Violent Crime on Cruise Ships

[wwcruisers]

 

Yes and no. At home, I have a deadbolt that no one else has a key to. On a cruise ship, staff members have pass keys that will bypass the deadbolt.

 

 

Any concern I would have would be sharing a ship with hundreds of employees of questionable origin, who have not been properly screened by a criminal background check, who can bypass my stateroom's deadbolt with their passkey.

 

 

I don't know if you have mentioned what ship you are sailing on -- different ships have different door lock designs. But, I can tell you that Celebrity ships have two locks: the regular lock that is opened by your passkey/card. But, below that is a deadbolt that you turn to lock, from the inside. The passkey does not open that lock.

 

And, as we found out, not everybody has a key to it. We were rushing back to our room after breakfast one morning, on Millennium. We were going back to get our sunscreen, etc, for a shore excursion. Well, we couldn't open our cabin door with either of our passkeys. Our room steward saw us, and tried his key -- nope, that didn't work either. Turned out that the deadbolt had somehow fallen into place, the last time we had closed the door. Nobody on the cabin crew had a key, so they had to page the chief of security to come unlock the deadbolt from the outside. We also had maintenance come fix that deadbolt, so we wouldn't get locked out of our cabin again. :eek:

 

So, when you are in your cabin and you don't want staff coming in, just use your "do not disturb" sign, and dead-bolt your door. I've never had any crew member on any ship come in when I had the "do not disturb" sign out. :cool:

[OKCruiseMan]

It is wise to be concerned about safety. However, it may be more appropriate to focus on your safety while in port and on your excursions than while on the ship.

[notentirelynormal]

Any concern I would have would be sharing a ship with hundreds of employees of questionable origin, who have not been properly screened by a criminal background check, who can bypass my stateroom's deadbolt with their passkey.

 

I guess my question to you would be - how do you figure crew members are "of questionable origin"? Are you saying that people from the Philippines, Italy, Mexico, Europe, South America, Canada etc. are bad people simply because they are from a foreign country? How exactly do you know that they have never done a criminal background check on employees? You are making a huge assumption based on minimal information with a very closed mind.

 

I was going to make another comment about the above but my momma taught me if you can't say anything nice about someone, don't say anything at all.

 

Like OKCruiseMan said - you should be more concerned about your days in port than someone breaking into your room and attacking you.

 

Since it's your honeymoon won't your husband be with you when you are in bed or even just in your cabin? The chances of someone trying to rape you while you are sleeping/with your husband next to you on a cruise ship....give me a break. I don't care how hot you are, why would anyone take the chance?

[MSN-Travelers]

Honestly, what prompted the concern was when I went to Youtube and typed in "cruise ship crime". Watching all of the news reports about women and minors being raped by crew members and people disappearing without a trace off cruise ships... well, that was enough to get me worried.

 

. . . .

 

Yes and no. At home, I have a deadbolt that no one else has a key to. On a cruise ship, staff members have pass keys that will bypass the deadbolt.

 

. . . .

 

Thanks! and yes... I definitely realize that the media tries to sensationalize things just to get higher ratings.

 

Based on a number of the responses here, I think some of you may have misunderstood my concerns. I understand that luggage is scanned and there is proper pre-boarding security, so other passengers are a non-issue. I'm not worried about them.

 

Any concern I would have would be sharing a ship with hundreds of employees of questionable origin, who have not been properly screened by a criminal background check, who can bypass my stateroom's deadbolt with their passkey.

 

Also, in the event any of them commit a crime, they are often sent back to their home country by the cruise line before US authorities can get ahold of them... All in the name of preventing bad publicity for the cruise line (having violent crime convictions on their crews' records).

 

Yes, I understand that statistically it is unlikely that crime will occur, but I think my concerns are valid. I saw proof of that in the online news broadcasts, reporting stories of women and children being raped by crew members who had passkeys, entering locked staterooms. Even if they are rare, these crimes DO indeed occur and can be life-changing.

 

Will this affect my decision to cruise? Absolutely not! But I do think that it is something that we all need to be cognisant of.

