The dark side of cruising……

Ah…..a life on the ocean waves. A cocktail on deck with the sun beating down & the breeze blowing through your hair. Gourmet food & amazing entertainment. That is what we all know & love cruising for, but here are 5 facts about the darker side of cruising. Fortunately the chances of you actually coming across any of the below in person are very slim:

1/ The Morgue

Every cruise ship has a morgue. The average age of a cruise passenger is over 50. On cruises with durations of more than 2 weeks this rises as people in retirement have more time on their hands to holiday. Although not particularly common, the cruise lines have to be prepared for any eventuality including the death of one of their passengers. Cruise ships generally have space for between 1 & 3 corpses.

2/Disappearances at Sea

Statistics show that in the last 20 years over 160 people have gone missing at sea. In some cases there has been evidence that the people have been arguing and gone over in a struggle. Some have overindulged on the cocktails & fallen overboard. Some people have purposely taken their own lives & jumped in to the sea. The sad fact is in most cases people simply just disappear & therefore we will never know what happened.

3/Pirates

Almost all pirate attacks on cruise ships have been made in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia. The majority of incidents have taken place on cargo ships & working vessels, but there have been a few attacks on cruise ships. The good news is that due to naval deterrence & increased technology to protect themselves the number of attacks have halved since 2010.

4/Stranded at sea

The occurence of cruise ships completely losing power & being stranded for any significant length of times is extremely rare. The last 2 to hit the headlines both belonged to Carnival Cruise Lines. The Splendor was cruising just off the Californian coastline in 2010 & the Triumph in the Gulf of Mexico in 2013. Both ships had suffered a fire on board which had caused complete loss of power. Conditions were very unpleasant during the ordeal.  In the case of the Triumph, guests had to endure 5 days at sea where food supplies became very limited & the sewerage system backed up.

5/Crime

Although overall the crime rate on a cruise ship is 50% lower than on land, you have to remember that with some ships carrying almost 8000 passengers & crew these are like floating towns. As with any towns there are bound to be incidents of crime taking place. Reports of violence,fraud, theft & sexual assault are not uncommon. at sea as they are on land. Interestingly, crimes at sea have to be recorded by the cruise lines, but the information is only released to the public on a voluntary basis.

As I said at the start, the above incidents are extremely rare & not something most people will encounter, so don’t let my grim facts put you off taking a cruise. I have 3 cruises in 3 months to look forward to so it hasn’t diminished my love of holidays at sea. I certainly feel a lot safer on board a cruise liner than I do on the streets in my local town – although it could be quite exciting to see some real life pirates walking down the high street!