroundings, protecting our personal space and not taking any unnecessary risks but otherwise I don't stress over it. IMO, there is greater chance of me dying of gun violence in Chicago next week when I take my DD down to see the King and I.

 

[Westcoastwild]

I pulled the numbers for another post a while back. The car accident thing is right on. The number of Americans harmed in terror attacks in the last 10 years is less than annual car accident fatalities in some states.

Now, there can be some debate about what gets classified as a terror attack (for instance, Pulse and Oregon don't get classified thusly), but if you just select for "on foreign soil but not in Afghanistan or Iraq" the odds are in your favor to have a lovely trip.

Pulse wasn't a terrorist attack, though. And which thing in Oregon??

I would never go to politically unstable region, but that's not what this is. I feel like the state department puts out a new warning every summer. It's like those train psa's warning you to keep an eye out for suspicious packages. The chances are low enough that you can't make yourself crazy over it.

 

[lklgoodman]

I grew up in Oklahoma and had tornadoes hit my city 3 different times. I now live in Ohio, but the threat of tornadoes wouldn't stop me from moving back to OK. Sadly, I'm more scared of some crazy person causing harm than of terrorism. I hate that we live in a world where school children have to worry about being killed at school. I worry more for my dd's safety than my own.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Pulse wasn't a terrorist attack, though. And which thing in Oregon??

It was a gun-toting hate crime, which is not somehow better than a terror attack, or less terrifying, certainly.
In Oregon, it was more knife-toting, as the incident involved a guy harassing POC on a train and slashing the throats of 3 people who tried to get him to stop; I believe he's been charged with a hate crime on top of the various charges that emerge from the deaths/injuries caused: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2017/05/horrific_scene_unfolds_on_max.html

The shades of distinction between "hate crime" and "terror" are not always clear.

 

[bbel]

Oh no! Did your cousin get hurt?

Physically she'll recover: 2 fractured knees and a couple of ops to remove shrapnel.
If the aim for that attack was to scare young people, children and parents, its done the opposite for one and the 2 friends she was with. They've never been more encouraged to go out and enjoy life to the max.

 

[janiebubble]

Physically she'll recover: 2 fractured knees and a couple of ops to remove shrapnel.
If the aim for that attack was to scare young people, children and parents, its done the opposite for one and the 2 friends she was with. They've never been more encouraged to go out and enjoy life to the max.

it's funny you should say that, but that's exactly the way we looked at it too. I've ended up having direct contact with the family of one of the girls killed in Manchester through my job. Sitting with parents who have lost their child in that way does make you stop and re-evaluate. We have kept saying it makes us more likely to travel and have fun as life is short and you don't know when your number will be up. We cruised last week in Europe and we did see the odd barricade in popular places which were clearly aimed at stopping random vehicle based attacks but that just reassured me rather than scared me.

 

[Westcoastwild]

It was a gun-toting hate crime, which is not somehow better than a terror attack, or less terrifying, certainly.
In Oregon, it was more knife-toting, as the incident involved a guy harassing POC on a train and slashing the throats of 3 people who tried to get him to stop; I believe he's been charged with a hate crime on top of the various charges that emerge from the deaths/injuries caused: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2017/05/horrific_scene_unfolds_on_max.html

The shades of distinction between "hate crime" and "terror" are not always clear.

Oh. I know about it, certainly, I was just wondering if it was something else you were referring to.

Hate crimes are certainly worrying, but they're not on the same scale as terrorism and usually the work of an individual, so I was just puzzled you'd bring that up. Could happen anywhere and not likely to be a repeat in either location, so it wouldn't even occur to me to be concerned over something like that.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I don't think there will be any problem cruising in any part of the world that DCL goes. However, you have to ask yourself whether you will want to visit all the excursions in the places the ships stop. People talk about staying on the ship in Nassau and Jamaica because of crime. Will people start staying on the ship in London or Rome, too? I'd love to take my kids on a historical tour (ruins, churches and museums), but I don't want to put us in a high risk situation unknowingly. Odds are fine, but even with low odds, people still win lotteries. So what is your risk-adversion level?

 

[BadPinkTink]

Will people start staying on the ship in London or Rome, too? I'd love to take my kids on a historical tour (ruins, churches and museums), but I don't want to put us in a high risk situation unknowingly. Odds are fine, but even with low odds, people still win lotteries. So what is your risk-adversion level?

Just an FYI the ships dont stop in London or Rome. The Magic docks at Dover port which is approx 2 hours from travel from London. Rome is about the same distance from the port where the ship docks in Italy.

