A sourced record of cruise safety reporting, built from primary government and industry data.
Every report below is sourced from CDC, DOT, CLIA, State Department, and Coast Guard data — never from blogs or unsourced articles — and reviewed against federal law enforcement and emergency-management standards before publication.
How Safe Is Cruising? What the Official Data Actually Shows
The anchor document for this index — cruise crime rates, overboard incident frequency, and illness data, sourced directly from CLIA, DOT, and CDC, with the context most coverage of cruise safety leaves out.
Read the Master Report →Rick Hayes is a former NYPD Anti-Terrorism Unit and Transit Special Operations Division officer, responsible for protecting some of the busiest tourist environments in the United States — Times Square, Penn Station, the NYC subway system, and Lower Manhattan’s tourist corridors, in both uniformed and plainclothes assignments.
That work included large-scale crowd security deployment, including New York City’s New Year’s Eve security detail in Times Square — direct experience coordinating security at scale for high-density public events, not just individual passenger safety.
Most cruise safety coverage is written by travel journalists with no security background. Most law enforcement commentary comes from people who have never worked inside the cruise industry. This resource center exists to close that gap — every report combines primary-source government and industry data with the operational perspective of a career spent protecting high-density tourist environments for the NYPD Anti-Terrorism Unit, not travel marketing dressed up as expertise.
The Index
Health & Medical at Sea
Staying Healthy on a Cruise: Medical Care, Illness, and Mental Health at Sea
What shipboard medical centers can and cannot treat, real illness data, and how mental health emergencies are handled at sea.
Read the report →Norovirus on Cruise Ships: What the CDC Data Shows
Why norovirus spreads easily aboard ships, what the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program actually inspects, and the sanitizer-vs-soap distinction most guidance gets wrong.
Read the report →Fear of Cruising: What the Data Really Says
Real incident and illness data set against the fear-driven claims that circulate online, sourced to correct the record rather than dismiss the concern.
Read the report →Cruise Medical Kit: The Pre-Departure Health Planning Guide
What CDC pre-travel guidance, Medicare’s coverage gap, and cruise line pregnancy cutoffs mean for what belongs in a passenger’s medical kit before departure.
Read the report →Onboard Security & Emergency Response
Cruise Ship Security: Crime, Accidents, and How to Protect Yourself
Federal crime-reporting data, how incidents are investigated at sea, and what actually happens when something goes wrong onboard.
Read the report →Cruise Ship Emergency Procedures
Muster drills, evacuation protocol, and man-overboard response, explained against the regulatory standard that governs them.
Read the report →Port & Destination Safety
Is Nassau Bahamas Safe for Cruise Passengers?
A port-specific threat assessment covering documented incidents, embassy advisories, and situational-awareness guidance.
Read the report →U.S. Embassy Issues Warning for Nassau Cruise Passengers
Coverage of the active jet ski scam advisory issued for Nassau, sourced directly from embassy guidance.
Read the report →How to Spot a Cruise Port Scam
Documented port scam patterns across Caribbean cruise stops, drawn from law enforcement pattern recognition rather than anecdote.
Read the report →10 Cruise Port Safety Tips From a Retired NYPD Officer
Foundational situational-awareness guidance for cruise passengers ashore, drawn from federal counterterrorism training.
Read the report →Taino Bay Cruise Port: The Complete Safety Guide
A port-specific threat assessment for Taino Bay covering documented incidents and situational-awareness guidance for passengers ashore.
Read the report →Is St. Thomas Safe for Cruise Passengers?
What to expect at the port and ashore in St. Thomas, assessed against documented incident patterns and embassy guidance.
Read the report →Excursion & Activity Safety
ATV Excursion Safety on Cruises
Risk factors specific to shore excursion ATV tours, and what vetting a tour operator should actually involve.
Read the report →Shore Excursion Safety: The Independent Excursion Checklist
A pre-departure vetting checklist for booking excursions outside the cruise line, built around the questions a security background says actually matter.
Read the report →Medical Emergencies in Foreign Ports: What Happens and Who Can Help You
What actually happens when a passenger needs emergency care ashore — hospital access, embassy support, and the coordination gap between the ship and local care.
Read the report →Shore Excursion Insurance: What It Actually Covers
A plain-language breakdown of what shore excursion protection does and doesn’t pay for, and where the coverage gaps actually sit.
Read the report →The Ultimate Independent Cruise Shore Excursion Guide: Safety, Legal Realities, and Tactical Planning
The pillar report on booking shore excursions independently — safety vetting, legal exposure, and the planning framework that ties the rest of this series together.
Read the report →Contingencies & Preparedness
What to Do If You Miss Your Cruise Ship
The step-by-step protocol for a missed departure, including PVSA implications and embassy contact procedure.
Read the report →Documents Needed for a Cruise: The Paperwork That Gets You Onboard
EU Entry/Exit System requirements, ETIAS status, and cruise line passport policy verified line by line, plus the paperwork failures that turn passengers away at the terminal.
Read the report →Do You Really Need Travel Insurance for a Cruise?
The actual coverage limits across the four major cruise lines’ own protection plans, compared against what a real medical evacuation costs.
Read the report →Protecting Your Money and Staying Connected on a Cruise
Documented pre-cruise fraud patterns, official bank travel-notice policy, and the two-factor authentication gap that locks travelers out of their own accounts at sea.
Read the report →Accessibility & Special Needs
Cruising with a Disability: Physical, Medical, and Mental Health Accommodations — The Complete Guide
The pillar report on accessible cruising — mobility, medical equipment, mental health accommodations, and service animals, in one framework.
Read the report →Cruising with a Wheelchair: What the Cruise Lines Provide — and What You Have to Ask For
What’s actually accessible by default versus what requires advance requests, from accessible staterooms to tender ports.
Read the report →Bringing Medication on a Cruise: Prescriptions, Medical Equipment, and the Mistake That Gets People Flagged at the Terminal
Documentation, storage, and terminal screening rules for prescriptions and medical equipment, and the common error that causes delays at check-in.
Read the report →Cruising with Anxiety: What the Cruise Lines Can Do, What They Can’t, and What to Ask Before You Sail
Realistic expectations for anxiety and panic-disorder accommodations at sea, and the questions worth asking a cruise line before booking.
Read the report →Service Dogs on Cruises: The Paperwork, the Ports, and the Planning That Makes It Work
Documentation requirements, port-country entry rules, and relief-area logistics for traveling with a service animal on a cruise.
Read the report →Need a cruise safety expert on record?
Rick Hayes is available as a written expert source for journalists covering cruise safety, travel security, tourist crime, emergency procedures, destination risk, and cruise industry safety issues. He is also available for corporate security consulting — including risk assessments for organizations chartering ships or planning group travel, as well as general workplace and office security assessments. Every claim on this site is sourced and verifiable; every recommendation is grounded in federal law enforcement and emergency-management training, not travel-industry marketing.
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