Will you still cruise Europe?

[newmexicoNita]

Canderson and NewMexicoNita,

Not all people are perhaps as well traveled as you are. I have been to Europe many times and I was asking a question. Obviously, you feel I have no right to ask such a question. If it were your first trip to Europe, and haven't been to NYC (I lived on Long Island for many years) your ideas might be different. If My question is below your standards, I apologize, but it was my question.

 

Katie

Katie, I don't think anyone including myself meant our statements as an insult to you for asking the question: I was just a bit surprised as I really can't imagine very many people that would let something like yesterday's tragedy stop them. It does somehow make the situation in Aruba take a back seat. yes, we are lucky enough to travel both in America and across the ocean, but even before we started traveling, about 25 years ago I never would have thought about the damgers involved. As a child I took the streetcar from our little community to downtown LA all the time. I knew to be careful and not talk to strangers. Things are much worse now, but we still can't let anyone or anything keep us prisoners which is what these nuts would like to see us become. I just say a prayer whenever we are about to board a plane or a ship or when we are taking a road trip for that matter. NMnita

[Tuna]

There are not too many places you can go now if you're trying to avoid any place that has experienced terrorism or violence. I do find it a little surprising that being in London bothers you more than the 8 hour flight over there. We all have the right to ask our questions but also have the right to comment on the silliness of other people's questions.

[98Charlie]

Katie

 

There are a number of people who go into various levels of concern when anything like this happens. It ranges all the way from "ho-hum" to "OMG head for the bunkers they're coming to get me".

 

I remember after 9-11 there was a major power grid failure that involved Columbus, Cleveland and beyond. It was amazing the number of folks who were in the "OMG" group.

 

I wouldn't fault you for re-thinking your plans. However, for me, it looks like a golden opportunity to find some good fares!

 

Grandfather was in France WWI, Dad Italy WWII, I was in during VietNam, and son recently returned from Iraq. With due prudence I will go where I want, when I want as an American citizen.

 

Charlie (could someone hold my flag while I go get a cup of coffee?)

[benjamins]

The truth of the matter is the odds of getting killed or injured in a terrorist attack is low as they don't happen very frequently. If and when these attacks occur with frequency, like say the frequency of car bombs in Iraq, or perhaps attacks in Israel, I think there would be a strong reduction in tourism in places where these attacks occur. It wouldn't be about any perception of letting anyone win, but about sensible self-preservation and staying out of danger.

 

Are London and other major cities and regions of Western Europe high-risk? I don't think so. And I think that's why people will go there, not because they are standing up to anything but think they won't be targets due to the odds. Those that travel to Israel or the Kazhmir region of India face higher odds of being victims of an attack. Also, Russia in areas the Checnyans rebels operate. I think the real brave people are those that go to the Congo and Darfur and other truly dangerous areas and work to assist people there. They are putting themselves in harm's way.

 

I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable voyage and vacation.

[excitedofharpenden]

Katie, I think it would be sad if you reconsidered your Europe trip. You'd be missing out on a lot, including being able to laugh in the face of the terrorists and what they are trying to achieve.

 

I have been to the US a number of times since 9/11 and don't even give a thought to the possibility of terrorism. If my numbers up, then it's up. Now the busy road I cross every day? THAT worries me;):D

 

Thanks to everyone on these boards for the thoughts and support you have shown. I am thinking of those people affected by yesterday's events.

 

Phil

[Ships R Great]

Phil---so glad you are safe. My sympathies to you for those you might have known, or know, who were injured or killed yesterday. On one cruise two years ago I met the nicest young man from GB. We exchanged emails but I never got around to getting in touch. I plan to do that today.

[hajekfam]

Why are people surprised by this question? It was nearly the same question on these boards after 9/11 - except then it was asking about cruising anywhere.

We were on the Millie transatlantic just a few weeks after 9/11 - the only reason we would have cancelled was if the flights to Europe hadn't started back up. And we were asked that question not just on this board, but from family and friends also!

