Shipboard Personal Safety and Crime

[RJake1]

Is anyone familiar with the website International Cruise Victims? Its got some pretty unnerving personal accounts of cruise crime including sexual assaults, druggings, unsolved deaths, passengers overboard, medical misdiagnosis, child molestation, etc.

 

On our previous cruises we've pretty much allowed our teen daughter freedom to explore the ship on her own but after reading this website I'm thinking I've allowed myself to have a very false sense of personal security onboard ship.

 

As a parent of a teen daughter I'm very interested in how other parents approach this. What rules, tips, standards have you used to protect your children while on board?

[cb at sea]

A ship is simply a micro-neighborhood....if you wouldn't do it in your hometown/local area...don't do it on a ship!

 

Folks do tend to have a false sense of security while on vacation...don't know why! You're among strangers, in a strange place, yet people seem to think that everyone is good and kind and loving.....not really the case!

 

I would let my older kids go to and from specific areas, for specific reasons, but they would NOT be allowed to roam for no good reason...and they wouldn't be allowed to roam the neighborhood at home, either!

You don't want to wrap them in bubble-wrap, but you don't want to give them unlimited freedom, either. Balance is the key! And, frequent "checking in" with you! After all, YOU are responsible for anything they do! Keep a close check on them!

[kitty9]

Never accept a drink of any kind, including water, soda or alcohol, from anyone including a crew member, entertainment staff or passenger. It's pretty easy to slip a roofie in any kind of beverage. Never go anyone's cabin and don't allow anyone in her cabin. Periodic check in times with you. And to be quite honest, a curfew. Young teen girls are the ones most preyed upon. It seems a number of assaults are on teen girls. Ive never thought its a good idea to let teens just wander around a ship totally on their own. You may think ships are safe, but there are perverts among both passengers and crew.

[bus man]

I've heard of the website in question, but not seen it. Sensational crime stories are indeed quite shocking, and any crime is horrible -- especially if it happens to you or your loved ones. But I'd like to see some context. What would the number of, say, "crimes per 1,000 passengers" look like, as compared with "crimes per 1,000 residents of my hometown"?

 

The population of my county is roughly equivalent to the annual number of passengers carried by Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, put together. For an urbanized county in the Northeast, it's a pretty safe place to live (we average about 3 or 4 murders per year, most of which are the results of domestic disputes), but I'm not sure I'd bet against the Oasis twins being even safer, on a per-capita basis.

[Cruisit]

You bring up a good point. When do you start letting the grip on your child go and hand them more freedom, and keep safety in mind? Stories of sexual assault and related events do occur on ship once in a while, there is no hiding that. Then again it happens everywhere else in the world as well, and more frequently.

 

I may not have a child to worry about, but I myself am a fifteen year old girl, and a cruising veteran. I do wander around the ship on my own, going from place to place. As long as I tell my parents where I am and know when and where to meet them at certain times or check in, I'm fine. As well I generally have a certain time to be back. This time, however, is flexible depending on what I'm doing. Also, it's my belief most cruise lines have a set curfew for children under a certain age.

 

Onboard a cruise I don't feel frightened or threatened, the same way I don't feel frightened walking through a place where similar incidents that could happen on a cruise have taken place. That being said, I'm not naive. I don't think 'it will never happen to me' because it very well could. I don't walk down unmarked corridors or anything, I'm in the common public areas.

 

So, really all I can say is trust your kids (which will be different for each family. My parents and I have a very trusting, open relationship) and teach them well. Educate them on the possible dangerous and tell them how to keep safe and avoid such scenarios.

[mapsmith]

I would also like to point out that a website named CruiseLineVictims, is probably going to go after the exception rather than the rule. That they will be focusing on the crimes for sensationalism rather than the Cruising Public. Sort of like the the Cheap Dime Store Mystery and Crime magazines of the 50's.

 

Although Crime does happen on Cruise Ships and you should be aware of it. Reading only reports of the Crimes is kinda like reading only the Bookings at the local County Jail.

[Keith1010]

We took our children on cruises regularly, including when they were teenagers. The key which was the same as when we were on land was to establish rules with your children. We would talk with them up front about all of this. Our rules included what time to be back to the room at night.

 

All of this should begin months before the cruise and in my opinion should be consistent with your approach on land.

