Why do people steal things on ships???

[mikewrit]

Do you honestly believe your post is going to stop someone from stealing something?

 

What may stop people from stealing is a commitment by more of us to report thieves and vandals to the ship security folks.

[pinkie1]

Did you notice all the security cameras on board the Oasis? I did, and I hope one of them caught the moron, idiot, knumbskull, imbecile, thief, low-life... (you get the picture) and brought to justice.

[cruisemom42]

Interesting comment because our family has only cruised on Carnival, the line that is reputed as attracting the party crowd, and it occurred to me when I read the op that I have never seen any type of vandalism on any of our cruises - no graffiti, no gum under tables, no missing or damaged artwork, broken furniture, anything like that. So all the instances that I've read so far (haven't read thru the whole thread) have been noted on the more "sedate lines" and I've never witnessed evidence of this on the more "active" line.

 

RCCL is a sedate line? Heaven help us........;) I wasn't singling out Carnival. The vandalism noted was on Oasis of the Seas, a RCCL ship. RCCL definitely markets to and attracts a younger, active crowd. Hence the rock walls, flow riders, ice rinks, etc, on board. Not things I would look for on a "sedate" cruise.

[Cuizer2]

Do you honestly believe your post is going to stop someone from stealing something?

 

What may stop people from stealing is a commitment by more of us to report thieves and vandals to the ship security folks.

 

Yes, that will work. Posting that one should not steal will not.

[gottahavefun]

Why have people vandalized the Pieta and the Mona Lisa? There are wackos and idiots everywhere. To be quite honest, I've not seen this kind of vandalism on the premium or luxury lines, so what's the difference? More who drink too much? Kids/Teens? Who knows, but I sure would love to know who did this on Oasis.

 

Why is it always young people/kids or drinkers? Last time I was at the auto dealership getting my car serviced, a man about 85(and sober:D) was filling his pockcts with ANYTHING that was not bolted down. Coffee,sugar packets,cups,magazines,etc...

[Cuizer2]

Why is it always young people/kids or drinkers? Last time I was at the auto dealership getting my car serviced, a man about 85(and sober:D) was filling his pockcts with ANYTHING that was not bolted down. Coffee,sugar packets,cups,magazines,etc...

 

Why was he after the small things? He should have taken one of the cars.

[gottahavefun]

Why was he after the small things? He should have taken one of the cars.

 

If only he had worn the baggy/big pockets cargo pants I think he would have tried it. ;)

 

Seriously though I was talking to the one of the salesmen and he was telling me you would not believe what people take when they go on test drives and/or from the cars in the showroom. Nobs off car stereos,the CD for the Nav. systems,etc..

 

I guess if you don't nail things down and put up a big sign saying "if it's not yours, don't take it" everything is fair game to some people:(.

[Azure Moon]

Of course, the cruiselines also have the name, address and picture of every person onboard. And video cameras covering all the public areas. It might take some time looking at tape, but wouldn't it be nice to hear that the line charges these people for their vandalism, and takes them to court if they don't pay up?

 

I was about to ask why hasn't the cruiseline review the tapes but then I guess it does take time to review the tape and then match those faces to those that were put into the computer when they walked on board. As far a previous poster mentioned that some of this stolen items are probaly going to show up on E-Bay ?! It just goes to show you the mentality of a crook. If I was a cruise line that is the first place I would look for stolen merchandise.

 

I, too, would like to see this information used to catch the people responsible for theft and/or vandalism on the ships.

 

They already know the area needing to be reviewed, so maybe a face recognition program on the ship systems would help speed up the time it takes to come up with a match of face and the person's information???

 

 

Interesting comment because our family has only cruised on Carnival, the line that is reputed as attracting the party crowd, and it occurred to me when I read the op that I have never seen any type of vandalism on any of our cruises - no graffiti, no gum under tables, no missing or damaged artwork, broken furniture, anything like that. So all the instances that I've read so far (haven't read thru the whole thread) have been noted on the more "sedate lines" and I've never witnessed evidence of this on the more "active" line.

 

Hubby and I have seen vandalism on a couple of Carnival's ships. Made me sick to my stomach and angry to see.

 

I'm glad to hear you haven't seen any vandalism or theft on any of the Carnival ships you've been on. :cool: :)

[Cuizer2]

Seriously though I was talking to the one of the salesmen and he was telling me you would not believe what people take when they go on test drives and/or from the cars in the showroom. Nobs off car stereos,the CD for the Nav. systems,etc..