[Queenk2]

Last year my son and several classmates were scheduled for a school trip to Spain. When the bombings occurred in Madrid, my father tried to get us to cancel his trip. We refused, he went and he came home safely.

 

My husband works in Lower Manhattan right across from the World Trade site and my older son works there in the summers. They ride the trains and the subways. Do I worry? Absolutely. Can we let terrorism stop us? No. Like others have said, then the terrorists win.

 

Next week we leave for our Med cruise. We’re not scheduled to fly through London, but I’d happily go there.

 

 

I agree with my entire being. My son also works across the street from the WTC. My daughter goes to Law School downtown. My husbandis office is in the village and he is associated with St. Vincents. I worry about them all the time,however if I stop living my life, I have allowed my enemies to win!

Karen

[Desertbelle]

Not only would I cruise Europe again, my bags are only half unpacked, I could have them repacked and be to the airport in 60 minutes if I could!!

 

Anyone with doubts can send me their tickets, and I would gladly save them from the horrors of putting themselves in danger.....it's a difficult job, but someone has to do it!! :D :D :D

[new_cruiser]

Was it Blair who said something yesterday like the terrorist's objective is to create terror and we shouldn't let them win by doing it? Like others here, I won't let them do that to me.

 

This isn't foolishly ignoring danger. Realistically, one is in more danger of death or injury in a traffic accident on a trip to Europe than from a terrorist incident (especially in England where us right-side-of-the-road folk might forget to look the right direction when stepping off the curb). I decided in college more than 30 years ago that I wasn't going to let fear of dangers blown out of proportion affect my lifestyle. I reaffirmed that decision recently after someone attempted to rob me with a sawed-off shot gun pointed at my face (in a place close to home and not a "high crime area"). I'd rather have lived 50 some years as I have then a 100 years skulking around in fear.

 

London is one of my favorite cities. I happened to arrive there on the morning of 9/11 and, like hoover 5000, found them to be very supportive. I'd love to go again. Around the time I was first thinking of the Istanbul-Athens cruise we just finished, the bombs in Istanbul occurred and that didn't change our plans. Istanbul is a lovely city and was the highlight of the trip.

[chessbriar]

Come on, why not go to Europe?

 

Anytime you step foot on a cruise ship you have boarded a major terrorist target no matter if it's Europe, Alaska, the Caribbean, or South America.

 

If you don't travel, they win.

 

I have and will continue to travel.

 

I was all set to fly from Ft Luaderdale to Pittsburgh just 4 days after the attack. Tropical Storm Gloria killed that idea, so I drove home.

[RedSoxNation]

Yes. I leave in just over a week and will spend 3 weeks in Europe - 2 of them on a Med cruise. I think we've all learned it doesn't matter where you are in the world - you're not "safe" from terrorism in the sense that something could happen but we have to keep on living life. You're not always "safe" from a car accident, plane crash, lightening, tornado, etc, etc....you take precautions but keep living. Are there places I avoid traveling unfortunately yes but Europe as a whole is not one of them.

[CamelliaCity]

<sigh> <gulp> YES, and continue to pray for world peace

[CamelliaCity]

<sigh> <gulp> YES, and continue to pray for world peace:eek:

[cfprunner]

Sure I will. Why not? Is the US any safer?

[Pincus]

Why not?

 

Pincus

[Wirral]

My daughter and I travelled to NY one month after 9/11. We were determined to show that we would not be detered by the bombings. We had a wonderful time even if we could not do all that we had originally planned. We live in England, but in the North not London. However we will be flying down to Heathrow at the end of the month to join the Constellation on the 30th July for a trip to Baltic.

 

During the last war my family lived in Liverpool and were bombed regularly like London. No I am not old enough to remember it I hadn't been born then! People continued with their lives despite the nightly raids. Is our generation more cowardly? I don't think so.

 

Life must go on but all those affected must be remembered in our prayers.