 

Keith

[caa]

My daughter just turned 18 last month. She's been on three cruises:

 

In the Western Caribbean at age 12, she was either with a parent or in the kids club. No wandering about alone, although I probably did let her go from the pool to the buffet on the same deck to get a drink and come right back.

 

On a Girl Scout group cruise to Cabo at 14, where I was along as a leader, girls used the buddy system during the day, they weren't permitted to be alone with anyone not a part of our troop. They were with one of the adults from dinner onwards. We did talk to them a lot before the trip about not going into anyone else's cabin; not accepting drinks; not standing on chairs to get a better view; what to do if teenage boys approach you in a way that makes you uncomfortable; etc.

 

With us to Alaska at age 16. She was alone on the ship if she wanted to be during the day, ate dinner with us, and back in the cabin or with one of us after 10:00 PM. Those are basically the exact same rules she had in our small town at home. Before the trip, we talked again about all the bad things that could happen to a girl alone and ways to avoid them.

 

I think our travel and the chance to have some independence as she got older is one of the things that gave her the confidence to choose to attend a University on the other side of the country this fall. She just went to orientation last week, and getting there required two planes, a train, a bus, and spending a night alone at a hotel. She got there and back safely, figured out what to do when a couple of minor issues cropped up, and had a great time.

[Cruzaholic41]

As a parent of a teen daughter I'm very interested in how other parents approach this. What rules, tips, standards have you used to protect your children while on board?

 

My biggest rule is the buddy system. No walking around alone during later hours.

 

Some good points have been made here. Yes, a cruise ship is a small city full of people from all demographics and income classes. One thing commonly overlooked is the fact there are about 1000 people from 3rd World countries on board. I'm not saying they are bad, but as a retired ICE agent, I know what happens behind the scenes.

 

The first thing you need to do is stop reading sites like "cruise victims." You need to be aware of the potential, but reading sites like that tend to put more concern in to people's minds than is necessary. Things need to be put in to perspective. Considering the number of people cruising every single day, these stats are extremely low.

[luddite]

My biggest rule is the buddy system. No walking around alone during later hours.

 

Some good points have been made here. Yes, a cruise ship is a small city full of people from all demographics and income classes. One thing commonly overlooked is the fact there are about 1000 people from 3rd World countries on board. I'm not saying they are bad, but as a retired ICE agent, I know what happens behind the scenes.

 

The first thing you need to do is stop reading sites like "cruise victims." You need to be aware of the potential, but reading sites like that tend to put more concern in to people's minds than is necessary. Things need to be put in to perspective. Considering the number of people cruising every single day, these stats are extremely low.

 

I am having a hard time sitting still after reading that line about '1000 people from third world countries'. Really? You wrote that? Are you of the mistaken belief that cruise ;ins just pull up to a dock in a 'third world country' and ask the local gendarmes to clear out their prisons because the ships need personnel? :eek:

Yikes almighty!

[Vampire Parrot]

One thing commonly overlooked is the fact there are about 1000 people from 3rd World countries on board.

 

On cruise ships I've had many conversations with crew who are from third-world countries.

 

The competition for places as ship's crew is fierce, with hundreds of applicants for each place. As such, the cruise lines can afford to be extremely choosy and have many years experience of picking hard-working, honest people. I'd much rather trust a ship's steward than a passenger I'd only just met.

 

The crime levels on cruise ships is extremely low. As I type this, there are currently hundreds of thousands of passengers on cruise ships around the world. How many serious crimes take place each week in a town with a population of a few hundred thousand? Quite a few. How many serious crimes take place on board cruise ships each week? Rather fewer.

 

Just take sensible precautions (i.e. as you would do at home) and your family should be fine....

 

VP

[bbwex]

I think it has all been said, but let me go over a few thoughts.

 

The website the OP mentioned does have stories about various crimes that have occurred aboard cruise ships. If you go, however, to the link to the U.S. Senate investigation it starts out with and concludes that the crime rate is extremely low. That likely is a result of various things: not a lot of criminals take leisure cruises, criminals like to get away after the crime, and a maximum distance of 1,000 feet doesn't do it for them, and there are generally a lot of people around.

 

If it were a big problem, the industry would crack down, and you would see lots of guards around, but there are not, and I suspect that the crime rate is absurdly low. At the same time, however, if you are the one victim of a crime, the fact that you are 1 in 10,000 is only so comforting.

