Two arrested, accused of raping teen on cruise ship

[mommabean]

Rcl must not have enough security for the teens on curfew. But rcl did not commit the crime two passengers did.

 

Again, I did not say it's RCI's fault. I just said that you know they will be blamed. I'd be shocked if they didn't have to defend themselves against accusations of some degree of liability for not providing enough safety for those who are underage and permitted to roam the ship.

 

Remember when they stopped allowing us to carry on 2 bottles of wine? And why that happened? Us bringing on wine isn't what caused that tragedy either. But when they get blamed wrongly, there is still a response.

 

Maybe the curfew time will be moved to an earlier time. Like that would stop rapes from happening. :rolleyes:

 

I'm just saying, RCI will end up being blamed because someone is going to see $$$ signs. We live in a litigious society. Sadly so.

 

Gina

[mommabean]

Really. That bizarre that they allow a teen club to stay open past their stated curfew. Thanks for checking.

 

Like someone said, the curfew is for those who aren't at a ship sponsored activity for those younger passengers. And when they leave the later ship sponsored activity, they are expected to go to their rooms. Who's going to walk them there? No one, other than someone they meet on board in this case. And anyone in passing isn't going to have any idea the girl isn't going to the room where she belongs.

 

Gina

[gizfish]

I hope she gets through this without too many scars. She's 15 & shouldn't have been in a position where she could make that mistake.

 

Where were her parents? They're the ones to blame.................

 

No, the men who raped here are the ones to blame!

[Tyron]

It's very unfortunate this happened to this young lady. However, no matter what time a curfew begins it is ultimately the parent's responsibility to be accountable for their child's whereabouts at all times. There are a number of factors that we don't know (i.e., Were her parents aware she was leaving The Fuel and attending a teen's "private party" in their stateroom after 1:00 a.m. )

[dz9yvr]

This must have been one heck of a cruise. We were on the previous Allure sailing and the crew was not looking forward to this holiday sailing. The cruise fares were about double the normal fare and the cruise was marketed toward the interenational market. Based on discussions with several crew members, cruises with these very high fares often lead to high expectations and often rude and bad behavior from many guests. It was also our understanding that Adam was on this cruise, so top RCCL management should be aware if RCCL had enough security to enforce the curfew or wasn't following normal policies.

[Eng23]

No, the men who raped here are the ones to blame!

There is equal blame here:

The men who committed the crime

The parents for allowing the teen to stay out past ships curfew (even though she was at a ships sponsored activity)

 

Just because you are on a cruiseship that is perceived to be safe everyone needs to remember that a cruiseship is like a small city. If you would not as a parent allow your teen to stay out late past any set curfew at home don't allow it on the ship. It only takes a second and one moment of poor judgement for a tragedy to happen.

[gaylemh]

I wonder if the two males were traveling with family. Where were their parents? I always thought you need to be 21 to travel alone, or needed someone 25 to travel with you if you were a minor. They were 20 and 15.

[KittyCat1Million]

Agreed. Pointing at mistakes that may have been made by the parents or the teen somehow lessons the guilt of the perpetrators. Why blame the victim at all? She did not break any law. Her parents did not break a law. They men who committed the crime did.

 

Is it okay to have someone vandalize your car if you park it in a bad area? If you leave your door unlocked is it okay to be robbed? If a woman wears a tight miniskirt is she asking for it? Absolutely not! Maybe it was poor judgement, but it is in no way the parents or the teens fault. To even bring it up shows a lack of compassion.

 

As a father of a 10 and 6 year old daughters, I worry about these things and tend to err on the side of caution. If this happened to my daughters, and anybody suggested that it was my fault for letting her out late or her fault for going to the room, I would say they are as bad as the disgusting slime balls

who raped this girl. Nobody chooses to be a victim and should not be further victimized by such comments after a crime such as this.

 

Very well said.

[Loonbeam]

There are lots of parties at fault here, but RC doesn't happen to be one of them.

 

Obviously, the main offenders are the perpetrators. No question there.

 

After that, it gets murkier as I am trying to avoid the word blame. Poor decision making does not equal culpability.

 

The parents should have set very clear expectations of where and when the girl was to be. I don't think another cabin would have been on that list.

 

Honestly, the girl should not have accepted an invite to ANY private cabin (and before you all start firing away, I am not saying she is in any way responsible for the actions of the two men. But she did make a poor decision and that has to be recognized)

 

The curfew in this case irrelevant. If the club was open, any security would have had to assume she was heading back to her cabin from the club, they would have no reason to stop her unless she asked for assistance.

