Port safety tips, emergency procedures, and onboard security guidance — written by a retired NYPD Anti-Terrorism officer with real operational experience in high-volume tourist environments.
When people worry about cruise safety, this is usually the part they mean. Not norovirus — crime. Falls. The stories that make the news. This article does for cruise ship security what the companion guide did for health: it lays out what the official data says, explains the systems working behind the scenes, and gives…
A cruise ship is a small city that happens to float. Several thousand people from dozens of countries eat, swim, and share elevator buttons in the same space for a week, and staying healthy on a cruise comes down to understanding that environment — manageable from a public health standpoint, but only because a great…
ATV excursions are one of the most popular shore excursions in the Caribbean, and it’s not hard to see why — they’re fast, a little dirty, and they get you off the beaten tourist path into terrain most passengers never see. But ATV excursion safety on cruises isn’t something most people think about until they’re…
If you’ve spent any time researching your next sailing, you’ve probably seen a headline about a “cruise ship outbreak” and wondered how worried you should actually be. The honest answer is: not very, if you understand what’s actually happening — and a little more informed than you were five minutes ago is exactly where I…
Search “cruise port scams” and you will find dozens of articles that all say the same things: watch your wallet, don’t trust strangers, use the official taxi stand. That advice isn’t wrong. It’s just incomplete — and incomplete safety advice is a false sense of security wearing the disguise of useful information. This article is…
Every year, cruise passengers find themselves facing the moment they miss their cruise ship, watching it pull away from the dock without them. It happens at embarkation ports when flights run late. It happens at ports of call when shore excursions run long or travelers lose track of time. And it happens to experienced cruisers…
Introduction These cruise port safety tips come from years working plainclothes and uniformed with the NYPD’s Anti-Terrorism Unit and Transit Special Operations Division — protecting tourists in Times Square, Penn Station, and the NYC subway — where I saw exactly how criminals target people in crowded public spaces. Cruise ports are no different — and…
Introduction Most cruise passengers treat cruise ship emergency procedures — starting with the muster drill — as an inconvenience. They show up because they have to, half-listen to the safety briefing, locate their muster station, and head straight to the pool bar the moment it’s over. I understand why. You’re on vacation. The ship is…