Stateroom attendant arrested for installing cameras in rooms and hiding under beds

[Starrynight0154]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/royal-caribbean-cruise-ship-worker-allegedly-admits-filming-young-passengers-even-hiding-under-beds/ar-BB1jms8K

[AlmondFarmer]

Veteran cruisers know to store their suitcases under the bed, thus eliminating space for stateroom attendant to hide. 

[Sweety]

A mess

[Fuzzywuzzy]

Time to re-institute the former maritime tradition of walking the plank.

[JFCruise]

3 hours ago, Fuzzywuzzy said:

Time to re-institute the former maritime tradition of walking the plank.

You can reserve your spot on the Cruise Planner. 25% Pre-Cruise savings!

[smokeybandit]

6 hours ago, AlmondFarmer said:

Veteran cruisers know to store their suitcases under the bed, thus eliminating space for stateroom attendant to hide. 

Also when packing your wall magnets and chair clips, pack your bug detector, too, for those hidden cameras.

[WAAAYTOOO]

1 hour ago, JFCruise said:

You can reserve your spot on the Cruise Planner. 25% Pre-Cruise savings!

….plus 18% gratuity

[JohnK6404]

23 hours ago, Fuzzywuzzy said:

Time to re-institute the former maritime tradition of walking the plank.

... or Crown's Edge without the safety harness! 

[jeffmw]

This whole thing is insane. Sickening, obviously, but as someone (like all of you) who has taken a number of cruises I'm trying to imagine how and where you'd even hide a camera in those tiny staterooms that would go unnoticed but also have an angle that would capture anything this guy wants to see. It seems like even if it worked once or twice, pretty quickly someone would find it. There's just not that many areas within a stateroom that go unseen for very long.

[BrianB]

Chargers for phone and iPad…check

Book for beach and pool reading…check

Sunscreen…check

Antibacterial wipes…check

Check under bed for pervert…check

Shampoo and body wash…check

Toothbrush…check

Check entire cabin for pervert camera…check

*Ready to cruise!

 

[alexandraweston600]

This guy was our room attendant back in May last year when Symphony was in Europe

[smokeybandit]

50 minutes ago, jeffmw said:

This whole thing is insane. Sickening, obviously, but as someone (like all of you) who has taken a number of cruises I'm trying to imagine how and where you'd even hide a camera in those tiny staterooms that would go unnoticed but also have an angle that would capture anything this guy wants to see. It seems like even if it worked once or twice, pretty quickly someone would find it. There's just not that many areas within a stateroom that go unseen for very long.

Sadly too many people these days are oblivious to the world around them. You have to think this guy has been doing this for a long time and got more brazen with his camera placement as time went on.

[SPS]

32 minutes ago, alexandraweston600 said:

This guy was our room attendant back in May last year when Symphony was in Europe

Really? The article states that he has only been with Symphony since December. 

[alexandraweston600]

Yeh I saw that they said it was more recent- he was definitely working on board back then as I recognised him straight away on seeing his picture and couldn't believe it!

[Gilley]

It will have me taking a good look at every inch of my cabin moving forward.  I may even flip the mattress....

[Srp431]

Maybe this guy started a new contract in December on Symphony?

[Austin]

Just wait until the guys in the Broward County jail get a hold of him… He’ll be some inmate’s pet.

[alexandraweston600]

I showed his photo to my husband last night and it is definitely him. I hadn´t thought at the time but I now remember him asking us if we minded not  storing our suitcases under the bed as he had bits and pieces under there - we didn't think anything of it at the time He actually seemed like a really nice guy to us and spoke about his family back home!

[tonyfsu21]

22 hours ago, jeffmw said:

This whole thing is insane. Sickening, obviously, but as someone (like all of you) who has taken a number of cruises I'm trying to imagine how and where you'd even hide a camera in those tiny staterooms that would go unnoticed but also have an angle that would capture anything this guy wants to see. It seems like even if it worked once or twice, pretty quickly someone would find it. There's just not that many areas within a stateroom that go unseen for very long.

