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Hello again, I've never been on a cruise and am booked on Liberty OTS in August.  I was wondering how secure people have found the ships to be regarding leaving your cell phone/sea pass cards on a lounger while taking a dip for example. Also, I'm assuming there must be some form of security force on the ship -maybe US Marshalls like supposedly fly on aeroplanes?  I would hope it's not commonplace but, with people possibly over-imbibing, I suppose it's not out of the realm of possibility that a bar room brawl could occur! <_<  Do these ships have a brig? :P Also, should we expect to see visible guns on the ship - which I feel would detract from the feeling of being on a carefree vacation.

 

I'm taking my 7 year old daughter and 17 year old son plus his 17 year old best friend on the cruise. I assume I will see little of the 2 boys and would like reassurance that everything is very civilized on board and also would like to know my items are most likely secure if I'm going down the slide with my 7 year old. A friend told me of a cruise (different cruise line) she went on years ago that seemed to have a lot of drunken behaviour on board and stuff being pinched from people's loungers  :huh: Maybe that was because she went on a Spring Break cruise??

Thank you.

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I have seen a few security agent on my last cruise, no guns visible, and they were all very discreet. 

The passengers were very well behaved, polite, civilized and respectful to each other. 

 

The cruise ship became, for a week, a small community of understanding, carring and friendship. No matter if your black, white, yellow or miscellaneous. 

But, some might always try to take advantage if the opportunities shows up.

 

In general, I could say that, people on a cruise ship would tend to be "more civilized"  compare to your normal neighborhood. 

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 1.  Leaving personal items on loungers.  I have never heard of anyone's personal belongings going missing except in situations where people leave their items unattended and leave the area entirely.  This can happen by accident (someone leaving something by mistake) or when someone will try and "save" a lounger for later use by leaving personal items on the lounger - in which case an employee may remove items so that the lounger can be used by someone who needs it (this is a fairly rare occurrence, unfortunately)  If you are just stepping away to swim, get a drink or some other short-term reason, I'm sure you would be fine...however, I would recommend that you put your more valuable items (cell phone, etc.) under your towel or in a tote or something similar.  You will not have any problems with that.

 

2.  Security/weapons on board.  Absolutely not...or, if there are (and I don't believe there are) passengers NEVER see such things.  There is security at the ports but nothing that you don't see at an airport.

 

3.  Misbehavior.  Yes, there are brigs on ships and I suppose that from time-to-time they are utilized but I suspect that this would be a consequence of last resort as the cruise lines do not benefit from locking up their passengers.  Will there be passenger disagreements ?  Occasionally, but it is truly rare to see physical confrontations.  The ships' staff are very adept at de-escalating potential physical altercations.

 

You will find everything to be friendly, calm and welcoming.  Anything other than that, the cruise line loses.  Passengers will not pay top $$ to be placed into an environment that is dangerous or threatening.  Most will follow the golden rule and treat others the way that they expect to be treated.

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Cruise lines have security staff monitoring in person, responding as needed, and monitoring CCTV.  The Chief Security Officer is usually a former law-enforcement office from the US, Canada, or Europe.  Anecdotally, after 60+ cruises I've never encountered any issue, and honestly let me guard down more on cruise ships than anywhere else, wrong or right.  It's not to say things don't happen, I'm sure you can find bad things happening anyplace.  It's in a cruise line's best interest to make sure everyone is safe and feels safe on their temporary home.

 

This article has a nice interview with a Chief Security Officer for HAL who used to be with the FBI:
https://www.yahoo.com/style/confessions-of-a-cruise-ship-security-officer-032437936.html

 

Other info:

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-08-01/business/fl-cruise-ship-security-20100801_1_security-guards-ship-security-security-leaders

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In terms of leaving personal items on a lounger, I always hide them under towels, shirts, etc.  I have never had an issue with that, but better safe than sorry, right?

While I like to joke about the fortress of security that is putting your wallet inside of shoes at the beach (thanks Seinfeld), one great reason to cover your valuables, aside the 'out of sight, out of mind' factor, is that protection from the sun.  Leave our seapass card and cellphone on the chair uncovered and on the right day, you may come back to a broken phone and a warped seapass card.

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I wouldn't consider a cruise ship any safer than a resort hotel.  My mom has had something stolen before onboard, so it can happen.  Keep in mind that there are anywhere from 2,500 to 6,000+ guests onboard.  It only takes one to be a bad apple and to decide to steal something.  While I've never had anything stolen, I also don't leave valuables unattended.  I leave them in the room if I plan on going for a dip in the pool.  I also don't let my son roam the ship by himself for similar reasons.  Remember, you know nothing about your fellow passengers and it is naive to assume that they are all respectful human beings even though 99+% of them are.

 

All ships have security staff onboard.  However, the only lines that I'm aware of that have weapons onboard are Italian flagged vessels.  None of the major cruise lines carry weapons, which could also present problems given that they are docking in foreign countries with their own gun control laws.

 

Cruise ships are perfectly safe in my opinion, as is Disney, but bad things can happen.

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I wouldn't leave a laptop/cell phone sitting in plain sight but do leave them tucked out of sight and so far as others have indicated no issues.

 

I have seen security on several cruises, I would say they remind me a lot of mall/hotel security ... guys in uniforms with no obvious weapons and no clear idea what their background is.

 

Not sure about the brig but I have seen a family "detained" in their cabin with a security guard posted at the door until we get to the next port at which point they were escorted off the boat, so there is definitely some level of "going to far" to keep in mind,

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We have one of these that we use for situations like this: 

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005K6JQXQ/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687462&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00HYXHPNG&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=61KBVS82FHVTNS1Q4HRP

 

It's not the most secure thing ever, but at least it keeps the honest people honest.

