Nightline did cruise ship story

[dkjretired]

IMHO the way the Smith case was handled was not well at all. RCL wound up having to buy off the widow and to this day have not been up-front with the facts to the parents of Mr. Smith. When they bought off the widow they made sure that she could never tell anyone exactly what happened. The parents of Mr. Smith to this day are not able to see documents and records as to what happened that night. All cruise lines try to down play problems on board and hinder any investigations of crimes. All cruise lines also under report cases of Noro on their ships. As much as I hate to see government interference, it is high time that something be done to insure passenger's rights on cruise ships. I think one should consider the rights of the parents to have information available and to know exactly what happened before passing judgment on what a great job RCL did in this case. Maybe it is

time we tried to put ourselves in the shoes of Mr. Smith's parents.

 

Problem is we can't have it both ways. If too much information is given to the parents it may infringe upon the rights of the next of kin, the wife. Its really a difficult situation, I am not a lawyer but it could be illegal to give the info to the parents.

[chessbriar]

Yes, these agencies did investigate but that does not mean that an investigation can't be started before the local agencies are able to get to the ship. Several people trained in what to do and more importantly, what not to do to a crime scene is easy to do. Every little bit helps.

But here's the big question. Since they are not law officers of any of the affected governments, US or Turkish, couldn't any investigating be seen as tampering? You need to look not only at our laws, but of the laws of all countries the ships might sail to. And if that's the case, shouldn't the UN be looking at this and not our government.

 

You hate to see things like this happen, but when you look at how RCCL explained all that went on as opposed to the media who appeared to be on a witchhunt, they did what they should have according to maritime laws.

[chessbriar]

Problem is we can't have it both ways. If too much information is given to the parents it may infringe upon the rights of the next of kin, the wife. Its really a difficult situation, I am not a lawyer but it could be illegal to give the info to the parents.

Not only that, but releasing too much info can hinder an investigation.

 

That's one thing I hate these days is how much info the media insists on giving out. A quick example, local there was a case where individuals we were throwing things from an overhead bypass on cars below. The media reports what the police are doing to try to stop it. So the perps changed to avoid being captured.

 

Let the police handle the situations and then report after it's resolved.

[ekeberg]

When I saw this piece on Nightline all I could think about is sensationalism.

The media is almost done with Anna Nicole and they need another good story.

Just listening to some reports on the two young people that fell off the Princess cruise made it seem like falling off a ship is easy to do and anyone that has been on a cruise know it takes a great deal of work or help to fall off.

 

I still feel the same as Chessbriar wrote earlier that cruise ships are safer than ones home town and I have never worried about walking down a hall at night with or without my husband.

 

Lynn

 

PS. I do think Smith's wife had some hand in his death!!!!!

[chessbriar]

When I saw this piece on Nightline all I could think about is sensationalism.

The media is almost done with Anna Nicole and they need another good story.

Just listening to some reports on the two young people that fell off the Princess cruise made it seem like falling off a ship is easy to do and anyone that has been on a cruise know it takes a great deal of work or help to fall off.

 

I still feel the same as Chessbriar wrote earlier that cruise ships are safer than ones home town and I have never worried about walking down a hall at night with or without my husband.

 

Lynn

 

PS. I do think Smith's wife had some hand in his death!!!!!

Lynn,

 

Just to make you feel a little safer, while we were on the Galaxy they were in the process of adding 300 more security camera on top of the 400 they had.

[land lover]

Off the subject a little but does anyone know if the cruise line can refuse passage to people who have been arrested for certain offences? Since they do back ground checks on us, don't they know up front at who the potential trouble makers might be?

[StknCPA]

That's the problem. The jurisdictional lines have traditionally been vague at sea - despite (primarily) US efforts to make itself the world's policeman. Otherwise, as non-governmental entities the lines have somewhat limited authority over passengers short of putting them ashore.

 

The Smith case - whatever its merits or demerits - raised the overall issue that the lines have no economic incentive whatsoever to act as a forensic investigative policing agency (it's not there business); keeping 'drunk and disorderly' pax and pilphering crewman at bay is tough enough. As the number of cruisers increases multifold in size as do the ships carrying them, the probability of serious crime increases; it is a tricky problem given the jurisdictional issues that DO NOT change.

 

If the Smith case did anything positive, it showed the lines what sort of publicity they want to avoid. A certain naiveté undoubtedly existed among passengers about their security on board. Nonetheless, one thing the lines don't want is a false sense of insecurity that might drive good potential pax away. Given that incentive, I'm remain more comfortable at sea than ashore.

 

Yes, Americans tend to forget that when we are out of the USA, the rules of the USA do not apply. (And, that other rules do apply and need to be followed!)

 

Separately, while much of the world, including our allies, loudly complains that the USA should not be the world's police, many countries are taking advantage of the situation. Check out the decreasing military and diplomatic budgets of many of our allies.

[Bodger]

To expect the governments of Panama or the Bahamas or wherever the ships are registered and who have the jurisdiction and responsibility to investigate is dreaming in Tecnicolour.

 

The politicians like this topic because they can spout off all they want knowing that in the end they have no jurisdiction, and therefore don't have to do anything. (Call me a cynic.) They are really ticked off at the $billions$ being made in profits by the cruise industry that they can't tax. They might let up somewhat on the cruise industry if they paid lots of taxes.

 

I feel safer on board than I do in some ports of call. One can put themselves at risk almost anywhere if they do not use a little common sense.

 

Bodger

[shoreless]

Maybe a detective onboard wouldn't be such a bad idea. Has Cunard done that in the past or is that just something I dreamed up?

 

I'm not sure if it really happened, but, if not, if it might have been Conrad Allen that dreamed it up first. :D