 

 

I couldn't agree more. While in an unfamiliar area, you need to exercise caution and stay aware of your surroundings. I see a lot of people on this thread downplaying the dangers with an "it couldn't possibly happen to me" attitude. Well, it is just that very same false sense of security that victims are made of.

 

It is a fact of life, bad things can happen to good people no matter where they are or what they have done to try and protect themselves.

 

Do you think you have discovered the holy grail of dirty little cruise secrets? Do you feel it is your mission in life to EDUCATE the world? Your statement makes it pretty clear that your whole purpose behind this thread is to fear monger.

Edited December 27, 2013 by MSN-Travelers

[nlsoftly]

If you want sensationalism, hit the internet and go looking. It is out there waiting for you.

 

If one of you really does not want to go cruising, then discuss it and don't start your marriage doing something one of you finds stressful or uncomfortable.

 

Sadly, we live in a world where a certain level of security has to be on everyone's mind. When the male steward knows my DH is not in the room but I am, it is rare that he will enter. Conversely, DH has had female stewards defer entering until they know I am there too.

 

Based on my experience as president of the 'never met a stranger' club, I find most of staff I come in contact with are very aware that this job is giving their children a better life than any they could provide if they stayed at home, miss their families terribly, will pull out family pictures to share, and are very very professional in every interaction. And that includes crew and staff I run into while wandering the almost empty ship at 4 in the morning, cup of coffee and book in hand.

 

Can bad people get hired? Of course they can. Can bad people buy tickets and come on board? Of course they can. Can you be the victim of road rage, or a burglary, or be grabbed by someone hiding in a crowded parking lot, or have an airplane fall out of the sky? Of course you can.

 

Really, if you are scared use common sense, stay in public areas, step out of the room if a steward needs to enter. If you aren't crazy about the idea of cruising, that is alright too. Some of us are addicts, but it is not for everyone.

[Cruisin' Chick]

If you want sensationalism, hit the internet and go looking. It is out there waiting for you.

 

If one of you really does not want to go cruising, then discuss it and don't start your marriage doing something one of you finds stressful or uncomfortable.

 

Sadly, we live in a world where a certain level of security has to be on everyone's mind. When the male steward knows my DH is not in the room but I am, it is rare that he will enter. Conversely, DH has had female stewards defer entering until they know I am there too.

 

Based on my experience as president of the 'never met a stranger' club, I find most of staff I come in contact with are very aware that this job is giving their children a better life than any they could provide if they stayed at home, miss their families terribly, will pull out family pictures to share, and are very very professional in every interaction. And that includes crew and staff I run into while wandering the almost empty ship at 4 in the morning, cup of coffee and book in hand.

 

Can bad people get hired? Of course they can. Can bad people buy tickets and come on board? Of course they can. Can you be the victim of road rage, or a burglary, or be grabbed by someone hiding in a crowded parking lot, or have an airplane fall out of the sky? Of course you can.

 

Really, if you are scared use common sense, stay in public areas, step out of the room if a steward needs to enter. If you aren't crazy about the idea of cruising, that is alright too. Some of us are addicts, but it is not for everyone.

 

I agree with most of the posts. I have to wonder why someone will deliberately go looking for negative reasons not to go on a cruise, unless they really don't want to go. If that's the case, you should be talking to your fiance about your desire to do another kind of honeymoon. Personally I have a fear of flying, but the desire to go on a Hawaiian honeymoon took preference for me. Before my first cruise, I wouldn't have sought out that kind of vacation. In fact, I even had a chance to take a free cruise (as long as I paid for the flight back) when one of our clients, a cruise line, had some cabins to fill, and it was decided to offer them for free to our employees as a thank you. It was only when I met my future husband, who had already enjoyed a first cruise, that I decided to be a sport and go on one.

 

But if you really don't want to go, even if your fiance wants to go, that's between the two of you. Obviously with the high numbers of repeat cruisers, many haven't had any problems with on-board crimes. There are some websites that will sell the problems. There's at least one (besides the one mentioned on the first page of this thread) run by a lawyer who specializes in suing cruise lines. Obviously, he wants people to feel they can come to him. He's not doing this out of altruism.