 

The overall point is more valid. Cruise ships are not inherently safer than anywhere else. It makes no difference who the clientele are, predators come from all walks of life. Just because you are on a cruise ship, common sense and urban safety should not go out the window.

[Shanafan]

Simple awful. I hope she gets the help she will need.

 

My only question would be about the Allure and a ten day cruise, did it just have a longer holiday cruise? Or does the article have the wrong ship?

 

I think it was on a longer 'holiday' cruise.

[Maryscooking]

Poor baby. My heart goes out to her. I was so dumb at 15...this could have been me. And I had good parents, strict parents who enforced early curfews and didn't even let me walk in the mall without an adult until I was 16. I got really good grades, excelled in sports, etc. But I was a little rebel, and waaay sneakier than my parents realized.

 

My first instinct was to berate the parents, like many of the posters here. I would not let my 15 yr old out and about on the ship on her own well into the wee hours of the night - or after dinner, for that matter!

 

But we don't know so many things about that night.

 

Perhaps the parents were going to meet the girl at the teen club when it closed, in order to walk her back to the cabin (what I would absolutely do myself) - and she skipped out on them.

 

Maybe her parents were asleep in the cabin and she snuck out to go to the club.

 

And what about the parents of the two rapists? Why hasn't it occured to anyone to criticize their parenting? Not that I'm going to, or think we should, but holy double standard!

 

I do hope that this opens more than a few eyes about the potential danger to teens on a cruise ship. What should have been a treasured memory of a family holiday is now a worst nightmare come true for that family.

[Big_G]

Here's the problem with the blame game. Some of you people are basing your opinions on one media story that is woefully lacking in details. We don't know where the parents were, how this other teenager convinced her to return to the room, nor was there any prior relationship with any of the other parties involved. What we do know is that she says she was raped and the authorities believe her. That's good enough to lay the blame right on the scumbags that committed the rape. Granted, some people make poor choices in life but none are made with the expectation of being viciously attacked and none deserve to be blamed unless they partook or conspired to partake in the attack. I'm the biggest critic of irresponsible parents but even if they were irresponsible, blaming them at all for their daughter's attack is ludicrous.

[Beachin2]

So with that logic was the cruise line bottom feeding for you when you took your first Royal Caribbbean cruise?

 

In the early 80's - er - NO.

 

Welcome to Carnival's competition.

[KittyCat1Million]

Again, I did not say it's RCI's fault. I just said that you know they will be blamed. I'd be shocked if they didn't have to defend themselves against accusations of some degree of liability for not providing enough safety for those who are underage and permitted to roam the ship.

 

Remember when they stopped allowing us to carry on 2 bottles of wine? And why that happened? Us bringing on wine isn't what caused that tragedy either. But when they get blamed wrongly, there is still a response.

 

Maybe the curfew time will be moved to an earlier time. Like that would stop rapes from happening. :rolleyes:

 

I'm just saying, RCI will end up being blamed because someone is going to see $$$ signs. We live in a litigious society. Sadly so.

 

Gina

 

What is sad is that you are already blaming the parents for being litigious and seeing dollar signs. Where do you get off doing that? Have you NO empathy for them?

 

I am just shaking my head here. So many here want to blame the victim and/or blame the parents. If this young woman was attacked at 3pm would the parents get the same blame from so many on here?

 

I sure hope others don't treat you the way you treat others. That is what is sad.

[Merion_Mom]

I was wondering the same thing. I have heard of a 9 day holiday cruise. I also thought that the Oasis/Allure were too large to call on St. Kitts. St. Maarten is usually the farthest east either of these two ships go.

 

I have only read page 1, so if someone else chimed in on pages 2, 3 or 4, and this is old news, I apologize.

 

The cruiselines and "real, experienced" cruisers know that cruises are classed by NIGHTS not days, but someone at the Sun Sentinel does not.

 

A "9 night cruise" is a "10 day cruise" in this news story.

 

Mariner called at St.Kitts; I would expect that the Allure could also pull up to that pier.

[KittyCat1Million]

In the early 80's - er - NO.

 

Welcome to Carnival's competition.

 

Welcome? I've been on 18 Royal Caribbean cruises. I haven't seen any evidence of bottom feeding. That is until I came across your posts.

[Tyron]

Yes, Allure paid a visit St. Kitts on December 30 as part of it's 9 night holiday sailing.

 

[royalcruz]

People are raped before 1 AM too. Curfews don't stop perpetrators.

