Image credit: Tomás Castelazo, June 2044

A cruise at sea has been said to be the ultimate prescription for relaxation and to revive flagging spirits. One is waited on hand and foot and entertained lavishly.  So it is easy to let down one’s guard.  The risks are low, but there are still some hazards.

The risks

The main risks on board are:

• Theft
• Assault
• Rape
• Norovirus epidemics
• Falling off the ship
• Running aground

Off these, only falling off the ship and running aground are unique to a ship or boat.  These all occur, though a sea cruise is a pretty safe environment and you are more likely to experience crime on land than at sea.

Theft

There is a perception that cruising is for the well-healed.  While not everyone on board is rich, the rich are likely to be aboard.  As far as valuables are concerned, if you do not have it with you, they cannot take it.  Travel with a minimum of valuables.

Use the ship’s safe for valuables worth over $10,000 as those goods are a particular target of thieves.  The cabin safe is probably okay for lesser valuables, particularly for temporary storage, but be aware that they usually have a master code, or may be cracked by bumping.

Do not leave valuables in plain sight.  And do not be flash with your jewellery.  That includes not leaving it on the night-table.

Most modern ships are floating palaces and are brightly lighted.  But there may be areas of the ship that are poorly lit and with little or no traffic.  Avoid such areas, or spend the minimum amount of time there.  Be aware of your circumstances and be alert to being followed.

Use a door alarm when you are in the cabin.  Actually, you should apply all of the usual precautions that you would when staying a a hotel.  (See our article  Be safe and secure at your Hotel)

Assault

People have been injured in fights on board.  Lazy days and ready access to copious amounts of alcohol do not bring out the best in everyone.  Walk away from aggressive situations and inform the ship’s staff.  If there is exceptionally bad service do not try to remedy it by getting aggressive.  Seek peace.

Docks are not the safest area and may be a place for robbery or assault.  Avoid wandering around into unauthorised or lonely areas.

Rape

The same advice for avoiding rape on land applies at sea.

Watch your drinks, do not be alone with a stranger, never go to crew quarters, do not entertain crew in your cabin.  Do not explore the ship by yourself.

While shipboard romances are legion, you need to exercise caution in who you pair up with, and under what circumstances.  Get to know someone well (which is hard on a ship because they are out of their usual milieu, and so are you) before you spend time with them alone.

Keep careful control of your children and apply all the precautions that you would normally apply on land.

Norovirus epidemics

Illness on a ship has the same causes and can be prevented by the same precautions as illness on land.  Follow this advice from our article on Avoiding illness while travelling – General precautions

“Good personal hygiene, particularly about one’s hands is critically important in preventing infection whilst travelling.  Wash your hands before and after using the toilet, after handling money, and before meals.  Also wash your hands before touching your face or putting your fingers in your mouth.”

Carry alcohol-based handwash and disinfect your hands after having used the toilet, after you have shaken hands with anyone, and before eating.

Treat everywhere outside your cabin as contaminated.  Disinfect all the surfaces you touch inside the cabin with disinfectant wipes.  Do this even though your cabin has been serviced.  There are two reasons for this.  1) the staff member that cleaned your room might be ill, and 2) they have just cleaned your neighbour’s cabin, and your neighbour may be infected.

It is wise to carry diarrhoea medicine with you in your first-aid kit.  Stay hydrated if you do become infected (and there is useful advice at the above link, particularly with regard to oral rehydration therapy [ORT]).

Falling off the ship

Ships are fast, the deck is high off the water and the sea is inky black at night.  If you fall off, you are unlikely to be spotted.  Even if you are spotted there is a good chance that you will not be recovered.

The answer is “don’t fall off the ship”.  While this may seem obvious, many people are the architects of their own demise by trying to climb from one balcony to another, balancing on the handrail, emulating the famous scene from Titanic. or other such antics that are unsafe.  The sea is an unforgiving mistress.

Running aground

Even some very famous ships have run aground, largely through inattentive watch being kept, or navigational errors.  As a passenger you obviously can’t do anything to prevent it.  You need to be able to respond safely.

Pay attention when the compulsory safety instruction drill is held.  Know your escape route – you may need to find your way to safety in a dark passage listing at an angle.  Even if you have an outside cabin with a balcony, the passage you have use to escape may be narrow and dark.