 

I've never understood that. What do people do with that junk?

[mikewrit]

I've never understood that. What do people do with that junk?

Sell it on eBay?

[sadiecat]

I have never seen any vandalism on any of our NCL cruises, so if there was it must have been minimal, which of course is not all right. I am just saying I have never seen any.

[spongerob]

We have seen a few of instances of this on cruises. The big plastic chess pieces have been tossed off the ship, a life jacket locker was broken into and the jackets thrown over the side, cabins that were so thoroughly trashed that one wondered how they would be usable for the next crusie, and the worst case involved ship-wide theft and vandalism that resulted in thousands of dollars of damage (and I presume arrests since there were local police scanning ID's at disembarkation).

 

In EVERY case we have witnessed it has been unsupervised teens. This doesn't imply that all teens do this or only teens do this, but the correlation is quite strong.

[Alrana Eris]

why do people smuggle hooch on board in enema bags? wear t-shirts & jeans in the MDR? why are there chair hogs or vultures? People do it because they can get away with it . Hey What ever floats your boat.

But I highly doubt anyone hasn't in some time in their life taken a pen or napkin from somewhere in your purse or pocket. But ripping off actual displays off ships that's just wrong and how the hell do they fit it in their suitcase.

Nothing surprises me anymore in what people are capable of.

[Happy ks]

I often find it unbelievable what people will do in public without a care. They don't have to clean it up/pick it up/repair it/pay for it (well, we all do share the cost) so they simply just don't care. You wonder what their house looks like.

 

Almost 40 years ago I worked in a hotel, you would not believe what guests will pilfer. The pens are a giveaway, the guest is free to take them along with the paper provided. So are the little toiletry bottles. But the sheets/towels/bedding? Or, to stop by the maid cart and help yourself to a whole carton of toiletries?

 

So this is no new event.

 

Vandalism? Doesn't surprise me at all. Business men and women were guilty of bending wall sconces, trying to pry pictures off the walls in rooms, trying to unbolt the TV's, you name it. It wasn't just teens and drunks. Imagine their surprise when the damages were added to their room charges ;)

 

The absolute worst damage was from the Marine Corps Ball, they were never allowed back again. We were all so disappointed in them.

[muttley]

gottahavefun

Seriously though I was talking to the one of the salesmen and he was telling me you would not believe what people take when they go on test drives and/or from the cars in the showroom. Nobs off car stereos,the CD for the Nav. systems,etc..

 

and if you need one knob for your cd player and are told you have to buy a complete pack of knobs and faceplates for $35 that are special ordered you will sing a different tune. its still stealing but years ago things were different. you could walk into the dealership and say you need 1 screw or spring for the carb and they would have that one part on hand in a cabinet the size of a large dresser and it cost you a nickel. today you buy the official rebuild kit from the manufacturer and its incomplete so you have to buy other rebuild kits from 3rd parties to eventually find the one 5 cent rubber ring you can't save from your rebuild. $100 bucks spent to get a single 5 cent to $1 part. every junkyards rarely break up parts any longer. you need just the turn signal or other stalk on the steering column. you gotta buy the entire steering column. you have to be darn lucky to let a junk yard guy let you walk around the yard so you can pull a knob off and slip it in you pocket. a cd knob should cost you $1. the dealership calls the distribution center and tells them to throw a knob in a us mail envelope and you get it 4 days later.

[navybankerteacher]

gottahavefun

Seriously though I was talking to the one of the salesmen and he was telling me you would not believe what people take when they go on test drives and/or from the cars in the showroom. Nobs off car stereos,the CD for the Nav. systems,etc..

 

and if you need one knob for your cd player and are told you have to buy a complete pack of knobs and faceplates for $35 that are special ordered you will sing a different tune. its still stealing but years ago things were different. you could walk into the dealership and say you need 1 screw or spring for the carb and they would have that one part on hand in a cabinet the size of a large dresser and it cost you a nickel. today you buy the official rebuild kit from the manufacturer and its incomplete so you have to buy other rebuild kits from 3rd parties to eventually find the one 5 cent rubber ring you can't save from your rebuild. $100 bucks spent to get a single 5 cent to $1 part. every junkyards rarely break up parts any longer. you need just the turn signal or other stalk on the steering column. you gotta buy the entire steering column. you have to be darn lucky to let a junk yard guy let you walk around the yard so you can pull a knob off and slip it in you pocket. a cd knob should cost you $1. the dealership calls the distribution center and tells them to throw a knob in a us mail envelope and you get it 4 days later.