 

You could also attach it to your beach chair.  Once again, not 100% secure, but it would take a lot more than picking something up quickly.  

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I wouldn't consider a cruise ship any safer than a resort hotel.  My mom has had something stolen before onboard, so it can happen.  Keep in mind that there are anywhere from 2,500 to 6,000+ guests onboard.  It only takes one to be a bad apple and to decide to steal something.  While I've never had anything stolen, I also don't leave valuables unattended.  I leave them in the room if I plan on going for a dip in the pool.  I also don't let my son roam the ship by himself for similar reasons.  Remember, you know nothing about your fellow passengers and it is naive to assume that they are all respectful human beings even though 99+% of them are.

 

All ships have security staff onboard.  However, the only lines that I'm aware of that have weapons onboard are Italian flagged vessels.  None of the major cruise lines carry weapons, which could also present problems given that they are docking in foreign countries with their own gun control laws.

 

Cruise ships are perfectly safe in my opinion, as is Disney, but bad things can happen.

. Agree with this. Never had any issues. Just used common sense. Most people are there with family and/or friends. Singles spring break cruises I think you may find more opportunity for liquid courage brawls but to be honest never heard of fights happening. I've seen teens just having a good time with new friends doing scavenger hunts or hanging in teen lounge. Taking my 18 niece on her first cruise..going to give her space to do her own thing but will probably do some sort of Check in type deal to make sure she is ok.
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I would not leave anything unattended that I could not afford to loose. Since smaller crimes do not need to be reported under the law, the real level of the problem is not know. While I do believe you are safer on cruise ships no reason to let your guard down.

 

Here is a link to a FBI Information Posting about cruise ship safety.  

 

Crime on the High Seas
Cruises Not a Vacation from Vigilance

 

In part it says:

“If you are going to go on a cruise, you want to treat it like you are going to a small city,†says David Hearn, a supervisory special agent in the FBI’s Indian Country/Special Jurisdiction Unit, which coordinates with field offices and the FBI’s legal attachés overseas to investigate crimes on the high seas. “You don’t know the people on a cruise ship. You don’t know who’s in the cabin next to you. Crime doesn’t stop just because you are on a boat.â€

 

Yes the ships do have holding cells, and have armed officers on select cruises but you do not see them. When travel through high crime areas of the open oceans Royal and other cruise lines bring special security teams on board for these trips. Ex military special forces the main reason for them is armed attacks against the ships. When Ovation of the left Dubai last week for India it had one of these teams on the ship. But really hard to spot them, as they are dressed and act somewhat like normal guests on the ship. 

 

Royal does many things that most passengers never really know about. When travelling on this trip the also moved with close range of a group of military ships and transport ships traveling the same route.  What is done on a Caribbean cruise and the security level need is not the same as other parts of the world. 

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Do you guys remember when a lady "lost" her phone on Disney Cruise Line and when she got home and logged into her computer, all of these selfies of a cast member started popping up? He had stolen her phone but didn't bother to wipe it clean and it automatically synced the photos to her iCloud. Dummy

 

Edited to add link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/23/disney-cruise-iphone-thief-uploads-photos-to-photo-stream-facebook_n_1539353.html

 

The pics are pretty funny :-D

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Check this link about a engagement ring stolen out of the cabin.  Link 

 

If cruise lines had to report all the crime that happens on ships, the public would have a different view of safety. Under the current law cruise lines like Royal are required to report only if the stolen items are valued at $10,000 or more. So you could have 300 cell phones stolen and in theory no report to US law enforcement. 

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I agree with Todd and Doc, I wouldn't leave anything out that you don't want stolen. I have walked by a beach chair and seen a laptop on it with no one around. You are asking for it to be stolen. As McLarty said there is a little safe you can purchase that locks around your beach chair. Yes they would have to take the whole chair but I believe a crew member would ask what they were doing dragging a chair around.

 

A friend and I shared a cabin and her diamond ring came up missing. True, she left it in the night stand drawer but we firmly believe the cabin steward took it. She reported it to Guest Relations and they said without proof they couldn't accuse him of theft but they would talk to him. She never saw the ring again. 

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Hello again, I've never been on a cruise and am booked on Liberty OTS in August.  I was wondering how secure people have found the ships to be regarding leaving your cell phone/sea pass cards on a lounger while taking a dip for example. Also, I'm assuming there must be some form of security force on the ship -maybe US Marshalls like supposedly fly on aeroplanes?  I would hope it's not commonplace but, with people possibly over-imbibing, I suppose it's not out of the realm of possibility that a bar room brawl could occur! <_<  Do these ships have a brig? :P Also, should we expect to see visible guns on the ship - which I feel would detract from the feeling of being on a carefree vacation.

 

I'm taking my 7 year old daughter and 17 year old son plus his 17 year old best friend on the cruise. I assume I will see little of the 2 boys and would like reassurance that everything is very civilized on board and also would like to know my items are most likely secure if I'm going down the slide with my 7 year old. A friend told me of a cruise (different cruise line) she went on years ago that seemed to have a lot of drunken behaviour on board and stuff being pinched from people's loungers  :huh: Maybe that was because she went on a Spring Break cruise??

Thank you.

There is one other thing you need to be aware of.   Since you will be in the Caribbean,  most of your port stops serve alcohol to anyone that looks close to being an adult.  Your two 17 year olds need to be aware that the ship will not wait for them if they are late coming back.  We have seen it on many of our Cozumel trips where someone is knee crawling back after too many shots of Tequila (ta kill ya).  Not trying to prejudge your son or his friend but keep this in mind....but most of all ,,,,Have fun!

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