Know where to access and how to use safety equipment.

If the ship is listing after running aground, proceed to the side of the vessel that is closest to the water.  That is the side that they will launch the lifeboats from.  Unless the listing angle is very small, lifeboats cannot be launched from the side sitting highest out of the water because the boats would be launched on to the side of the ship.

If you are unfortunate enough to run aground do not panic.  Stay on the vessel until there is a safe way off it.  People who go it alone and dive into the sea are much more likely to be injured or killed.  Even a damaged ship is a safer place than an unprotected person being thrown about by waves among rocks.

If you have money taken, well, it is only money.  If thieves take your camera or knick-knacks that you have bought then it is worse than just the financial loss – they are stealing your memories.

Passport with money - valuables

Tourists are more vulnerable than business travellers because when we tour we are more likely to get to places that could be troublesome.

Here are a some suggestions on how to keep safe and thus have happy memories of your travels.  Included in the list below are precautions for not unwittingly getting on the wrong side of the law whilst travelling overseas.

• Don’t dress like a tourist.  Do some Internet research on your destination to see what average people are wearing this season.  Try to dress to fit in.  For instance, in Turkey, nobody wears shorts in the cities, more especially women.  If you do, then you will stick out.  Stripy golf pants and sports shoes, or baggy track suits, go down fine in the States but mark you as “not from here” most other places in the world.  Hanging cameras from your neck says “mug me”.
• Take maps with you and avoid having to stop to ask for directions.  Asking for directions tells the person that you don’t know where it is safe.  You may find it useful to plan out the next day’s routes on the map the night before.
• Do not consult your maps in a public place – not only are you signalling that you are a tourist, but your attention will also be distracted.  Go into a shop or go sit in a restaurant and have a cup of coffee.
• If you are lost, ask for directions.  While this somewhat contradicts an earlier guideline, you do not want to be walking further into a dangerous area at dusk, for instance.
• Get local directions from the front-desk staff at your hotel.  They will know safe areas to catch public transport too, as well as the good routes.
• Make sure that all drinks ordered are opened and poured in your presence.  Better yet, get them in a sealed container and open and pour them yourself.
• Avoid being flashy or ostentatious.  Wear a minimum of jewellery, watches, etc.  Being classed as a “rich tourist” is even more dangerous than just “tourist”.
• Walk in a self-confident way and remain alert to your surroundings at all times.  Anticipate sources of trouble.  As obvious as it may seem, avoid dark alleyways!
• Keep a firm grip on your belongings.  Ensure that you do not have to put down your goods in order to use your hands.  A messenger bag with a clasp may be useful (if it fits in with the locals).  One of our correspondents travels with a messenger bag and a sports tog bag in his luggage.  If the one does not fit in, the other generally will.  If all else fails, get a plastic carrier bag from a local supermarket.  (Please, not Harrods – that marks you as having an abundance of money. Get a Tesco bag and nobody will pay you any attention.)
• Don’t carry parcels for anyone when travelling.  It would be very unfortunate if your holiday ends in an ugly jail for unwittingly being a drug mule.  Carrying drugs is viewed in a serious light in most countries and carries hefty jail terms and even the death penalty in some places.
• Before travelling, check what medicines are allowed through customs in the country you will be visiting, as some may be prohibited from being brought through their borders.  A common problem is pain-killers that contain codeine.  They are legal in most places but banned in others, like the UAE (where a woman was sentenced to 4 years for having traces of codeine in her bloodstream).  European travellers should not that codeine is also restricted in the United States.
• Be cautious about bringing medicines back with you.  You may have bought medicine at a pharmacy for an ailment whilst travelling.  It may be wise to dump what remains before returning to your home country – the ingredients could well be listed in a language that neither you nor the customs officials understand, and it may not even be in an familiar alphabet.  Avoid the hassle of confiscation, which may make the customs officials more interested in scrutinising every nook and cranny of your luggage.  Or indeed your own personal nooks and crannies.

The above are guidelines and can be practiced with different levels of caution depending on your destination.  Having a beach holiday in the Caribbean for example is very different to going on a cultural holiday in Italy.

Click here to go to part 2 of this article