 

As has been said, take normal precautions particularly with kids. Previous posters seem to have covered the ground pretty well.

 

I wouldn't put it on the list of things to worry about. I wouldn't totally ignore normal safety, but my guess is that your biggest worry should be about the drive to the ship.

[mitsugirly]

I have spent the last several hours on that site. Wow. What a lot of information to think about on there.

 

I went to the "news" part to see daily news reported. It seems like RC has a lot of "issues" being reported, deaths, mishaps, rapes, child porn and so on. Kind of a scary thought. Then you can read up on the islands and things being reported there as well.

 

Thanks for posting.

[Cruzaholic41]

I am having a hard time sitting still after reading that line about '1000 people from third world countries'. Really? You wrote that? Are you of the mistaken belief that cruise ;ins just pull up to a dock in a 'third world country' and ask the local gendarmes to clear out their prisons because the ships need personnel? :eek:

Yikes almighty!

 

And right after that I said "I'm not saying they are all bad, but as a retired ICE agent, I know what happens behind the scenes?"

 

I stand by that. The crime and the drama that occurs below decks with the crew would raise your hair. And the majority of rape and theft allegations are crew on passenger. That is just fact. If you had any idea how many cruise crew visas had to be canceled in my career and how many people had to be shipped home, you would not be saying "yikes." Just consider yourself lucky you are not privy to what happens after hours below the waterline while you are sleeping.

 

Sorry if that somehow offends you, but I don't believe in hiding facts in the interest do good PC.

[jmf123]

On our previous cruises we've pretty much allowed our teen daughter freedom to explore the ship on her own but after reading this website I'm thinking I've allowed myself to have a very false sense of personal security onboard ship.

 

As a parent of a teen daughter I'm very interested in how other parents approach this. What rules, tips, standards have you used to protect your children while on board?

 

I had to do a search, but this was posted earlier this year by CC member Mrspete I believe, and I think it has a lot of good points. I know I'd be an overprotective parent if anything, better safe than sorry. I hope this helps the OP:

 

Our daughters have cruised three times, and we've brought our nieces along once. We made up a list of cruise rules for them, which have been adjusted as they've grown older. We've made it clear to them that the rules aren't to prevent them from having fun -- they're to make sure that everyone is on the same page and that everyone has fun. Letting them know your expectations is important. These are the type of things we consider essential:

 

Safety rules -- these are un-breakable

 

1. Stay out of other people's cabins, and don't bring others into our cabin. All parents seem to have this rule

2. After ___:00, you're either with us as a family, or you're in the safety of our rooms, or you're in a supervised teen activity. Last summer we used 10:00 for our 16-year olds and 9:00 for our 11 and 12 year olds. Yes, that's earlier than others may use, but we think the ship's curfew is much too late for young teens. If they wanted to go to a supervised activity, we walked them there and then waited for a call to pick them up. We weren't always obvious about doing the "escorting" -- we'd hang back and be unobtrusive -- and it never caused a problem with friends. We absolutely did not allow random wandering, especially after dark.

3. Watch your drinks carefully. Although I don't think the soda package is a good deal, we bought it for the girls because we didn't want them to feel forced to finish a drink that'd been out of their sight for a moment.

4. When you're alone in the room, put out the do not disturb sign.

5. NO to alcohol and drugs. If you're with a group of kids who are using these things, leave.

6. Minors are not allowed to leave the ship alone. We will always be together off the ship.

 

Rules about courtesy and politeness

 

7. Be mindful of your manners at all times, especially in the elevators and buffet. Be especially helpful to people with mobility issues and parents who are shepharding small children.

8. Keep your voices low in the hallways, and keep your music low in the room.

9. Feel free to make plans for breakfast and lunch (or other plans) with friends, but leave a sticky note in our cabin so we won't wait for you -- we'll do the same. We will have dinner together as a family most evenings.

10. 16-year olds are allowed in the adult pool area, 11 and 12 year olds are not. Older girls, even though you're allowed, remember that the adult pool is quieter -- if you want to whoop it up with friends, the main pool is the place.

 

Rules about money

 

11. We've never given our kids spending money on board. There's not much they care to buy. However, we do treat them to ice cream, etc. within reason. We do not use the arcade.

12. We'll get a pool towel for everyone on the first day. Trade it in as often as you like, but always bring a clean one back to the room. On the last night of the cruise, you'd better have one towel to return.

