Cruisin’ to Safety

So you’ve taken every precaution to ensure that your family is safe from unwanted intruders.  You’ve got the state of the art alarm system, motion sensors, panic buttons, driveway lights, and even mace next to your bed to keep you and your family feeling secure whether you’re home or leaving your house unattended.  And the next time you go on vacation you probably know your home, with a little help from neighbors willing to check-in from time to time, will remain safe, and you’ll be able to enjoy your time on that fabulous cruise you finally booked to Mexico.

But how safe, exactly, is that cruise ship you’re boarding?

We’ve already covered the measures hotel officials take to ensure their guests are safe during their stay, and we can assume cruise ships are equipped with an equally attentive staff; or perhaps even more attentive, since spending several weeks in the open sea with nowhere else to go can probably seem like a breeding ground for theft and crime.  For the most part we can’t deny that the attention to security paid by cruise ships are likely to be meticulous, but we also can’t deny the fact that crimes can and do occur in every location imaginable, with cruise ships being no possible exception.

The facts and numbers speak for themselves, and as the FBI told a congressional hearing in 2007, during a five-month period of that year a total of 207 suspected crimes were reported by the cruise industry, including 41 sexual assaults.  The cruise lines carried nearly 4.4 million passengers between April and September, when the crimes are said to have occurred, and 19 of those were alleged rapes.  One of those was a woman who reported that she was raped by a cabin steward who entered her room while she slept using his passkey, and was apparently sedated by other crew members after the incident so as to make her memory of the account fuzzy and unreliable.  Her lawyer, William Sullivan, insists cruise ship crimes have gotten so remarkably rampant that it is “time for legislation. It’s time for Congress to step in” (Talev).

For their part, the FBI and Coast Guard insist that no act of Congress is necessary since the industry itself is reporting crime incidents in a timely manner, therefore allowing the current system to work well.  During a hearing Members of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, however, agreed that certain measures must be taken, suggesting that on-site training should be available for all cruise ship staff, including advice on how to retain evidence and secure crime scenes.

Cruise industry officials themselves spoke on the issue, with Gary Bald, senior vice president and global chief security officer for Royal Caribbean Cruises, insisting at the time that he was looking into installing peepholes on every cabin door, has hired more security guards per ship and specialized staff dealing exclusively with sexual assault cases, and was looking into creating a “blacklist” to possibly prevent his company from hiring staff members who have had a history of questionable activity aboard previous cruise ships (Talev).

Before you cancel your cruise for fear of becoming the next on-board victim, however, consider a list put together by Steve Thompson of  The Associated Content (associatedcontent.com) where he reminds us that while crimes aboard cruise ships are, relatively speaking, still pretty rare, “our vigilance can’t stop just because we’re on vacation.”

Here he shares 5 essential tips to keeping safe during your next cruise vacation:

1)Keep Your Cabin Locked
Like hotel rooms, cruise ship cabins require a passkey to enter, which is given to you on arrival.  However, when you’re in your cabin, you should always lock the deadbolt to ensure your utmost safety.  Also, you should remember to lock your door every time you leave your cabin.

2)Watch Your Belongings
Taking a dip in the pool or getting sucked into a casino slot machine can distract you from watching over your personal belongings.  It’s a great idea to lock your things in your cabin before going anywhere or to have someone you trust watch over your belongings while you step away.

3)Avoid dark, deserted areas
Cruise ships can be big, and rapes and assaults can happen just as easily on a ship as it can on land.    Avoid dark and deserted areas, and don’t be afraid to seek help immediately if someone is making you nervous. Perhaps your safest option is to have someone you know walk with you at all times.

4)Make It Difficult
Don’t invite criminal activity.  Criminals know where you might keep your belongings and will always check in the most obvious places.  Make it difficult for them by carrying your cash in your shoe, or keeping it in a fanny pack in front of you where you can see.

5)Choose the Right Cruise
It’s always a great idea to research how various cruise lines handle crime and security. Ask yourself, do they set up video surveillance of common areas? Do they employ loss-prevention officers? Will the decks be well-lighted? Choosing the wrong cruise can up your chances of becoming the next victim of cruise ship crime, in spite of your efforts to prevent crime once you’re on board.

Ultimately, being smart and vigilant is the key to crime prevention, although you can never be 100% certain when or how a criminal will strike.

As Thompson advises,

“If all else fails, make sure that you report any crime to the police, and ask that the cruise line investigate for you until the boat docks.”

Sources:

Talev, M.  “Crime aboard cruise ships comes to light.” The Seattle Times. 20 January 2007.
Web. 6 January 2010.

Thompson, S. “How to Prevent Crime on a Cruise Ship.” The Associated Content. 7 May 2009.
Web. 6 January 2010.