[Hunwolf]

There is equal blame here:

The men who committed the crime

The parents for allowing the teen to stay out past ships curfew (even though she was at a ships sponsored activity)

 

Just because you are on a cruiseship that is perceived to be safe everyone needs to remember that a cruiseship is like a small city. If you would not as a parent allow your teen to stay out late past any set curfew at home don't allow it on the ship. It only takes a second and one moment of poor judgement for a tragedy to happen.

 

Equal blame huh?

 

One involves poor judgment (at worse not knowing the facts). The other involves planned sexual assault by luring an underage girl to a room/cabin.

 

Equal blame?

[Beachin2]

Welcome? I've been on 18 Royal Caribbean cruises. I haven't seen any evidence of bottom feeding. That is until I came across your posts.

 

Cat, then you have been around about as long as I have. Not to detract from or hijack a thread about a very tragic story (and I'd willingly help the girls parents "deboard" those animals at sea) I'm sure you have also seen the transition RCI has made over the years as well as we have.

 

Any cruise lines on-board demographics reflect their marketing. RCI has decided to go for share - head to head with the typical discount party line.

 

Sometimes, you get what you ask for. It's a very sad reality.

[Woe is me]

The only thing this thread lacks are facts!:confused:

[Hunwolf]

The only thing this thread lacks are facts!:confused:

 

It certainly isn't lacking premature conclusions.

[KittyCat1Million]

Cat, then you have been around about as long as I have. Not to detract from or hijack a thread about a very tragic story (and I'd willingly help the girls parents "deboard" those animals at sea) I'm sure you have also seen the transition RCI has made over the years as well as we have.

 

Any cruise lines on-board demographics reflect their marketing. RCI has decided to go for share - head to head with the typical discount party line.

 

Sometimes, you get what you ask for. It's a very sad reality.

 

Well, I would agree that Royals food and service have gone downhill due to cutbacks by the cruise line. But as far as the customers? They seem like a pretty good mix of demographics. But I usually sail the larger newer ships, Voyager Class or newer. I have never sailed the old ships doing the 3/4 day sailings. Maybe that makes a difference.

 

I am assuming you have moved on to Celebrity or Azamara or Crystal or Seabourne or other such lines feeling the way you do. Royal Caribbean would love for it's ...shall we say "Seasoned" cruisers to move on to Celebrity and

Azamara. They are indeed marketing Royal Caribbean heavily to Families and new cruisers. They are a business and have evolved over time as has cruising in general. They want people like you to "evolve" to their more expensive lines. That is exactly their marketing strategy.

 

Trying to compare cruising in the 1980's to today's cruising is not going to work. Like comparing night and day.

[Beachin2]

Well, I would agree that Royals food and service have gone downhill due to cutbacks by the cruise line. But as far as the customers? They seem like a pretty good mix of demographics. But I usually sail the larger newer ships, Voyager Class or newer. I have never sailed the old ships doing the 3/4 day sailings. Maybe that makes a difference.

 

I am assuming you have moved on to Celebrity or Azamara or Crystal or Seabourne or other such lines feeling the way you do. Royal Caribbean would love for it's ...shall we say "Seasoned" cruisers to move on to Celebrity and

Azamara. They are indeed marketing Royal Caribbean heavily to Families and new cruisers. They are a business and have evolved over time as has cruising in general. They want people like you to "evolve" to their more expensive lines. That is exactly their marketing strategy.

 

Trying to compare cruising in the 1980's to today's cruising is not going to work. Like comparing night and day.

 

EDIT: Crap, didn't mean a thread hijack. If that was my minor age daughter, dudes are going over the side.

 

Would love to cruise with you - you have a great attitude!

 

Unfortunately, we have not moved on yet. We are the "seasoned" cruisers that are still bringing the new ones aboard. Comitted with other relatively new cruisers on multiplte trips to a total of 30 nights in '12 (yes, we are still well within cancel window).

 

This will probably be our last year with Royal though.

 

Really hate to go to X or HAL - I HATE scrabble.

[tanelicus]

What does people being first time cruisers have on the issue of a rape on a cruise ship? Don't see the correlation.

 

How are the parents even remotely to blame. The girl was at a teen club, meant for teens. These things can and do happen at local parks, malls and other places. It tragic, but it does happen. I think people expect people to keep their kids connected to the umbilical cord, even in their teen years.

 

Even if the parents told her to only stay in the club or her own room, doesn't mean she is going to listen.

 

What these boys did was entirely on them.