This guy is in and out of staterooms 24/7/365. With that amount of time spent in one place it’s not hard to imagine that they could come up with a few camera locations. 

[AlmondFarmer]

Royal is partly to blame for this incident on Symphony as the crew member requested his contract be for Voyeur of the Seas. 

[JulieCruiseFan]

Brilliant!!

 

Edited March 7, 2024 by JulieCruiseFan
repeated comment

[Pattycruise]

18 hours ago, alexandraweston600 said:

I showed his photo to my husband last night and it is definitely him. I hadn´t thought at the time but I now remember him asking us if we minded not  storing our suitcases under the bed as he had bits and pieces under there - we didn't think anything of it at the time He actually seemed like a really nice guy to us and spoke about his family back home!

I can recall an attendant asking that. It wasn’t him though.  I’ve never kept my luggage under the bed, doubt I’ll start but apparently now we need to look for the bogeyman under the bed on a regular basis. Adding to my list of things to do. 

[CrimsonCruiser]

For most of the week I kept ignoring mentions of this story thinking that people were dredging up the older story where a staff member was found to be recording in the public bathrooms because "surely" my brain reasoned "there aren't two separate instances of this happening so relatively close together..."

But there are and this one is miles worse and I am sickened to read what he did and how long he was able to do it and i hate that we as vacationers have to consider all these extra precautions just to having a good time...

[CrimsonCruiser]

On 3/6/2024 at 7:34 AM, jeffmw said:

This whole thing is insane. Sickening, obviously, but as someone (like all of you) who has taken a number of cruises I'm trying to imagine how and where you'd even hide a camera in those tiny staterooms that would go unnoticed but also have an angle that would capture anything this guy wants to see. It seems like even if it worked once or twice, pretty quickly someone would find it. There's just not that many areas within a stateroom that go unseen for very long.

I have two fairly conspicuous black blink cameras in my home to keep myself safe and to be aware of what may or may not happen while I am not there or asleep. At one point, one of these 3 inch by 3 inch pure black cameras was mounted against an all white wall in the open in my kitchen while I watched my landlord and her hirees do work in my kitchen. My landlord NEVER noticed it. I told her, "just so you're not freaked out, I do have a camera in there" and she's like "where?" and I told her exactly where to look and she couldn't see it. I had to literally stand under it and point it out for her to see it.

So I can see how smaller cameras placed in areas people wouldn't generally look can be hidden but still recording.

[twangster]

2 minutes ago, CrimsonCruiser said:

For most of the week I kept ignoring mentions of this story thinking that people were dredging up the older story where a staff member was found to be recording in the public bathrooms because "surely" my brain reasoned "there aren't two separate instances of this happening so relatively close together..."

But there are and this one is miles worse and I am sickened to read what he did and how long he was able to do it and i hate that we as vacationers have to consider all these extra precautions just to having a good time...

As a business traveler the concept of hidden cameras has been something on my mind for decades.  

Erin Andrews from ESPN had to deal with it from a 2008 incident in a hotel room in Tennessee.  I think that individual brought the idea to the mainstream.  Since then advancements with technology has made it easier for those that followed his lead, unfortunately.  

[CrimsonCruiser]

3 minutes ago, twangster said:

As a business traveler the concept of hidden cameras has been something on my mind for decades.  

Erin Andrews from ESPN had to deal with it from a 2008 incident in a hotel room in Tennessee.  I think that individual brought the idea to the mainstream.  Since then advancements with technology has made it easier for those that followed his lead, unfortunately.  

I unfortunately agree. I've seen and heard more and more stories of hidden cameras in lamps, false mirrors, alarm clocks etc. Not to mention the horror stories for single women travelers who have to barricade their hotel room doors against break ins.....

[twangster]

Maybe time to bring our own hidden cameras so we can spy on the cabin attendants when we are out of our cabins.

[teddy]

9 minutes ago, twangster said:

Maybe time to bring our own hidden cameras so we can spy on the cabin attendants when we are out of our cabins.

