Security Issues, Do they x-ray checked baggage?

[terryflorida]

Hi, We are traveling with newbies and they are suddenly concerned with cruise safety. Does anyone know if they scan or x-ray the checked luggage as well as the carry ons? Thanks! We are leaving Sat. so please respond soon, thanks again!

[jhannah]

Absolutely! I witness my bag being scanned every time.

[jtl513]

Absolutely! I witness my bag being scanned every time.

 

Checked baggage, Jim, or just carry-ons? We just turn over our bags getting off the transfer bus ... so what would the ship do if they found a problem in that case? (Not that I bring any contraband ... just curious.) :D

[Scubachick84]

They do scan checked luggage, but I'm not too sure how thorough it is. Sometimes they find my dive knife, sometimes they don't.

[Mollynme]

I checked out the TSA website and couldn't find anything specific. However, this warning - "the checked baggage screening equipment will damage undeveloped film in camera equipment" - makes it sound as if they do x-ray checked baggage.

[WNYCRUISER]

I think a clarification is in order.

 

I cannot tell from the OP if they are inquiring as to whether the AIRLINE scans luggage or if the CRUISE LINE scans luggage. It seems that the responses are going in both directions.

[terryflorida]

Thank you all for your input so far. Given the sheer number of cruises per day/week/month/year that have traveled safely, this doesn't seem like a huge problem to me, but I promised I would try to check it out. Perhaps they will feel more secure if they think the checked luggage is x-rayed or scanned. Again, many thanks.

[jtl513]

deleted ... OP was simul-typing :)

[sail7seas]

Every piece of luggage loaded on every HAL ship is x-rayed I have been told...and I have every reason to believe the person who told me that. And every reason to believe they knew of what they were speaking.

 

Have a great, safe cruise. HAL is VERY security conscious.

[jhannah]

I was referring to airline screening. I made that assumption, although it may not have been correct.

 

Watching all the full carts being fork-lifted aboard ship, I cannot see how the ship can x-ray every piece of luggage and still get it to us before bedtime. Maybe it happens ... but it just doesn't seem plausible that the ships would have the equipment in place to do that.

[sail7seas]

Actually, I think they do, Jim. I know what you mean about all those huge crates of luggage we see being loaded but my memory from when we toured the area where the luggage enters the ship is very large. We toured there prior to 9-11 and before all the added security but I see how they could have installed luggage x-ray machines and push it through the same way they do it at the airport.

 

[Randyk47]

Jim - The x-ray equipment I've seen for checked baggage was in the terminal not on the ship. I actually watched them process our stuff through a machine at Ft Lauderdale. Now, it was supposedly screened 'cause it went through the machine but they were moving fast and it appeared they were using not one but a number of machines to handle the several thousands of pieces. They had one of those forklift luggage cages right behind the machine I could see and were taking it off the conveyer and into the cage about as quick as humanly possible.

[RuthC]

It's also my understanding that HAL x-rays the checked luggage as well as the carry-on's.

When I boarded in Rio we were told that there would be a delay in delivering luggage as it had to be sent in trucks to another area to be checked. I found it when I got back to my cabin at 11:30 that night. :eek:

[happy cruzer]

I have always assumed all luggage was x rayed to protect the cruiseline's investment. Expensive ships and trained staff (would be hard to recruit after a serious incident) are very expensive. Plus I would think if the staff that will be sailing is doing the scanning they will be diligent. xray equipment and the baggage handlers should be easily available week after week in most of the ports.

 

Recently I got very concerned that the sail away gifts being brought on board by 3rd parties might not be scanned. Never got an answer to that. I mean the gift company employess are not going to be on the ship later.

 

Those were my assumptions. I would like to know for sure. I think it is a very legitimate concern.

[BruceMuzz]

Everyting - and I mean EVERYTHING - that goes aboard ship in US ports must be x-rayed or hand searched.

[terryflorida]

Thanks for all the awesome comments and help!

[happy cruzer]

Everyting - and I mean EVERYTHING - that goes aboard ship in US ports must be x-rayed or hand searched.

 

Hi, Bruce;

 

Thanks for the reassurance. I know everything means everything. I thought a few years ago there was an exception made for some of the provision deliveries i.e. deliveries from some usual vendors of very large flats of provisions like flour, etc... I hope they have closed that hole.

 

And I note you do mention US ports. hummmmmm..... Do they bring on many provisions and crew in non US ports???

 

Thanks for the response.