[cruiseguy2]

I will not let them win either. I was in New York during 9/11 (not near the World Trade Center) and my cousin is in London right now. I agree it may be scary, but we should never give up against them. They will NOT win.

 

 

-Chris

[nu2sea]

I'm not so sure that travel to Europe is a question of letting "them win." The fact is that in this war the only way we can win is to continue to live our lives the way we always have, honoring those principles that we have always stood for.

 

The early communist revolutionaries new that their acts of terror would cause the czarist government to clamp down further on civil liberties in the name of state security. The greater the infringement, the greater the restlessness of the apathetic masses. Eventually those masses would become angry enough that they would join the revolution.

 

I don't believe that today's terrorists have such a strategy (altho' they could achieve similar results). It appears from their writings that their aim is to simply kill and/or destroy all who disagree with their world vision which seems to share a lot with the Taliban and very little with Islam.

 

They won't be converted, they must simply be destroyed. In the meantime, we must take care not to become other than what we are; free people with passports that allow us to explore the world. Safety is not included.

[hermang]

15 years this fall at age 47 I had quad bypass surgery - No heart attack just 4 blocked arteries. I survived.

 

In 2001 I was traveling for business - first trip for the new company was September 9th - I awoke the morning of 9/11 in Austin Texas to see plane # 2 hit the second tower.

 

About 6 weeks later on a drive from Charlotte, NC to Roanoake, VA - I flipped my Dodge Caravan and roled it 3 times and the good lord was kind enough to have someone right behind me pulling me out of the car.

 

I am not about to let some religious nut case spoil my holiday - I value every day I am alive thank you- I would travel to Europe, The middle east ( Well Israel at any rate) and almost anywhere in the Caribbean

 

Take that you irreligious fanatics! You will NOT deter me from living my life.

 

May you blow up setting your bombs!

[jimbo23]

we are heading across the pond in a few weeks to new york city.Don't let the despicable actions of a few fanatics stop your life.If the new yorkers and londoners can get on with their lives why can't the rest of us!

 

Lenin said the purpose of terrorism is to terrorise if we let them do that they have won !!

 

happy cruising and don't miss what europe has to offer.We love the good old U.S.A. and get there when we can.You should do likewise with our home too.

[Spf12]

I will not let them win either. I was in New York during 9/11 (not near the World Trade Center) and my cousin is in London right now. I agree it may be scary, but we should never give up against them. They will NOT win.

 

 

-Chris

We have a group of 14 booked on the Millie 10/17/2006 and have no intention of canceling.Two of us are ex Green Berets from the Vietnam era and are very vigilant of our surroundings.Terrorism will be with us for the years to come so to allow 9/11,Madrid and now London to intimidate,then we all should be ashamed.

[hermang]

In a recent interview, General Norman Schwartzkopf was asked if he thought there was room for forgiveness toward the people who have harbored and abetted the terrorists who perpetrated the 9/11 attacks on America.

 

His answer was classic Schwartzkopf.

 

The General said, "I believe that forgiving them is God's function. OUR job is to arrange the meeting."

 

I think this is appropos for the scum who attacked your homeland as well

[hmg]

In a recent interview, General Norman Schwartzkopf was asked if he thought there was room for forgiveness toward the people who have harbored and abetted the terrorists who perpetrated the 9/11 attacks on America.

 

His answer was classic Schwartzkopf.

 

The General said, "I believe that forgiving them is God's function. OUR job is to arrange the meeting."

 

I think this is appropos for the scum who attacked your homeland as well

 

Perfect!

[YOW]

If we weren't so busy at work, I'd fly to London in a heartbeat. This would be my small part in giving those bastards the finger.

 

The past two days have been busy for us. People cancelling hotel rooms in, or flights to, London? Hardly any at all. Hurricane Dennis has far more people scrambling. Mother Nature is the one force for whom we sometimes have to move out of the way. For the others, as the mayor of London so eloquently stated: "you will fail."