 

Maybe you do some searching around here and found the thread about someone who had problems with a cabin steward entering her cabin. That developed into a discussion about dead bolts. But seriously, if there's an emergency, there could be a need to check all cabins, which means they would need a means to bypass the deadbolt. And even at home, if police or fire feel there's a need to get into your house, they would cut down your door.

 

If this is a concern of yours, you'll meet your cabin steward the first day and you can find out when he/she plans to service your cabin. I'm sure a word about your honeymoon may even let him know to be extra careful about knocking first and allowing time for you to, um, make sure you're presentable. The thread I mentioned above was about a very rare occurence. Cabin stewards will usually do turn-down service while you're at dinner and leave the next day's newsletter and a chocolate on your bed. If the newsletter isn't available at that time, it will usually be put in an in-box (if your ship has then by each cabin) or slipped under your door. We have never had a cabin steward go through the trouble of opening our cabin just for the newsletter, and at other times, our stewards have always knocked on the door, unless we have the "make up our cabin sign" outside, for any reason such as refreshing an ice bucket or putting in fresh towels. Never an intrusion.

 

I would be more concern about some ports or even what's happening back home, when it comes to crime.

[bbwex]

The new law does require the reporting of literally everything. So while the numbers have jumped, many of the reported events were not worth reporting in many cases.

 

Of course there is always the chance that there will be some criminal activity, however, as many have said the crime rate is very, very, very low when you consider that 21 million people cruise per year.

 

Cruise ships have one thing that criminals really hate -- nowhere to go! Criminals don't like to be trapped, so a cruise ship is not a good place to do something and then try to get away. Even if they run away at the next port, the ship knows who they are and can identify them. Such a place is not a place for a criminal to do his or her thing.

 

Crew members do come from all over the world, though mostly from Eastern Europe and the Caribbean, and deck hands are mostly from the Philippines. While they are most often seeing a life style they are unaccustomed to, they generally do not want to jeopardize their jobs by committing petty crimes, much less anything serious. I cannot speak for what checks the cruise lines do, but the majority of the crew members have been doing the work for a long time and are well-known to the cruise line. Between the pay and the tips, the majority of these employees are making more than they could make at home. A sad statement but true.

[Steviewonder1]

On the ship I have no issues. It is when I go into an unknown port and into areas that I have never travelled before that I scan everyone and everything. I profile everyone that is coming toward me and those around them. I travel in Condition Yellow, which is a term for being aware of my surroundings vs Condition White where I haven't got a clue as to what is going on around me. It does not take much looking to see if someone is following you or staying close for whatever reason. There is a ton of info out there on Personal Protection and how to remain aware of your surroundings. The basic thing here is keep your Eyes Open and look around you and see what is going on and then decide what to do. The last thing I worry about are Stats of things on the Internet!

[notentirelynormal]

Yes, I understand that statistically it is unlikely that crime will occur, but I think my concerns are valid. I saw proof of that in the online news broadcasts, reporting stories of women and children being raped by crew members who had passkeys, entering locked staterooms.

 

Children being raped? This is the other part of OP's comments that bothers me. She makes it sound like children get raped all the time. I recall a few times when there has been molesting but I'd be interested to hear from her just how many children have been raped and where she saw this proof.

[donaldsc]

There is violent crime everywhere, even in your home town. If you have to worry about these things, you will never travel anywhere.

 

DON

[AKAMum]

Re: multiple crew members having pass keys to cabins.

 

Having worked in land-based hotels, the hotel (ie, accommodation/cabin) section of cruise ships would work on a similar basis in terms of granting access to cabins only when required to perform your job - a cabin steward would be highly unlikely to have keys to all passenger cabins. On a cruise ship they may keep their keys on them at all times or sign them in and out, eg of a safe, when they start and end their shift but there would always be a record of who had which keys at what time.

 

There would be a heirarchy of pass keys. Certain senior officers/staff would have master keys that can open every cabin door, eg head of housekeeping, head of security, head of maintenance. On a cruise ship it would be likely these officers would keep their keys on their person at all times.