I’m thinking my game cameras might not be small enough.

[fireclan]

18 minutes ago, teddy said:

I’m thinking my game cameras might not be small enough.

But they are (most likely) camouflaged, so they'll be harder to see.

[tonyfsu21]

On 3/8/2024 at 10:41 AM, teddy said:

I’m thinking my game cameras might not be small enough.

Why bother hiding them? Point it from the back side of the room towards the front door. Ring stick up cams are cheap end effective. Mutually assured destruction. 

[twangster]

1 hour ago, tonyfsu21 said:

Why bother hiding them? Point it from the back side of the room towards the front door. Ring stick up cams are cheap end effective. Mutually assured destruction. 

Ring cams need an internet connection to work. 

[Baked Alaska]

I would prefer conspicuous cameras to watch the attendant. I would go so far as to tell them to not touch them.

[tonyfsu21]

11 minutes ago, Baked Alaska said:

I would prefer conspicuous cameras to watch the attendant. I would go so far as to tell them to not touch them.

This is exactly the point. Just stick it there and plug it in. The fact that it doesn’t connect to the internet is irrelevant. 

[tonyfsu21]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

Ring cams need an internet connection to work. 

By “work” I would say it just needs to be plugged in. This would be a significant deterrent even w/o internet. 

[Jill]

It still amazes me how so many parents let their kids wander all over the ship unsupervised. When we cruised with our young girls, they never left our sight. Sexual assault on cruise ships (by crew or passengers) does happen. 
 

Now we have to worry about the cabin itself. 

[tonyfsu21]

On 3/11/2024 at 3:44 PM, Jill said:

It still amazes me how so many parents let their kids wander all over the ship unsupervised. When we cruised with our young girls, they never left our sight. Sexual assault on cruise ships (by crew or passengers) does happen. 
 

Now we have to worry about the cabin itself. 

I would be one of those parents. When we go on Icon next Saturday (spring break) there will be kids running around everywhere. I teach my kids to be observant and we are in constant text communication so there is low risk of any issue. 

[ChessE4]

Techno-parenting is a skill, and a few adults on cruise ships seem to have it, but many don't. I lost my son at age 6 on a small ship, so I urge parents to plan ahead with their families what to do in various situations. In my case, my son returned to our stateroom. Must have gotten his common sense from his mother...

[ckruetze]

On 3/11/2024 at 8:44 PM, Jill said:

It still amazes me how so many parents let their kids wander all over the ship unsupervised. When we cruised with our young girls, they never left our sight.

We have left our girls (9 and 6) go alone and wonder around the ship. We always agree on a time when they should meet us again and where. And they have WhatsApp. I wouldn't want to be a parent that chains up the child.
But I guess it is also different we come from Europe and here it is more normal for kids to play and have fun outside. My children were allowed with 3 years to go and play on the street and visit friends down the road (we live in a small village in the countryside).
I find a cruise ship very secure. All public spaces have video surveillance and children are not allowed to get off the ship alone. So I have absolutely no worries for them to play for a while without us being around.

[tonyfsu21]

6 hours ago, ckruetze said:

We have left our girls (9 and 6) go alone and wonder around the ship. We always agree on a time when they should meet us again and where. And they have WhatsApp. I wouldn't want to be a parent that chains up the child.
But I guess it is also different we come from Europe and here it is more normal for kids to play and have fun outside. My children were allowed with 3 years to go and play on the street and visit friends down the road (we live in a small village in the countryside).
I find a cruise ship very secure. All public spaces have video surveillance and children are not allowed to get off the ship alone. So I have absolutely no worries for them to play for a while without us being around.

100% agree. Clearly it’s more of an exposure inside the cabin than around the ship. My kids have a blast on their own around the ship and we wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve heard lots of horror stories none of which involve the abduction of young children while onboard the ship (that I can recall). Low risk. 

[smokeybandit]

We just have a rule that no one our son meets on board is allowed in our cabin, nor is he allowed in theirs.