13. If you lose your Sea Pass, you must let us know immediately.

 

 

We've never had a bit of trouble onboard with our kids, and I really think it's because they've known our expectations ahead of time. I'm not saying you should adopt my family's rules, but I suggest you use them as a starting point -- adapt them to fit your kids' ages and your own ideas.

 

[rvsullivan]

I just read every case posted on the website for International Cruise Victims. There are 46 "cases" posted spread out over about 25 years. A significant number (majority) involve underage drinking, drug use, accepting drinks from strangers, going to a cabin with strangers, etc. Several involve suicide.

If you follow basic common sense and don't overindulge with strangers, accept drinks from strangers especially drinks that you can't observe at all time, control your kids. One of the cases involves 2 15 year olds accepting cigarettes and mixed drinks from strangers and then getting in trouble.

This website makes it's living from donations and selling their products. They can't exist without scaring people. People posting on that website continually mention that they are U.S. citizens and should have been warned that it was unsafe to travel in foreign countries and the ship should protect them when ashore!

[RJake1]

While I can appreciate the comparison between crime rates in a local neighborhood and the cruise ships, I fear that might be one element that lulls us into a false sense of security because:

 

1) Localities report crimes and keep statistics. Cruise ships do not (until recently).

 

2) Localities have a visible police presence. Cruise ships have no visible police presence and no apparent security.

 

3) Localities investigate crime, arrest people and have jails. Misconduct on cruise ships is difficult to enforce and oftentimes goes univestigated and unpunished.

 

4) Localities have a lower percentage of drunks. Cruise ships have a higher percentage of drunks.

 

Someone else posted that criminals are less likely to commit crime on a cruise ship because there is little escape opportunity. I differ with that for two reasons: a) A criminal act is often commited on impulse. There is no advance planning, logic, or scheme. Escape is an afterthought and lack of escape route is not a deterrant (except to a bank robber perhaps).

b) Even if escape were a consideration, its irrelevant because the liklihood of apprehension and punishment on a cruise ship is so small. There is no need to "get away" because nothing happens to the criminal anyway.

[RJake1]

I just read every case posted on the website for International Cruise Victims. There are 46 "cases" posted spread out over about 25 years. A significant number (majority) involve underage drinking, drug use, accepting drinks from strangers, going to a cabin with strangers, etc. Several involve suicide.

If you follow basic common sense and don't overindulge with strangers, accept drinks from strangers especially drinks that you can't observe at all time, control your kids. One of the cases involves 2 15 year olds accepting cigarettes and mixed drinks from strangers and then getting in trouble.

This website makes it's living from donations and selling their products. They can't exist without scaring people. People posting on that website continually mention that they are U.S. citizens and should have been warned that it was unsafe to travel in foreign countries and the ship should protect them when ashore!

 

 

The website is in no way suggesting it contains accounts of all crime on all cruise ships. Volunteers post their stories. Its a relatively new website and as time goes on, as people become aware of it, you will see more and more stories posted. I suspect that not all will be as sensational as some of those you have read.

 

What is just as disturbing as the crimes themselves is the cavalier reaction that the cruise lines have shown to these victims. There is almost no effort to investigate or apprehend criminals, even among their own crew.

 

Everyone is free to believe what they want but putting thousands of people together, mixing "wealthy" tourists with underprivileged crew members, having abundant amounts of alcohol and no police presence, is a prescription for trouble.

[Goldryder]

While I can appreciate the comparison between crime rates in a local neighborhood and the cruise ships, I fear that might be one element that lulls us into a false sense of security because:

 

1) Localities report crimes and keep statistics. Cruise ships do not (until recently).

 

2) Localities have a visible police presence. Cruise ships have no visible police presence and no apparent security.

 

3) Localities investigate crime, arrest people and have jails. Misconduct on cruise ships is difficult to enforce and oftentimes goes univestigated and unpunished.

 

4) Localities have a lower percentage of drunks. Cruise ships have a higher percentage of drunks.

 

Someone else posted that criminals are less likely to commit crime on a cruise ship because there is little escape opportunity. I differ with that for two reasons: a) A criminal act is often commited on impulse. There is no advance planning, logic, or scheme. Escape is an afterthought and lack of escape route is not a deterrant (except to a bank robber perhaps).

b) Even if escape were a consideration, its irrelevant because the liklihood of apprehension and punishment on a cruise ship is so small. There is no need to "get away" because nothing happens to the criminal anyway.

 

Sorry but I respectfully disagree with your opinion here.

 

All cruise ships have a small army of security officers on board, just cos you do not see them, does not mean that they are not there. Every ship has at least 10-15 security officers that patrol the ship, plus a senior officer who reports to the Captain...add in the huge & very complex web of CCTV cameras both inside & out on the ships...that include the crew areas, not just the pax areas...I think you will find that security on any pax ship is taken extremely seriously indeed. The security officers are highly trained, often ex police or military and they do not take any nonsense from anyone.

 

If anyone has the misfortune of experiencing a problem requiring security officer intervention, it is extremely well investigated both by the team & the CCTV imagery available, again NEVER assume that nothing is being done just cos you cannot see it, much of the work is done behind the scenes just as in any police station around the world. As for stowage of those caught causing a problems, even brand new ship's have brigs on board and they are used when required, then the offender is put off the ship at the next port to be dealt with by the local authorities as they see fit.....so again your assumptions are wide off the mark.

 

Drunks are as common at home as they are anywhere in the world, a cruise line can only do so much...yes, they do stop serving them and yes they do put out a bulletin to all bars on board to stop that offender from getting booze elsewhere on the ship. However, since so many people want to smuggle booze and drink themselves senseless on shore too, there is very little the crew can do other than put that person off at the next port for endangering him or herself and the others on board, again it would then become the problem of the local authorities to deal with as they see fit.

 

If you took the time to sit and actually talk to crew on the ships, you would find out alot about how things get done on board. I spent several days last year during a 37 day cruise from Asia to Europe via the Gulf of Aden actually chatting with the security officers and other crew to get an insight in to what they can do if the worst happened...they have pretty much every eventuality covered and if they cannot handle the problem on board, the Captain can & will kick the offender(s) off the ship at the next port.

 

Reading your assumptions make life on a cruise ship sound like one continuous orgy of drinking, drugtaking and bad behaviour...it is far from that and as others have stated, frequently people leave what common sense they may have on the mantlepiece at home when on holiday and do/say things that they would never dream of doing at home. I worked in tourism for 15 years, front line and the horror stories of what people got upto would make your hair curl and each time I asked them if they would act like that at home, the reply was always 'no, of course not'...and when I asked why they did it when away from home it was answered with a shrug of the shoulders and 'I dunno'.

 

But to repeat my point, your assumption that cruise ships have no security is doing the crews a great disservice, they do have security but they are NOT your nanny. Pax must take responsibility for their actions...and not take drinks from strangers, not get so drunk that any proposition to go off to a stranger's cabin or strip off and dance around the decks like a moron is the greatest fun ever.

 

Act correctly, be responsible & pack that common sense in your suitcase, do not leave it at home.

[ducklite]

Being on a cruise ship is no different than being in a city--there are all types of people and just because you're on vacation, you can't get complacent about personal security.

 

And I agree with the previous poster who mentioned that most crimes have aggravating factors, particularly intoxicated passengers. Do serious crimes happen to innocent victims, sure. But they happen at Disney World as well. Instead of sensationalizing the situation, a better choice might be to remind people that they need to use common sense and not put themselves in situations that they wouldn't put themselves in at home.

[RJake1]

Is 10-15 security personnel for a ship containing thousands of passengers, multiple decks, and hundreds of crew members, sufficient?

 

If they work in 8 hour shifts thats only 5 security personnel active for the entire ship at any given time. That doesn't seem like enough to me but I don't claim to be an expert.

 

Personally I'd rather see the security in full uniform and visible. I think it would temper some bad behavior. But that might result in less liquor sales for the cruise line so it'll never happen.

[Goldryder]

Is 10-15 security personnel for a ship containing thousands of passengers, multiple decks, and hundreds of crew members, sufficient?

 

If they work in 8 hour shifts thats only 5 security personnel active for the entire ship at any given time. That doesn't seem like enough to me but I don't claim to be an expert.

 

Personally I'd rather see the security in full uniform and visible. I think it would temper some bad behavior. But that might result in less liquor sales for the cruise line so it'll never happen.

 

The ships that I have cruised aboard have had a max of 1900 passengers, so 10-15 is perfectly reasonable for security personnel...afterall, they are not there to nanny you...YOU as the pax should take responsibility for your own actions and not expect the cruise line to look after your every moment on board.

 

They DO wear uniform and on some lines they are armed too...usually when passing through potentially dodgy areas of the world such as the Gulf of Aden. Sidearms are not visible but they certainly do have access to them should the need arise.

 

Bar staff are at liberty to contact security if they have any problems with over intoxicated pax...and on Costa ships, the security are highly visible anyway, doing regular patrols of all public areas - inside & out - usually in pairs, thus they can get to an incident very quickly. Contrary to what you obviously believe, they do not sit on their backsides drinking coffee & watching filma all day & night. The CCTV systems are watched 24/7 by a minimum of 3 security personnel and I know this cos I made the point of asking about it, just out of curiosity, and there are monitoring systems up on the bridge too incase of problems so that other trained crew can assist if required.

 

So again I can say that your asumptions are groundless and your opinion (albeit perfectly valid in your mind) is nonsense and quite frankly does nothing to allay anyone's fears after they read sensationalism in the media. You are right though in that you are no expert, I suggest that when you next cruise that you take the time to speak to the crew, you could learn something by doing so and then not cast assumptions that are flawed.

[Aquahound]

Instead of sensationalizing the situation, a better choice might be to remind people that they need to use common sense and not put themselves in situations that they wouldn't put themselves in at home.

 

This is true. I'm not one to blame victims in individual cases, but without a specific case being mentioned here, I'm comfortable saying people should not be tourons. By touron (tourist + moron), I mean putting aside all sense of personal security and common sense because of being in vacation mode.

 

As a frequent cruiser, I have never seen anything serious on board. But as a 17 year USCG member in different capacities, I have read and looked in to several cases. A good portion could have been easily avoided with just an ounce of common sense and not trying to replace all their blood with alcohol.

[rvsullivan]

Is 10-15 security personnel for a ship containing thousands of passengers, multiple decks, and hundreds of crew members, sufficient?

 

If they work in 8 hour shifts thats only 5 security personnel active for the entire ship at any given time. That doesn't seem like enough to me but I don't claim to be an expert.

 

Personally I'd rather see the security in full uniform and visible. I think it would temper some bad behavior. But that might result in less liquor sales for the cruise line so it'll never happen.

 

My town has a population of 5,500 and a police force of about 15 total counting the chief. At any time during the day there are two cops and the chief on duty. At night usually two on duty and on weekends 3 for most of the night. We have a hundred miles or so of streets and these guys manage just fine. The entire force on the ship is available in a couple of minutes for an emergency and the largest portion of the ship is covered by closed circuit tv.

One of the posters on that web site complained that the cruise lines camera's should be looking into the balconies so she could be "protected".

Common sense goes a long way toward safety. Also bear in mind that the web site in question is only telling one side of a potentially biased opinion.

[Goldryder]

It doesn't have to be youngsters who leave their common sense behind, and sadly there are cases that stay with you for life, especially suicide at sea. However, it must never be forgotten that we are all as vulnerable at home as we are abroad...whether it be from moronic (read drunken) activities, severe depression, street/deck crime...what ever. We can all learn by others who make mistakes, we can all learn to watch for telltale signs that someone maybe in distress but it will NEVER wipe out incidents completely on the ships...just as it won't at home.

 

A couple of cases have stayed with me over the years, both devastatingly tragic...they both sent shockwaves through the industry and as a result important changes were made to the day to day running on board cruise ships...of course, if someone is determined to be an idiot...or if someone is determined that their life cannot continue...well, sadly no amount of security equipment, personnel or technology will ever save them and that goes for your home town or aboard the ships.

 

We are all human beings and as such we are all vulnerable...but most of us use our common sense and we do not act out just cos we are abroad, its a very small proportion who do and they get sensational headlines for doing so, but it really (and thankfully) is a very rare occurrence. Like I said, you are never going to wipe it out completely but we as pax can be responsible for ourselves and take note of our surroundings, be aware of what is around us and try to comply with the rules...even if we might feel that they are pointless or spoiling our fun.

 

Cruise ship security & safety has increased so much over the years, especially recently....but if someone is determined to undermine or ignore those measures, then in all honesty, the cruise line cannot be held responsible for the outcome...even if it ends in tragedy, the responsibility is yours (ours) as the pax to do the right thing.