 

Supervisors and stewards would have keys that open the cabins only in the section/s they supervise/clean, eg, a deck or portion of a deck. These would likely be signed in and out at the start and end of a shift and they would only have the key/s relevant to the areas they were responsible for.

 

I left working in hotels just as electronic key cards started to be used and cruise ships may work a little differently but the way we were set up was that housekeepers, supervisors and general maintenance staff had key cards that opened the rooms relevant to their job. If an actual key was needed to bypass a deadlock, then someone higher up had to be called to open the door.

[luddite]

Honestly, what prompted the concern was when I went to Youtube and typed in "cruise ship crime". Watching all of the news reports about women and minors being raped by crew members and people disappearing without a trace off cruise ships... well, that was enough to get me worried.

 

 

 

Yes and no. At home, I have a deadbolt that no one else has a key to. On a cruise ship, staff members have pass keys that will bypass the deadbolt.

 

 

 

Thanks! and yes... I definitely realize that the media tries to sensationalize things just to get higher ratings.

 

Based on a number of the responses here, I think some of you may have misunderstood my concerns. I understand that luggage is scanned and there is proper pre-boarding security, so other passengers are a non-issue. I'm not worried about them.

 

Any concern I would have would be sharing a ship with hundreds of employees of questionable origin, who have not been properly screened by a criminal background check, who can bypass my stateroom's deadbolt with their passkey.

 

Also, in the event any of them commit a crime, they are often sent back to their home country by the cruise line before US authorities can get ahold of them... All in the name of preventing bad publicity for the cruise line (having violent crime convictions on their crews' records).

 

Yes, I understand that statistically it is unlikely that crime will occur, but I think my concerns are valid. I saw proof of that in the online news broadcasts, reporting stories of women and children being raped by crew members who had passkeys, entering locked staterooms. Even if they are rare, these crimes DO indeed occur and can be life-changing.

 

Will this affect my decision to cruise? Absolutely not! But I do think that it is something that we all need to be cognisant of.

 

 

 

I couldn't agree more. While in an unfamiliar area, you need to exercise caution and stay aware of your surroundings. I see a lot of people on this thread downplaying the dangers with an "it couldn't possibly happen to me" attitude. Well, it is just that very same false sense of security that victims are made of.

 

This is worthy of some kind of award. It is simply an amazing read.

Where did get the idea that there are so many people with a passkey to your cabin? Where did get the notion of hundreds of crewmembers of questionable origin working a ship? And what does 'questionable origin' actually mean.

 

Children being raped and disappearing forever? Seriously, what do you think happens on a cruise ship?

 

This is one of the most xenophobic diatribes I've ever read.

Yikes.

[MermaidWatcher]

Sounds like you have stumbled onto the "Cruise Law" web sight. To put it in perspective , this is hosted by a law firm that is pretty much an ambulance chaser of the maritime world.

Not saying that there is not any crime on ships, but I have never been on a vessel where anything violent happened, and news about bad events involving passengers spreads very quickly on board.

Just like anywhere you are, a little common sense is required.

[SuitCaseBears]

Honestly, what prompted the concern was when I went to Youtube and typed in "cruise ship crime".

 

Well that was mistake number 1

 

Watching all of the news reports about women and minors being raped by crew members and people disappearing without a trace off cruise ships... well, that was enough to get me worried.

 

 

Yes and no. At home, I have a deadbolt that no one else has a key to. On a cruise ship, staff members have pass keys that will bypass the deadbolt.

 

And you never leave your house?

 

Any concern I would have would be sharing a ship with hundreds of employees of questionable origin, who have not been properly screened by a criminal background check, who can bypass my stateroom's deadbolt with their passkey.

 

And this criminal element would sign up to rob or rape or whatever on a ship, where they have to go through months of training first, have references checked, then cannot disappear after they do their dastardly deed, and they can be deported and never go home... why?

 

Also, in the event any of them commit a crime, they are often sent back to their home country by the cruise line before US authorities can get ahold of them... All in the name of preventing bad publicity for the cruise line (having violent crime convictions on their crews' records).

 

Most criminals would rather be sent to the US where they have a huge number of constitutional protections than be sent to a lot of other countries where "justice" is swift and often draconian.

 

Yes, I understand that statistically it is unlikely that crime will occur, but I think my concerns are valid. I saw proof of that in the online news broadcasts, reporting stories of women and children being raped by crew members who had passkeys, entering locked staterooms. Even if they are rare, these crimes DO indeed occur and can be life-changing.

 

Will this affect my decision to cruise? Absolutely not! But I do think that it is something that we all need to be cognisant of.

 

I think you should change your decision.

 

I couldn't agree more. While in an unfamiliar area, you need to exercise caution and stay aware of your surroundings. I see a lot of people on this thread downplaying the dangers with an "it couldn't possibly happen to me" attitude. Well, it is just that very same false sense of security that victims are made of.

 

There's a huge difference between saying "what steps do people take to ensure their safety, and posting the fear mongering, out of context hysteria that you posted.

[papcx]

I think the OPs concern is a reflection of our times, in that a google search or Wikipedia page is taken as absolute fact. Yes crime, even serious crime can, and possibly does (only 4 cruises, but I've not heard of any) happen on a cruise ship, but it can happen anywhere.

 

To totally dismiss the OP concerns would be wrong, the collective knowledge of the members of this board is a phenomenal resource, it's a shame it takes some cruisers so long to find this board.

 

Similarly, it's possible a little naive of the OP to suggests a multi-billion £€$ industry is rife with crime and no punishment. If you look hard enough, you'll find unsavoury information about all holiday locations, pass-times and even work places. It's a wonder any of us leave the house! :D

[Fredbrot]

Take the same precautions that you would take anywhere else that you would go. Don't make yourself a target. Keep your valuables locked up. While visiting a port, don't carry large sums of money with you. Basically, just use common sense. Relax and enjoy your cruise. Of much greater concern is the likelihood that you'll become addicted to cruising. And that's not a bad addiction to have.:)

 

When you are on vacation, do you leave the door to your hotel room wide open or closed? Do you leave your valuables laying out or do you put them in the room safe? Do you flash a wad of $100's around when you are out walking? Beachbum 53 hit the nail on the head. Just use common sense. Don't make yourself a target. I find the ships to be very safe. Every town has areas to stay away from and not to walk alone at night in. Check out the section on Ports of Call. Enjoy.

[crewzr]

I guess my question to you would be - how do you figure crew members are "of questionable origin"? Are you saying that people from the Philippines, Italy, Mexico, Europe, South America, Canada etc. are bad people simply because they are from a foreign country? How exactly do you know that they have never done a criminal background check on employees? You are making a huge assumption based on minimal information with a very closed mind.

 

No, when I said "questionable origin", I wasn't implying that anyone is inherently bad, just because they come from a specific country. I was referring to an online story where they interviewed a representative of a major cruise line and he stated that, while cruise lines do conduct a one-on-one interview before hiring someone, they really don't do a background check of any kind. Depending on the country of hire, often that type of information is non-existant or difficult to obtain.

 

 

Since it's your honeymoon won't your husband be with you when you are in bed or even just in your cabin? The chances of someone trying to rape you while you are sleeping/with your husband next to you on a cruise ship....give me a break. I don't care how hot you are, why would anyone take the chance?

 

Speaking of making assumptions, you are pretty guilty of that, yourself. For your information, I am a man. LOL. Also, my concern is not so much for myself, but for my new wife. And yes, she is very hot. :)

 

As for the scenario that you presented, it isn't very realistic to assume that a man and his wife would be together every single minute of the entire cruise. For example, I saw a news story about a couple in the ship's casino. She got tired and went back to their room, while he stayed to gamble. A crew member saw that she had been drinking and followed her back to the stateroom and used his passkey to get in... and you can figure out the rest.

 

...Do you think you have discovered the holy grail of dirty little cruise secrets? Do you feel it is your mission in life to EDUCATE the world? Your statement makes it pretty clear that your whole purpose behind this thread is to fear monger.

 

No. I haven't discovered anything new. No, it is not my "mission" to educate the world, although maybe you could take a course in manners. Your snarky remarks are not appreciated.