 

Are you saying that today's prices justify stealing? The problem is that everything is so complex these days -- there are no interchangeable 5 cent screws - there are complete units which need to be dropped in = partly because of complexity, partly because training people to fix things is too hard -- it is more efficient to replace a whole unit. How many of us will make the (correct) decision to throw out a TV set and buy a new one rather than pay for a repair service call?

[WeBeGone]

Why do people steal things on ships???

 

... because they are amoral idots - just like the thieves on land.

[jocap]

On our first cruise, the travel books in the lovely library were always locked up, and you had to ask the librarian.

She told me that they'd lost 100 travel books in the Caribbean months, and even had the glass doors smashed to get at them.

This was on a Princess ship.

Jo.

[gottahavefun]

Are you saying that today's prices justify stealing? The problem is that everything is so complex these days -- there are no interchangeable 5 cent screws - there are complete units which need to be dropped in = partly because of complexity, partly because training people to fix things is too hard -- it is more efficient to replace a whole unit. How many of us will make the (correct) decision to throw out a TV set and buy a new one rather than pay for a repair service call?

 

Yeah I gotta agree with ya on this one. No I don't like the fact that it is cheaper/easier to replace than repair. But and this is a BIG but, when anything is stolen, the business then has to Jack up prices to make up for said stolen items. So you complain today that x costs $5.00 today, well it costs $7 to $10 next week to make up for loss. Or worse because something gets stolen on my shift, I lose my job. Maybe the boss thinks I took it or I was not paying attention and allowed it to happen.

 

Besides I need my job and a happy boss so I can cruise:D

[Arzeena]

OMG! How can one steal a painting and get away with it with all the security cameras on ship. Does the cruise line do nothing about that? That post about the lady getting off with the 12 person dinner service made me think about how low people can stoop. If she can afford a cruise, she can afford a dinner service for sure! When you see most of these things ending up on ebay, its pathetic that the cruise lines havent done anything. Small souvnier-ish stuff like pens, paper, lotion, etc, may be OK to take since that is specifically left there for your use, but the paintings and such big itmes that are meant as decor for the ship and cost a hefty amount are NOT OK. Really, cruise lines should use security cameras to track down these passengers. They should also keep an eye on Ebay for stolen paintings etc.

[trainfan]

One day at Trivia the Cruise Staff person showed up with 8 Princess ball caps as prizes and put them at a podium. While the staff person was talking to someone, a passenger came down and took the caps and put them under his jacket. Several passengers pointed out the theft to the staff person and identified the man. The staff person asked the passenger if he had the caps and received a "no" reply. When several passengers insisted he did, the offending passenger left. When the staff person was asked why he didn't call security (as there were certainly enough passengers who were willing to back him up and identify the passenger) the explanation by the staff person was "I don't want to embarrass a passenger". It wasn't the value of the hats - it was the attitude of both the "thief" and the staff that bothered me.

 

And what do you do with 8 ball caps??

[bob brown]

The fact that some steal has nothing to do with being able to afford what they are stealing. Case in point, the recent story in the news about the daughter of New York's former mayor stealing $100 in merchandise from a boutique, while she had $300 and credit cards in her purse.

For some it is a psychological disorder, getting a 'thrill' out of the taking or breaking of an object.

[room010]

Based on the paintings I've seen on ships both on the walls and in auctions you'd have to pay me to remove one :p

[DeirdreTours]

It seems a big leap to assume that an empty wall space on a ship equals a "stolen" piece of art. It could well be off being repaired, replaced, reframed, whatever.

I have never seen obvious vandalism or thievery onboard a cruise ship.

I found this thread through the newsletter email-

Frankly, the tone is just weird--As if most of the posters are competing to denounce the human race as all being a bunch of hooligans and thieves.

[mr green]

Frankly, the tone is just weird--As if most of the posters are competing to denounce the human race as all being a bunch of hooligans and thieves.

 

Unfortunately, in a small number of cases its a fact of life. I failed to mention the drunk female teenager who delighted in throwing deck chairs over the stern of a cruise ship. No, not stealing, simply however the ultimate in stupidity.

 

john