St Petersburg Explosion

[SellaVee]

Last year on our Baltic cruise on Nautica we booked a 3 day private tour which included a trip on the Metro, which is fabulous in terms of architecture/design. Breaking news in the UK is that there have been explosions at 2 different stations this afternoon. I wonder if tourism is now under attack in Russia.

 

I'm sure if it is, SPB and the other operators will be in touch with their clients but I'm left thinking "Where next?" Which, of course, Is what terrorism is all about .....

[Mura]

My first reaction upon hearing the news early this morning was that it was terrorism. When I turned on the computer and saw there were explosions at two stations I was sure of it. But hard to know who is responsible at this early stage.

 

We took the subway with our guide when we were there in May '01 ... a sad thing that the favorite targets are innocents.

[ORV]

I'm supposed to be there in early Sept. Hmm. :confused:

[ronrick1943]

I really wouldn't worry about it, something can happen any place you go.

[I_r_a]

From https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/03/world/europe/st-petersburg-russia-explosion.html?_r=0

 

> the explosion occurred before the evening rush hour.

 

Sounds like a home-grown protest rather than international terrorism.

 

Ira

[RJB]

From https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/03/world/europe/st-petersburg-russia-explosion.html?_r=0

 

> the explosion occurred before the evening rush hour.

 

Sounds like a home-grown protest rather than international terrorism.

 

Ira

I guess we will just have to wait and see. Too early to make any judgement. We were on that subway a few years ago and loved being there. . Too bad for the locals who take the train every day and the tourists who would like to ride the train and see the beautiful stations.

[Mura]

I just heard on the news that it was two female Chechen suicide bombers. Not sure if that's accurate, but that is what CBS said.

[orchestrapal]

I just heard on the news that it was two female Chechen suicide bombers. Not sure if that's accurate, but that is what CBS said.

 

As of early yesterday all the British and Israeli newspapers already said it was a man as the US papers say this morning.

Let's keep to cruise news here and leave the rest to our outstanding press.:)

[Cahpek]

Talking about security, isn't it time that cruise liners (not just Oceania but all cruise companies) take more attention towards security? We cannot just think that terrorists only attack ports and cities on land. Sure, it will affect and inconvenience a lot of people if security checks are increased, but would your safety not come before your inconvenience?

 

We wonder how often and how thoroughly cruise liners scan suitcases and luggages when they get on board?

 

And we hope too that they do a thorough security check on the background of their staff before they are employed. And even that, they need to be regularly monitored, just in case they might be "influenced" by any terrorist organisation during their employment.

 

And what about port staff? Are they thoroughly vetted before they are employed as tightly as they do for airports? And same goes with others involved in servicing the ships, including delivery personnel.

 

Also, are passengers being given basic instructions on what to do if a terrorist incident occur? Or are they left to their own devices?

 

And God forbid, if there was any security incident on board any cruise ship, how well-trained are their staff to deal that? They are trained to deal with evacuations and practice emergency drills regularly, but what about terrorist attacks, do they get any practice on how what to do? Does any of their security personnel even know how to handle armed attackers?

 

We are fortunate that cruises are so-far free from terrorism. But we cannot take things for granted.

 

Sorry to have to mention this, this is not a very pleasant subject to discuss, but in this troublesome age we live in, we may have to be realistic, and be prepared, When you are prepared, you could hopefully discourage and prevent such incidences happening. We all want a safe and enjoyable cruise.

Edited April 4, 2017 by Cahpek

[RJB]

As of early yesterday all the British and Israeli newspapers already said it was a man as the US papers say this morning.

Let's keep to cruise news here and leave the rest to our outstanding press.:)

What outstanding press are you talking about? They can hardly get anything right. Our Oceania cruisers can do a better job of reporting what is going on than most of the press. :(:(:(

[Paulchili]

What outstanding press are you talking about? They can hardly get anything right. Our Oceania cruisers can do a better job of reporting what is going on than most of the press. :(:(:(

 

I suspect Orchestrapal was being facetious.

That aside, we DO have an outstanding press. Were it not for our outstanding press we still might have an agent of a foreign government (or 2 governments) as a National Security Advisor (he wasn't fired until after the press exposed what the WH knew for over 2 weeks and wasn't concerned about it!)

But as Orchestrapal suggested - let's keep to cruise news.

[RJB]

I suspect Orchestrapal was being facetious.

That aside, we DO have an outstanding press. Were it not for our outstanding press we still might have an agent of a foreign government (or 2 governments) as a National Security Advisor (he wasn't fired until after the press exposed what the WH knew for over 2 weeks and wasn't concerned about it!)

But as Orchestrapal suggested - let's keep to cruise news.

O.K. Cruise news it is, but sometimes world news and cruise news are very interconnected and we need to know both to make an informed decision as to what we should be doing and where we should or should not travel to.