 

If you consider me showing genuine concern for the safety and welfare of my new wife being a "fear monger", then I guess that is what I am guilty of.

 

Maybe you do some searching around here and found the thread about someone who had problems with a cabin steward entering her cabin. That developed into a discussion about dead bolts.

 

Yep. I saw that thread and it was pretty disturbing to hear about how many people have been walked in on' date=' regardless of whether or not they locked the deadbolt of their stateroom or put out the "do not disturb" sign.

 

If this is a concern of yours, you'll meet your cabin steward the first day and you can find out when he/she plans to service your cabin. I'm sure a word about your honeymoon may even let him know to be extra careful about knocking first and allowing time for you to, um, make sure you're presentable. The thread I mentioned above was about a very rare occurence. Cabin stewards will usually do turn-down service while you're at dinner and leave the next day's newsletter and a chocolate on your bed. If the newsletter isn't available at that time, it will usually be put in an in-box (if your ship has then by each cabin) or slipped under your door. We have never had a cabin steward go through the trouble of opening our cabin just for the newsletter, and at other times, our stewards have always knocked on the door, unless we have the "make up our cabin sign" outside, for any reason such as refreshing an ice bucket or putting in fresh towels. Never an intrusion.

 

Thanks for the information. Sounds like having a talk with the room steward on the first day is a great idea.

 

-------------------------

 

This has been a very informative thread. It's very easy to get caught up in the hysteria and sensationalism that you see on the internet and on network news these days. It's good to know that cruising isn't nearly as dangerous as some online sources has made it seem.

 

I would like to thank everyone for their feedback, except for luddite, notentirelynormal, MSN-Travelers and SuitCaseBears, whose comments were nothing short of rude and derogatory. Thanks go out to everyone else who provided constructive and useful comments.

[John Bull]

Hey crewzr,

 

Since you knew nothing about cruising, I can understand your misconceptions based on sensationalist media stories & "wrong" websites. Yes, the website of a maritime equivalent of an ambulance-chaser is definitely one to take with a very large pinch-of-salt.;)

 

But two dozen experienced cruisers have responded, every one of them telling you - politely & not-so-politely - that you have gotten the risks all out of proportion. That you're safer from crime on a cruise ship than in a city, in a cabin than a hotel room. :)

 

By now I'd have though that any reasonable man would've accepted that unanimous advice.

So glad you've done that, & this thread can be put to bed.

Time to be looking forward to your honeymoon, & planning your cruise. :cool:

 

JB :)

Edited December 31, 2013 by John Bull

[Cruisin' Chick]

 

Yep. I saw that thread and it was pretty disturbing to hear about how many people have been walked in on, regardless of whether or not they locked the deadbolt of their stateroom or put out the "do not disturb" sign.

.

 

My point in bringing up that thread was concerning your remark about deadbolts. It was just a few people who gave their experiences (and seemed to keep talking about them). Most of the time, people are more willing to talk about a negative experience or give a negative review. It's human nature. And yes, many of the people who are regular posters on this site are very pro-cruising, but because we have had great experiences on board and not too many bad ones. Yes, there are people who may go on a cruise and have a problem, but that can be the case at a hotel. That can be the case on a plane. And that can be the case at your neighborhood grocery store.

 

It does make sense to take care and watch your surroundings when you're outside your house. But again, as I mentioned in my first post, you seem to be looking for excuses not to go on a cruise. So why not talk things out with your fiance and come up with a honeymoon that you both can be positive about. Then at some point consider taking a cruise. You may be pleasantly surprised. But going with a set state of mind, you're already setting yourself and your new bride for a less satisfactory state to your marriage, IMO.

[dsrdsrdsr]

At home, I have a deadbolt that no one else has a key to. On a cruise ship, staff members have pass keys that will bypass the deadbolt.

While I hate to worry you even more, there were several cases in the gool ol' USA last year where people were raped in their own home with the deadbolt locked. Perhaps you need to revise your idea of home security as well as holiday security.

 

(Not sure if the rapists were of questionable origin or not. But most rapists have no previous rape convictions anyway, so criminal background checks, although useful, have limited value.)

