Caution: Cruising alone

[1337mom]

My sister was recently travelling alone on a Princess ship thru the Panama Canal.

First night had a knock on the door at 5am. When she was able to find her robe and get up the "knocker" had left. No sooner back to bed when there was another knock. This time a man was there inquiring if she wanted company. She reported this, but they were not able to do anything. She did make the observation that Princess sholud not put the full name of the passenger on the door - so that one could not tell, by looking, that there was a single woman travelling alone.

[lovevacadays]

Sorry this happened to your mom. However, the names on the door are paper and can be removed from the holder. I've traveled once alone on Princess and I removed my name tag from the door as a precaution.

[Marian Paroo]

My sister was recently travelling alone on a Princess ship thru the Panama Canal.

First night had a knock on the door at 5am. When she was able to find her robe and get up the "knocker" had left. No sooner back to bed when there was another knock. This time a man was there inquiring if she wanted company. She reported this, but they were not able to do anything. She did make the observation that Princess sholud not put the full name of the passenger on the door - so that one could not tell, by looking, that there was a single woman travelling alone.

They put the full name of the pasenger on the door?:confused:

 

[Cruise Junky]

They put the full name of the pasenger on the door?:confused:

 

 

Its a piece of paper in the card slot area. Very easily removed.

[OCruisers]

Yes, they do along with your status ... Elite, etc. :(

 

Fortunately, it's a paper card that can very easily be removed.

[Cruise Junky]

My sister was recently travelling alone on a Princess ship thru the Panama Canal.

First night had a knock on the door at 5am. When she was able to find her robe and get up the "knocker" had left. No sooner back to bed when there was another knock. This time a man was there inquiring if she wanted company. She reported this, but they were not able to do anything. She did make the observation that Princess sholud not put the full name of the passenger on the door - so that one could not tell, by looking, that there was a single woman travelling alone.

 

was your sister on the Coral Princess and blonde?

[Darcy15]

I hope someone can tell me this is not a common occurrence.

 

I leave in a few days for a solo Princess cruise, and this story has me quite worried.:(

[1337mom]

Yes they put the full name on. She was not on the Coral -- she is advanced middle aged and it scared her quite a bit. Would suggest that if you're travelling alone you have it changed to your last name or just take it off the door as suggested by other posters.

[Coral]

I hope someone can tell me this is not a common occurrence.

 

I leave in a few days for a solo Princess cruise, and this story has me quite worried.:(

 

I have cruised solo several times, I have not removed my name and I have not had a problem.

 

There are jerks everywhere. It can happen at an upscale hotel if the jerk sees a female walking into the hotel alone.

 

I wouldn't worry. Just be cautious/aware as the OP mentioned. If you feel more comfortable, remove the name from your room when you first get to the room.

[SwissDave]

Disturbing as it is, I have not heard of this being common at all. In fact it is probably extremely rare. First time I have seen it mentioned on here and I'm sure if you searched then nothing would come up.

 

A full cruise ship can have the equivalent population of a small town, and the biggest ones may have upwards of 6000 people on board. As on land, there will always be one or two people who are a bit unsavoury. Just because you are on vacation, in a relatively safe environment, does not mean you should be any less aware of what is going on around you. Not that this was the case here. I am surprised Princess didn't want to do anything, there are cctv cameras in all the hallways monitoring whats going on. They could at least have reviewed the tapes for that time to try to identify who this person was.

 

Having the name on the mailbox can be very usefull if you are travelling with friends, but can't remember the cabin number, eg, you know it's C75 something, just look at the names and you can find them.

If you don't want your name displayed on the mailbox then just remove it, and tell your steward you are deliberately removing it so he does not replace it.

[Salacia]

I was recently on the Caribbean Princess and my stateroom door had a peep hole and a lock. If I didn't recognize a person on the other side of the door who knocked in the middle of the night, I would phone the Pursar's Desk and alert them to the situation. (If I remember correctly, in an on-board emergency situation, passengers are advised to dial 911, but hopefully that wouldn't be necessary.)

 

Aren't hallways covered by security cameras? I would think that security would re-wind the video in an effort to ascertain who it was that disturbed the OP's sister twice in the middle of the night.:eek:

 

P.S. We removed our name tag from the slot and explained to our room steward that we had removed it.

[MSMcDuffy]

On my first cruise (with Princess) I found out later that there had been an old guy on our ship who was reported a couple times for trying to look up women's skirts. :rolleyes:

 

Strange activity can happen anywhere.

[Darcy15]

Thanks to those who have replied. I feel reassured.

 

I have travelled widely, on my own, and never been worried.

 

This is only my second cruise however, and my first alone. I think I was a bit concerned about the seeming lack of response by Princess as much as anything.

 

As I always do in a hotel, my door will be locked and I will check who is there before opening it.