[Copper10-8]

Just to clear up a point that was brought up: TSA does not (as of yet) work the ports as they do the airports. They are not involved in the screening process when boarding a cruise ship. Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are, as well as contract private security and the ship's own staff. You can still lock your checked luggage in contrast with what you can do at the airports. My understanding is that IF something in your checked luggage draws the attention of the screeners, you'll be notified and will need to report to a location on shore where you'll be asked to open that piece of luggage.

Everything that goes onboard ship is screened by a combination of machines, humans and canines. Don't have any info on what occurs at foreign/non-U.S. ports but I would imagine all cruise lines have guidelines/procedures in place for those locations as well in cooperation with local governments and port authorities.

[wgeddings]

You could always find out by putting lots of contraband in someone else's luggage to see if it got detected. A few machine guns, some random drugs, maybe a stow-a-way or 2. :D Just do not say where you go the idea!

 

When we were leaving out of Ft. Lauderdale recently, we had just gotten a new digital camera. DW was taking pictures of us getting ready to board and in the check-in line. She thought she would get a picture as we went through security. A guard saw her and was very insistent that no pictures were allowed because it was a secure area and at first, DW did not understand him (not paying attention) but was happy to comply. The problem was that she did not know how to work the camera correctly and instead of taking a picture, she had activated the movie (avi) mode and was recording all kinds of pictures and her conversation with him. When we got home and were looking at what was taken, we laughed and laughed at the movie of her being told not to take pictures, apologizing, walking around, all while still taking pictures without knowing it. :eek: The guard was very nice and thankfully never realized she had the movie mode going but it was surely fun laughing at her learning to work the camera. Even she laughed.

[Randyk47]

They do, occasionally, bring provisions on at other than US ports. I remember them loading fruit at one of the Caribbean ports though I can't remember which one. Since it was loaded directly from a supplier's truck onto the ship I suspect the ship's security folks checked the goods. I've also seen limited numbers of crew leave and get on ships other than in the US but my take at the time was that they were entertainers. I believe a few years ago one even mentioned they were changing from one HAL ship to another that would be in port the following day. As I recall they were part of a band and it was easier to change ships in Port "Whatever-It-Was" than the US. Lots of immigration and security stuff has changed since 9/11 and continues to change even today so maybe crew members can't even do that anymore.

 

PS - Glad Copper pointed out TSA is not directly involved in port security right now. A good friend is the TSA deputy regional director and he and I have talked about this a couple of times. He and I worked together in the Pentagon and he's asked me what I thought of the security measures at cruise terminals. Not that I'm any kind of expert but you do learn a few things after 40 years with the military. While TSA has a cruise line section is it mostly an adviser role at this point with no active participation at cruise terminals.

[arabrab]

They may or may not xray baggage, but your friends should also know that a ship is quite different than an airplane. With airplanes they're trying to detect explosives, firearms, and other weapons, because it doesn't take all that much to bring a plane down.

 

The mass of a cruiseship is enormous, and it is not operating in a pressurized environment, so the risks are also tremendously different. The security risks that they do face often come from external threats while underway, such as the terrorists who took over the Achille Lauro back in about 1986?, and last summer's attempt by pirates to board a smaller luxury cruiseship. Cruiseships may also take special measures while in port to ensure that other boats can't closely approach without interception.

 

I'm sure that each of the big cruise lines has a security department that works in concert with the relevant government agencies to plan for safety on board, but you want the safety plans to reflect the real risks in the cruise ship environment, and not simply transferring the plans for passenger airplanes which operate in a very different environment.

[BJHOOSER]

When i was on the 10-14 Volemdam my luggage was lost on arrival at the airport. (It went to Chicago and i went to Miami. they misdirected me too.) Front Office put a trace on it and it was located and sent to Aruba, first stop. One bag was sent to my cabin, it was not locked. The second bag they asked me to come to their office as it was locked. When i got there they asked if i had an umbrella in it. Well in a way i did. it was the sun hat that looks like an umbrella. They had to have Xrayed it to know that since it was locked. The unlocked suitcase was hand searched, the way it was in the suitcase was very telling. Abby:) :(

[visagrunt]

As far as Canadian ports are concerned, in Vancouver, all checked baggage is loaded onto the vessel by conveyor and individually x-rayed during loading.

 

I don't have direct experience of operations in Halifax or Montreal, but the systems are likely similar.

[happy cruzer]

Right before Thanksgiving when we were in ST Thomas, I got a good look at the area where they were loading the provisions. I am 99% per cent certain that they did not do any xrays or inspection of the provisions. They loaded via forklifts from the delivery truck to the ship. No xray equipment in sight.

 

Anyone know who they insure security of those items?