How safe are cruise ships?

The Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | Sat, May. 17, 2008 | Troy Graham

[al baby]

Hope it sunk in.

Hope it sunk in.

[Inspectorette]

I have 5 (soon to be 6) cruises under my belt, all on the "geriatric" Holland America Line. The vast majority of passengers on each of my cruises (but one) have been in the 50 - 60 year old range (hardly geriatric).

LOL - didn't mean to offend anyone by using the term "geriatric". Since I'm 63, I guess I just felt free to use the term.

[Res Nullius]

Cruise lines vary. Carnival, for example, has a reputation as party line. Princess [although owned by Carnival] and Royal Caribbean are more middle of the road. More importantly, the liquor is not free; you must pay - often at premium prices. We recently transited the Panama Canal, accompanied by another couple who do not drink liquor. Their trip was no less enjoyable than ours.

[Species8472]

Cruise ships are famous incubators of norovirus - an especially nasty stomach bug transmitted by oral/fecal/hand to hand contact. Stay away from the buffet and wash your hands often!

I live in a cruise ship destination here in Alaska. several time a year during the cruise season, the whole town seems to get the runs. - Yuck!

[LucyT]

Apparently the wife of George Smith was drugged. GHB causes memory loss which would explain the gap in her memory since it still would be in her system the next morning. They were newlyweds, on their honeymoon.

He was a large man, and she physically couldn’t have beat him up, caused blood to splash all over the place, then throw him overboard, and didn’t a couch go over, too? One article mentioned Russian mafia on board. There was a theory he was trying to defend his wife from being raped by the Russian guys they met. Incidentally, those men were never found after they left ship.

[porter_knorr]

As I recall, she thought he may have been passed out in another room....as you said they had many drinks. I don’t think it occurred to her that he would have been killed on their honeymoon.

Nice slam on her though.

[Malacoda]

International Cruise Victims and Cruise Bruise both have some decent sections on staying safe while on cruises. They have their share of horror stories, too. *shudder*

[DPMD]

Note to Congress: Ban cruises.

Then raise taxes.

[Viking2002]

Yup. From my observations, the majority of 'man overboard' cases are simple 'hold muh beer' moments gone awry.....

[mollynme]

HAL does have the reputation of being just for elderly cruisers. That's fine with me, especially when I'm cruising solo. I am definitely not a party animal and appreciate a quiet cruise.
As far as geriatric goes, the older I get the broader my interpretation gets of "middle age". LOL!

[Malacoda]

Heh. I've been on a few cruises....it seems to me that you get waht you pay for --i.e., if you go cheap, you get cheap. If people wouldn't act foolishly, a lot of accidents might be avoided.

I can't imagine letting my guard completely down in such a situation. However, I also can't see the attractiveness of drinking to incoherence.