According to Professor Ross Klein, a sociologist from Canada's University of Newfoundland, people who assume that cruises are completely safe are gravely mistaken.

Shedding light on the so-called safe environment of a cruise, Prof Klein said that it was mostly crew members who were to blame for assaults.

Looking at figures provided to a US court by a cruise line, he found that 111 people per 100,000 were sexually assaulted on ships, indicating that people were 50 per cent more likely to be sexually assaulted on a ship than on land.

"If you were to go to the Cruise Lines International Association they will say that a cruise is the most safe form of transportation. That is now getting a bit of scrutiny," News.com.au quoted him, as saying.

"In the early '80s there was a case where two crew members tried raping a passenger and she died by accident, supposedly. They were caught throwing her body overboard as they were leaving the harbour," he added.

Cautioning people in general and parents in particular, Prof Klein said they should keep a close eye on children they take onto cruises.

"You have to go on assuming a cruise is no safer than any other form of transportation, and you take the exact same precautions, if not more precautions as you would take going into any city," he said.

"Parents whose children were sexually molested will often say `the cruise line told me it was safe. I thought it was OK for my children to run around free without supervision'" he added.

He said about 80 per cent of sexual assaults on cruises were carried out by staff.

Copyright Dailyindia.com/ANI

Reading the Daily India this surprised me.

Has anyone ever been a victim or know someone who has been a victim of crime on board a cruise ship ? Given the number of us and the number of times we cruise we should be fairly representative ? So how safe are we and should changes be made in the way that 1. Cruise lines market their holdiays (especially now P&O Australia has had to make significant changes to their marketing), 2. The way lines give advice 3. The way lines deal with issues when they arise ?

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Originally posted by mike sa:
Klein says - he found that 111 people per 100,000 were sexually assaulted on ships,

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That many people cruise every week. I do not recall seeing 111 news reports every week on the subject. Seems more common than Norovirus.

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Looking at figures provided to a US court by a cruise line, he found that 111 people per 100,000 were sexually assaulted on ships, indicating that people were 50 per cent more likely to be sexually assaulted on a ship than on land.

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I know of 3 occasions over a 9 year period where a sexual assault took place on a ship I was employed on and once as a pax, no wasn't me before we go there, it is also true that as a passanger I have been aware of crew who will sleep with a pax on board and this within the last 10 years and as recently as 3. This does not make them a criminal of course.

In the book he recounts the following...

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...Pulling into Cozumel, on one of my earliest cruises, one of the officers said: “You see that ship over there? The last time we were in the harbour, they took seven bodies off the ship.” He explained that the crew’s dining room had run out of rice and a food riot had erupted. People had died. That’s a whole different perspective from what you read about.

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I still have not found another report about the cruise ship food riot that killed seven crew. Anyone else know about this incident?

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Regarding safety onboard the ships: If you are a single young female flirting with the crew...add alcohol, then you could have a problem. Often passengers don't use good judgement while on vacation they throw all their inhibitions out the window (porthole) by drinking too much, flirting with the crew...and they think they are safe, but forget they are flirting with crew members that have hormones too. On the flip-side some of these crew members spend months and months on the ship and every week there's a new batch of passengers and new "opportunities".

I have spent over 150 nights at sea since 2002 and was never aware of any report on any of my cruises.

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Originally posted by LeBarryboat:

but forget they are flirting with crew members that have hormones too.

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Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:

I have a girlfriend who is a regular on Costa (2-3 cruises per year) and that is part of the reason she goes! She is single, attractive in her late 40s and loves the attention of the goodlooking young crewmembers. A good time is apparently had by all-multiple times!

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Now give me here name and i will be here trave compagnon. Love the attention of good looking crew members too

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Originally posted by mike sa:
Sydney, Sep 11: An expert on ship safety has suggested that people are more likely to be sexually assaulted on a cruise ship than on land.

According to Professor Ross Klein, a sociologist from Canada's University of Newfoundland, people who assume that cruises are completely safe are gravely mistaken.

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In my personal opinion, "Professor" Klein is a sensationalistic media w#ore who will say anything necessary to get himself quoted.

He's made a name for himself sensationalizing anything and everything he can to draw attention to himself.

Just my two cents...

http://www.cruisejunkie.com/