 

[Dug720]

Oh. I know about it, certainly, I was just wondering if it was something else you were referring to.

Hate crimes are certainly worrying, but they're not on the same scale as terrorism and usually the work of an individual, so I was just puzzled you'd bring that up. Could happen anywhere and not likely to be a repeat in either location, so it wouldn't even occur to me to be concerned over something like that.

For those of us in the LGBTQAI+ community it was both a hate crime and an act of terrorism, and yes, we do have reason to be concerned about repeats in spaces that have been considered safe for us.

Consider yourself privileged as a straight, cis-gendered person that you have the freedom that "it wouldn't even occur to [you] to be concerned over something like that".

 

[FigmentSpark]

Just an FYI the ships dont stop in London or Rome. The Magic docks at Dover port which is approx 2 hours from travel from London. Rome is about the same distance from the port where the ship docks in Italy.

Fair enough. I was thinking, however that people go to those places on excursions. Or am I wrong about that?

 

[BadPinkTink]

Fair enough. I was thinking, however that people go to those places on excursions. Or am I wrong about that?

London is optional, its a transit place from the airport to the dock. To get to Dover port you need to take the train from London. Most people either do some post cruise days in London or pre cruise days in London, but it depending on budget it is totally possible to fly to England and get a private transfer from the airport direct to Dover port and not have to go anywhere near London.

The same with Rome. It is the most popular excursion for Civitavecchia port but again Rome is about 90 minutes travel from the port. The excursions are optional and you dont have to go to Rome, there are other port excursions to other areas near Civitavecchia port.

 

[DWillowBay]

Livin' my life!

 

[Canadian Girl]

Agree about being aware of your surroundings. I am very excited about the TA. My young teen daughter was delighted to find there was a Primark store not too far from the hotel and as we are flying all night the day before the cruise, we won't have much time for sightseeing anyway.

 

[tink1970]

Fair enough. I was thinking, however that people go to those places on excursions. Or am I wrong about that?

In our case you're right-we're flying into LHR 3 days early to tour London before our cruise leaves from Dover. And I don't know the statistics for every cruise but suspect the majority of passengers head to Rome when ported in Civitavecchia.

 

[Geomom]

I am more concerned about my DD who is 16 and traveling with a school group to Italy and Greece later this week-only because she has no situational awareness and some, but not a lot, of common sense. So I'd worry regardless!
So I'm still headed to Europe twice next month and DD is headed to Europe (apart from me) twice. Life is meant to be lived, and for me that means seeing the world.

Just wanted to say that I totally get the concern for your DD. My 17 yr old DD went to Germany on a school trip this past April--and it was a first trip to Europe for anyone from our family. Before she went, I told her to keep her eyes/ears open, don't linger by the streets, and to have FUN. We were worried about her while she was away from us (and worried leading up to the trip), but the worry did not make us keep her home. Bad things can happen anywhere and you can't let fear rule your life. DD had a great trip, lots of great experiences for her.

 

[cruiser21]

I would say we're blessed to be living in some of the safest and most peaceful times in history. The media does not get paid unless they scare us enough to keep tuning in. There are countries where regular people are in genuine, daily peril of their lives. The United States and Europe are not those places.

We have the luxury of being scared at shadows.

I don't think we even know 1% of everything that goes on. If we did we would probably never leave the house. I think the key is keeping Europe and the US safe places. Europe is pretty much a hot mess... much to their own doing. Hopefully they can get their problem under control. I don't have a lot of confidence they'll do that. I think it's great everyone want to go on livin their life. I feel the same, but I don't stick my head in the sand and pretend it's not an issue.

 

[cruiser21]

I live in Ireland and am very aware of whats going on in Europe. When you go on a Disney Cruise you are very much in a cruise bubble world. Even if something happens at a port you are heading to, the most you will see or know about is that you either go to a different port or have an extra at sea day. Dublin,Ireland , just like many of the European posts rely heavily on the revenue from the cruise industry so if passengers cancel, the cruise lines may decide to change routes and ports.

Just think of it the other way, I continue to travel to USA while so many Europeans have cancelled or wont travel to USA any more. There are alot of safety concerns for Europeans visiting USA, not just the impact of the current administration, but things like the mass shooting and difference in gun laws, the tornadoes and earthquakes and just safety in general.

Take a look at some figures on the drop in tourist visiting USA in the last 12 months for example and what this means for USA economy.

Don't you think that the European economy has something to do with that. Also the exchange rate is not as favorable for the U.K. or the Euro as it's been in past years. Try not to make this political or the thread will get shut down.