[MSN-Travelers]

.... Does anyone else out there have safety concerns? What are cruise companies doing to ensure the safety of their passengers? Considering the info above, can I be confident that my fiancé and I will be safe on our honeymoon cruise?

 

Your initial post was typical of somebody that had read or heard something that gave them cause for concern about cruising. Your follow-on posts made it pretty clear that you’re more interested in pontificating about a perceived weakness in shipboard security.

 

.... Yes, I understand that statistically it is unlikely that crime will occur, but I think my concerns are valid. I saw proof of that in the online news broadcasts, reporting stories of women and children being raped by crew members who had passkeys, entering locked staterooms. Even if they are rare, these crimes DO indeed occur and can be life-changing.

 

Will this affect my decision to cruise? Absolutely not! But I do think that it is something that we all need to be cognisant of. ....

 

.... I couldn't agree more. While in an unfamiliar area, you need to exercise caution and stay aware of your surroundings. I see a lot of people on this thread downplaying the dangers with an "it couldn't possibly happen to me" attitude. Well, it is just that very same false sense of security that victims are made of.

 

What you assume to be bad manners is frustration with people who post “educational” material that they feel the uneducated “rest of us” need to know.

 

What information did you hope to find here that could possibly make you, your wife and every other reader safe from all harm from all possible sources?

 

As everybody else has said, you are safer on a cruise ship than in just about any other venue. If you choose to believe otherwise than you are doomed to a life of perpetual fear as a victim who never leaves his/her home.

[donaldsc]

 

Does anyone else out there have safety concerns? What are cruise companies doing to ensure the safety of their passengers? Considering the info above, can I be confident that my fiancé and I will be safe on our honeymoon cruise?

 

Ultimate answer - no you can not be confidant that you will be safe. In today's world, can you be confidant anywhere - mall, movie theater, school, etc.

 

Can you be confidant that you will be as safe on the ship as anywhere else - yes.

 

If you want absolute safety, build a strong room in hour house; never leave it; and hope that an asteroid does not hit your house.

 

I have done trips where if something happened, I would die. You need to balance risks versus rewards.

 

DON

[Steviewonder1]

With all the back and forth and quoting and re-quoting here I have not seen the first comment about how the Keys are tracked. On our last cruise we paged the steward for another bucket of ice, my other nickname is "Mr. Iceman" but I don't fly fighter jets only helicopters with mini-guns but that is another story, and our cabin steward knocked on our door to give me a bucket of Ice and said that he could not deliver it as it was not his time on watch and that his key would have been seen entering a cabin for some reason that he would have to give an explanation for. Every time you or someone else uses a key to open your door, it is date and time stamped and who did it on the ship. Big Ship is watching and knows who is using what key, where and when. For donaldsc when I travel around in the US I carry a gun concealed (CCW) because I cannot carry a Police Officer. The police are here to take notes of what happened before they arrived. BTW, FBI stats show that more private citizens kill Bad Guys than Police.

[notentirelynormal]

With all the back and forth and quoting and re-quoting here I have not seen the first comment about how the Keys are tracked. On our last cruise we paged the steward for another bucket of ice, my other nickname is "Mr. Iceman" but I don't fly fighter jets only helicopters with mini-guns but that is another story, and our cabin steward knocked on our door to give me a bucket of Ice and said that he could not deliver it as it was not his time on watch and that his key would have been seen entering a cabin for some reason that he would have to give an explanation for. Every time you or someone else uses a key to open your door, it is date and time stamped and who did it on the ship. Big Ship is watching and knows who is using what key, where and when. For donaldsc when I travel around in the US I carry a gun concealed (CCW) because I cannot carry a Police Officer. The police are here to take notes of what happened before they arrived. BTW, FBI stats show that more private citizens kill Bad Guys than Police.

 

I wish you'd post this on the new thread he started about peep holes and dead bolts.

[Langley Cruisers]

I wish you'd post this on the new thread he started about peep holes and dead bolts.

 

^ Yep, I just saw that. I think OP has just scared herself silly about their first cruise. She doesn't know what to expect, and so she expects the worst. Very sad to know she is worrying about this on top of planning a wedding. :(

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