 

Looking forward to my trip:)

[Toto2Kansas]

I am not sure why, but some feel totally safe onboard a cruise ship without being as careful as they would in a hotel room. I feel the opposite. There are passengers from every walk of life onboard, and you never know who you are cruising with or who is staying in the cabin next door or down the hall from you.

I am not an overly cautious person, but I treat a ship just as I would being in a new city.

It's a real shame that something like this occasionally (and I agree, it is very seldom I have read something like this) does happen. But I am also pretty sure it happens more often on land then on a ship.

We witnessed (actually heard) something similar (only worse) in a cabin next to us in the middle of the night one time many years ago. The cabin was occupied by a mother and three teenage girls. I won't go into the details, but they were pretty shook up afterwards as she talked to us across the balcony the next morning. She just needed some advice on how to handle this situation as it was her first cruise.

Just take a little precaution, just as you would no matter where you travel, and you will be fine. Taking the name off the door if you are traveling solo doesn't sound like a bad idea at all. Double locking your stateroom door when you are in there alone is also another great idea.

No need to be paranoid, but a little bit of caution never hurt anyone.

[Pam in CA]

I've been solo in cabins for years and only had a problem once, and that was my cabin steward on a HAL cruise. He was an awful steward for several reasons: big swathes of mildew on two sides of the tub enclosure, my hair dryer was held together (not very well because there were gaps where you could see the wires and insides) with rubber bands, etc. One night at 11:15pm, as I was in the bathroom half undressed, my steward walked into my cabin without knocking, ostensibly to give me a new hair dryer. After shrieking and shouting at him for about 30 seconds, he finally left. I reported him immediately to the Purser's Desk and again on my cruise comments. I've had several bad staff on HAL so anyone who tells me they are superior and the best is smoking funny stuff... or in denial. Now, I always double-lock the door and put the Privacy card out.

[spyro1952]

I am doing my first solo cruise in July and although I feel completely safe when I'm on the ship, taking my name card off is probably a good idea. I really never thought of it.

[FawnRiver]

I have a habit of reading the blog 'Cruise Law News', its interesting to see the other side of cruising. Mind you, I do work at a law firm so I know only too well what scum human beings can be. Its one of the reasons why I like to cruise, most people on a cruise are too busy relaxing and having fun to do something ignorant or dangerous.

 

Even on vacation, you still have to be aware of what's going on around you or you risk being a victim.

[kara17]

Why not replace the card with first initial and last name? No Ms or Mrs.

[Sapphire723]

Cruise Bruise gives some reports of alleged assault on ships if you want to keep an eye on how things are being handled (or not handled).

[lolane1]

Very good ideas about removing or using first initial and last name on the name tags. Actually last night, I watched some show called "Vanished Along With Natalie Holloway" or something like that. It was about Amy Bradley who vanished off the Rhapsody of the Seas in 1998. Apparently she left her room in the wee hours of the morning, they think to meet someone, and was never to be seen again. Parents could not stop the cruise line from letting passengers off the ship when they docked in Curacao to conduct a thorough search of the ship. She was last seen with a base player and subsequently some pix of someone similar to her have appeared on the internet in an unsavory manner. Anyway, you are all right. Best to always be cautious, not paranoid.

Here is a link to info on Amy Bradley

 

http://www.amybradley.net/amy-story.htm

[califgary]

I am doing my first solo cruise in July and although I feel completely safe when I'm on the ship, taking my name card off is probably a good idea. I really never thought of it.

 

My daughter cruises solo quite a bit, she had the idea of taking one our name cards (has the Mr/Mrs on it) and replaced hers with that one - same last name and if anyone looks at it, it shows a husband/wife combo.

[awhcruiser]

Did she actually open the door?

 

My sister was recently travelling alone on a Princess ship thru the Panama Canal.

First night had a knock on the door at 5am. When she was able to find her robe and get up the "knocker" had left. No sooner back to bed when there was another knock. This time a man was there inquiring if she wanted company. She reported this, but they were not able to do anything. She did make the observation that Princess sholud not put the full name of the passenger on the door - so that one could not tell, by looking, that there was a single woman travelling alone.

[chrispb]

Why on earth do they put names on the doors in the first place? I don't know other cruiselines who do that.

[Shogun]

Hi Crispb

 

Putting names on your mail box is a very nice touch,

 

first it allows you to find your cabin, as Princess no longers puts your cabin number on your cruise card.

 

Your room steward and room service can use it to call you by name

 

friends can find you

 

yours Shogun

[RickEk]

Why on earth do they put names on the doors in the first place? I don't know other cruiselines who do that.

 

Tradition... it personalizes the cruising experience. Apparently in the old days they used to distribute guest lists with folk's addresses and phone numbers at the end of the cruise! :eek: