Allure - Our room was raided and tossed!

[Cruisin4beaches]

The cruise this poster was on (2/03/19) was a charter cruise from a company that does all gay charters. These cruises have been in the news before because of excessive drug use including O.D's. If you do a search "Allure of the Seas drug bust" you can read about the men that were arrested and the drugs they had on this cruise.

So don't act shocked that this happened. I've seen this happen in cabins near mine on 2 Carnival cruises, 1 Princess cruise and 1 Royal cruise.

[Trickie Dickie]

1 minute ago, Cruisin4beaches said:

The cruise this poster was on (2/03/19) was a charter cruise from a company that does all gay charters. These cruises have been in the news before because of excessive drug use including O.D's. If you do a search "Allure of the Seas drug bust" you can read about the men that were arrested and the drugs they had on this cruise.

So don't act shocked that this happened. I've seen this happen in cabins near mine on 2 Carnival cruises, 1 Princess cruise and 1 Royal cruise.

No!  that was the next cruise after this one.  The cruise I was raided on ended on February 3.   

[Gquie]

The timeline and the ship that this happened on sounds like it was the Atlantis cruise. I have friends who attended this cruise along with other Atlantis cruises' of years past. I don't mean to paint with a broad stroke but it's no real secret what types of things people try (and successfully) carry on board. I'm not surprised that there was a heightened level of security/scrutiny. 

 

I'm not saying that I condone what happened to you OP as I believe everyone has a reasonable right to privacy and respect and how you were treated was not respectful, but is it possible that someone wanted to cause trouble for you and issued a fake tip to cause all of this to happen? For them to say they had intel on you sounds like someone might have told them something.

[Trickie Dickie]

1 minute ago, Gquie said:

The timeline and the ship that this happened on sounds like it was the Atlantis cruise. I have friends who attended this cruise along with other Atlantis cruises' of years past. I don't mean to paint with a broad stroke but it's no real secret what types of things people try (and successfully) carry on board. I'm not surprised that there was a heightened level of security/scrutiny. 

 

I'm not saying that I condone what happened to you OP as I believe everyone has a reasonable right to privacy and respect and how you were treated was not respectful, but is it possible that someone wanted to cause trouble for you and issued a fake tip to cause all of this to happen? For them to say they had intel on you sounds like someone might have told them something.

 It was not the Atlantis cruise.   It was the cruise the week before.  

[Vectorboy]

I thought the very least the cruise company could do is tell people that being subjected to this kind of a search was a possibility and that it happens from time to time.

 

I don't think that would be interfering with law enforcement

[TravelinGert]

3 hours ago, Homosassa said:

This type of search can occur in any port during the cruise.

 

If I remember the explanation given by a poster on another forum (works for that cruise line in security), if there have been suspicions raised during the cruise of illegal drug use or contraband during any part of the cruise, the ship will notify the port authorities who will do the search and any arrests necessary.

 

Smoking of marijuana is a big flag on ships.

 

You say  half the group of back to back cruisers were also raided,. Was this a group traveling together?  Did you hang out with them on the cruise?

 

Something did trigger this activity.

 

 

 

Wow. You feeling guilty about something you need to get off your chest, Homosassa? That is a lot of accusation with absolutely no support. For all we know maybe they just forgot to feed the drug sniffing dog that morning so he hit on everything to get fed his treats. 

 

With the Steward reporting they've been doing this at that port on that ship and so many searched on that cruise it is much more likely they just have historically found a lot of folks bringing something back. A lot of people have been reading about the potential medical use of a certain weed maybe they've had a lot of folks in the past trying to bring some back to try out. The dog could have easily hit on traces a previous resident of that cabin left. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

 

We got hit on by the dog that sniffs to make sure people don't bring plants and food into the country improperly for a tin of East India Tea Company Earl Grey when we came back from Edinburgh. The dog isn't trained to think out anything such as how old the scent is or that some plants are allowed, just point out he smells something. They checked the bag, saw the tin, and sent us on our merry way so that wasn't nearly as trying as Trickie Dickie's morning rousting but it just goes to show the dogs are just there to indicate. After that it is up to people to figure out whats what.

Edited March 30, 2019 by TravelinGert

[ZoeyVictoria]

I am sorry this happened to you.  I had a similar experience a few years ago when my 70-year-old SO was accused by Security of stealing a golf cart on Labadee.  I was eventually able to discuss the incident with somebody from Customer Relations and felt somewhat better, but it is an experience I will never forget and it still causes negative feelings when I am reminded of it.  I hope you are able to shake it off better than I did and you will not hang on to an unpleasant memory.

[Mikew0805]

19 minutes ago, Trickie Dickie said:

No!  that was the next cruise after this one.  The cruise I was raided on ended on February 3.   

Right.. but you said you were on a B2B so this was between the non Atlantis cruise, and the Atlantis cruise, correct?

 

Maybe with the problems they have had in the past, they wanted to make sure the B2B people were not trying to avoid heightened security at the time of embarkation for the Atlantis cruise, by circumventing the normal boarding process? In other words, people could have brought on drugs the week before with less scrutiny. I don't know this is what happened... but seems plausible.

 

 

[Trickie Dickie]

4 minutes ago, Mikew0805 said:

Right.. but you said you were on a B2B so this was between the non Atlantis cruise, and the Atlantis cruise, correct?

 

Maybe with the problems they have had in the past, they wanted to make sure the B2B people were not trying to avoid heightened security at the time of embarkation for the Atlantis cruise, by circumventing the normal boarding process? In other words, people could have brought on drugs the week before with less scrutiny. I don't know this is what happened... but seems plausible.

 

 

 

 If this was the case then it wasn’t a random search. That would be a targeted search.    We were told that it was a random routine search.   Our state room attendant concurred indicating this happens often.  

[Mikew0805]

1 minute ago, Trickie Dickie said:

 

 If this was the case then it wasn’t a random search. That would be a targeted search.    We were told that it was a random routine search.   Our state room attendant concurred indicating this happens often.  

I understand, but I also do not trust that CBP would necessarily tell you if it was targeted. I would think "routine search" would roll off their tongues quite easily.

[Trickie Dickie]

1 minute ago, Mikew0805 said:

I understand, but I also do not trust that CBP would necessarily tell you if it was targeted. I would think "routine search" would roll off their tongues quite easily.

 

Concurr.

[Charles4515]

 
 If this was the case then it wasn’t a random search. That would be a targeted search.    We were told that it was a random routine search.   Our state room attendant concurred indicating this happens often.  

I worked in transportation and the authorities would claim they were doing a random search but go directly to a location to search. They had the dog but they took the dog to the location. And about 50 per cent of the time they found something which seems a high percentage for random. Don’t know if they were tipped off or profiled as they had the manifest and method of payment.

[Charles4515]

I understand, but I also do not trust that CBP would necessarily tell you if it was targeted. I would think "routine search" would roll off their tongues quite easily.

 

Not to get our members here who may be or have been in those occupations upset but CBP and police routinely lie. Unlike crew members who have a customer service orientation they are just looking for results.

 

[tennislvr8]

2 hours ago, Trickie Dickie said:

 The humiliation was being under guard in the hallway wearing nothing but a bathrobe and bare feet. 

 

 How can you call it random when half the back to back cruisers were raided?   Clearly they targeted the back to back cruisers. It could have been random that we were in the chosen half.

They randomly selected the back to back cruisers... Maybe they believe B2B cruisers are drug runners now. 

[John&LaLa]

16 minutes ago, Mikew0805 said:

Right.. but you said you were on a B2B so this was between the non Atlantis cruise, and the Atlantis cruise, correct?

 

Maybe with the problems they have had in the past, they wanted to make sure the B2B people were not trying to avoid heightened security at the time of embarkation for the Atlantis cruise, by circumventing the normal boarding process? In other words, people could have brought on drugs the week before with less scrutiny. I don't know this is what happened... but seems plausible.

 

 

 

Good reasoning. 

[John&LaLa]

14 minutes ago, Trickie Dickie said:

 

 If this was the case then it wasn’t a random search. That would be a targeted search.    We were told that it was a random routine search.   Our state room attendant concurred indicating this happens often.  

 

They randomly chose a few B2B passengers. The rest of the departing passengers went through customs with luggage, and the new passengers had to have their luggage scanned ad well.  I don't think you are getting that part.

[Trickie Dickie]

3 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

They randomly chose a few B2B passengers. The rest of the departing passengers went through customs with luggage, and the new passengers had to have their luggage scanned ad well.  I don't think you are getting that part.

 

It was half the B2B passengers, not a few. I don’t think you read my entire post. This wasn’t my first B2B. It’s never happened before. 

[John&LaLa]

Just now, Trickie Dickie said:

 

It was half the B2B passengers, not a few. I don’t think you read my entire post. This wasn’t my first B2B. It’s never happened before. 

 

Other than one person 10 years ago, it's never happened to anyone before.  😇

 

I read the entire thread.  Half or a few, it makes no difference.  Its random.  You already shared there was no connection.  That's what random is. 😉

[El Abuelo]

9 officers and a dog does not sound like a random search. That’s a lot of resource for one room. They also typically don’t go to that extreme looking for casual users. This sounds like something more. Could it have been a training exercise? Did they scrutinize the personal identification as well?

Edited March 30, 2019 by El Abuelo

[Trickie Dickie]

1 minute ago, El Abuelo said:

9 officers and a dog does not sound like a random search. That’s a lot of resource for one room. They also typically don’t go to that extreme looking for casual users. This sounds like something more. Could it have been a training exercise? Did they scrutinize the personal identification as well?

 

 They never asked for our ID. 

[Sobro]

Having bought a one-way air ticket less than 4 weeks from a flight, I was subjected to a "random" search. This was before 9/11. They will always tell you it's random when you fit the current profile.

 

And it looks like for CBP on that day, the B2B people fit that current profile. 

 

You don't have a right to privacy at the border, but you do have the right to remain silent. If you exercise that right at the border CBP has the right to go through your stuff with a fine toothed comb, so answering their questions greases the wheels a bit.

[tennislvr8]

21 minutes ago, Trickie Dickie said:

 

It was half the B2B passengers, not a few. I don’t think you read my entire post. This wasn’t my first B2B. It’s never happened before. 

That doesn't mean it hasn't happened before though. 

[El Abuelo]

6 minutes ago, Trickie Dickie said:

 

 They never asked for our ID. 

That’s odd, perhaps their target was another cabin and it had already been identified. Targeted searches usually start with identification. 

 

Casual searches are much much less invasive, and this clearly was not one. To leave you standing in the hall in bathrobes for all that time is inexcusable. If an adjacent room was unoccupied they could have let you wait there. At least in an airport, they do those things in back rooms out of sight if the general public. Still pretty disagreeable. 

 

At at least you can now say “they gave it everything they had  and still found  nothing!”. 

[steevo L]

2 hours ago, Trickie Dickie said:

 I am from Winnipeg as well! 😄

 My surprise was that the land of the free didn’t feel so free to me 😄 as I was barefoot in a Royal Caribbean bathrobe in the hallway under guard. 

 The other passengers that were raided were from the USA and they were treated the same way as us.  I guess drug smuggling is a real issue in the states and they are willing to give up certain freedoms at the borders to catch these people.

 

because the USA is the only country with a drug smuggling problem.... LOL     

 

certain freedoms???? 

[John&LaLa]

3 minutes ago, steevo L said:

 

because the USA is the only country with a drug smuggling problem.... LOL     

 

certain freedoms???? 

 

I held back. 😇