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This is very good advice. The risk on a cruise is when you are in port, especially if you are in another country. Get all your shore excursion information from the concierge service on the boat. They will give you great info, even if you are looking for information other than the booked tours etc. Of course, they want to upsell those planned events, but they will still help you if you don't want to spend money on that.
The amount of risk while on board is virtually nil. Passengers are there to have a good time. The attitude is one of having fun. Passenger to passenger violence is so rare that it makes global news when it happens. Crew to passenger violence is even lower as maritime law is very severe on violators, nothing like how it's handled here in the United States.
The biggest risk while on board is theft from your stateroom, much like that of any hotel. So, use the in cabin safe, keep only the amount of cash you need for the day on your person and you will be fine. The purser's office does have a larger safe for big items, but you need to arrange this prior to sailing. Your cruise consultant (salesperson that books your cruise) will take care of that if you let them know.
I love cruising, especially with the kids. There is so much to do onboard that we let the boys (14 and 16) and our 18 year old daughter just run free and do what they wanted. There is complete CCTV coverage on all the public spaces over the entire ship, and all the open access areas reserved for the crew. There is ample, but not to apparent security staff on these boats. And while underway, where are they going to go? My kids have always made friends within a few minutes of running around and these informal groups pal around and bounce from activity to activity.
I should say I'm talking about the major lines, I've never sailed on the smaller boutique lines. So, we just set a checkpoint time and place throughout the day and the kids had a blast. Our youngest daughter (12) either hung around with us or spent a great deal of time in the kids area, which is staffed with full-time certified child care folks.
There is so much to do on a cruise that it's a chore to choose what you want to do, if you are like me I don't want to miss anything. The dining is great, even the smaller boats that do the weekend Caribbean jaunts have at least 8 or 9 different restaurants. So you can go decked out or casual, no problem. They will enforce dress codes in the up scale restaurants. It's not a bid deal if you show up under dressed. They will just very politely inform you of what they need and then help you out, either by directing you to another choice or reserving a table for you a bit later to allow you to change.
They all have some sort of casual buffet as well, where you can grab food while in your swimsuit if you wish. You will need footwear and a shirt. The big ships have this open 24hrs per day, the smaller will have down times, but they are still open 18 - 20 hours per day and while it's a buffet, you will still have an insane choice of all levels of food. From a hot dog to high end near-gourmet level dishes.
So while you are "trapped" on the boat, especially while underway … it's a wonderful place to be trapped. It's a lifestyle that is beyond what even royalty could have hoped for 100 years ago.
So, can you tell I like cruising?
The biggest risk while underway is an onboard fire … but the safety equipment and evacuation equipment is robust and ample. Take the manditory evacuation drill seriously, and make sure one of the first things you do is to walk every deck from stem to stern to note where exits are etc. Take every elevator and stairwell up and down as well. This is also a great thing to do to make sure you don't miss anything. I always hear of folks saying "I didn't even know that was available" and they miss out on something they would have loved to do had they known.
When is the last time you heard of a passenger dying or being severely injured … unless it was a suicide attempt which does happen from time to time. There is a strange draw for the depressed to use a cruise. They get to live it up till the end and then jumping off at sea makes it very hard to stop their deaths, and in their minds it makes for a clean demise. No mess to clean up.
If something does happen the medical staff onboard is top notch. They have to provide a full clinic just to deal with the routine medical issues that arise every day from a staff and crew that can number over 1,000 people. Not to mention the routine exams and screenings needed to keep certifications and licenses. There is an emergency trained physical on the larger boats, and at least an emergency certified PA or RN on the smaller boats (relative term as even these ships are huge). The clinic is fully equipped with pretty much the same equipment you would find in a well stocked urgent care or small ER.
Every one of these ships is designed so there is an area on one of the upper decks that can be cleared to allow a chopper to land … so air evac and assistance is easily available.I watched a drill once doing just this. They announced I on the PA, as well as listing it in the daily newsletter, so this area had perhaps only a third of the sunbathers that could be there otherwise. So it was a bit easier to clear the passengers out of the way … but it was obvious how easy this would be in a real emergency. About 150 crew in orange vests and hardhats converged on the area … the passengers were assisted out of the area with almost one person to every two passengers to help them carry their stuff and a deluge of bodies grabbing deck chairs and tables and moving them out of the area in a choreographed, precise way. It would take much longer to get the helicopter to the boat than to clear the deck for its landing. Watching the drills were they launch the life boats is pretty amazing too. They can pull 1,000 folks off the boat in minutes.
Okay, I just realized this has become a novel … if you are still with this I apologize. Again I hope someone finds it interesting.
Cheers!
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