Taking a Cruise Might be about as Safe as Partying with the Duke University LaCrosse Team
dailytelegraph.news.com.au Cruise chief breaks silence, July 04, 2006
Mr Dobjeckie yesterday told The Daily Telegraph that – even three years after Mrs Brimble died – the Pacific Sky was a "drunken shemozzle" after dark.
"You had bar tenders depending on everyone at the Legends Bar and the Starlight Disco getting blind drunk so they could claim commissions," Mr Dobjeckie (pictured) said.
"They would call last drinks at 5am and you would have four blokes buying 20 tequilas between them," he said.
The former security specialist, who left the cruise ship in March after an altercation with a colleague, also said drugs and drink spiking were a regular occurrence.
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/nation/
*****
dailytelegraph.news.com June 15, 2006
ONE of the men implicated in the death of Dianne Brimble on the cruise ship Pacific Sky offered to pay a 15-year-old female passenger to dance for him in his cabin, a court heard yesterday.
The Sidney Morning Herald - June 24, 2006
WITHIN two hours of the humiliating death of Dianne Brimble, 42-year-old mother of three, officers of the cruise liner Pacific Sky made two crucial decisions. One requested a police investigation, the second crippled it before it began, despite the objections of the ship's security chief.
Two former Pacific Sky security officers told the Herald of violent incidents. In those, they believed the officers' decisions were influenced by a culture that seeks to protect passengers' expectations of sun-drenched luxury, a pleasure cruise on the Pacific beyond the cares and dangers of everyday existence.
"They're [the passengers] paying for a good time, we're not supposed to spoil the image," the other security officer said. "In February, we had a situation of violent assault, a woman and her husband fighting in their cabin. She was choked, he was badly slashed by a broken bottle, there was blood everywhere. They both needed medical attention.
"We were told to clean the cabin. My partner, who had more than 20 years' experience as a policeman, protested it was a crime scene. We were told: 'You're not paid to think. You're paid to obey orders.' The cabin was cleaned, they were allowed to re-occupy it, nothing was done."
He gave two other instances in which the ship's commanders had rejected recommendations by the security staff that passengers who had assaulted security officers be disembarked at the next port.
So what, if anything, went missing when D182 was evacuated? One female passenger told the inquest that Mr Silvestri, who had oral sex with Mrs Brimble, told her he had brought cocaine and ecstasy on board. "They were obviously drug dealers," she said.
Mr Kuchel, another occupant of D182 allegedly offered a liquid he said was fantasy to four women. They gave evidence they refused, Mr Kuchel drank the liquid and passed out. Mr Wilhelm was photographed naked in the corridor, wearing only a lifejacket.
But neither former security guards found this surprising. "It's not just men who wander naked - it's women, too," one said. "The problem is too much alcohol. If the nightclub is jumping, they'll keep the bar open to 5am.
"By then, they're making love all over the place, not actually in front of people, but in public places … What can we do? Ask them politely to get dressed and do it in their cabins, not on the deck."
http://www.lipcon.com/safety.shtml
Maritime attorney Charles Lipcon Warns:
The use of alcohol on cruise ships can get out of hand. There are no authorities to enforce rules about under age drinking. The bartenders and waiters work mostly for tips so they want you to buy as many drinks as possible. Many sexual assaults and other crimes are alcohol involved. It is a good idea to make sure that you and your children know proper drinking guidelines including no drinking for minors.
Recently ABC News reported on a 15 year old that was served 9 drinks in 90 minutes on a cruise ship operated by Costa Cruise Lines. The minor then fell overboard and the ship delayed in searching for her.
Charles Lipcon of Lipcon, Margulies and Alsina, P.A. was recently featured on CBS's The Morning Show and Inside Edition shows covering drinking on cruise ships.
Despite such warnings and the fact that hundreds of assaults, rapes, accidents, and deaths have occured on cuise ships, the industry contiues to encourage an environment that contributes to such tragedies:
Regent Seven Seas Cruise Lines based in Ft. Lauderdale, was formed in 1992 as a result of the merger between two one-ship lines -- Radisson Cruises and Seven Seas Cruises. Mark Conroy, president of Regent, recently made this announcement:
"As part of our re-branding to Regent in March, we're instituting an inclusive liquor policy across the fleet for all 2007 cruises," "Our World Cruises already have this inclusive liquor policy, and our guests have told us how much they like it. In fact, we've noticed how the policy has contributed to the air of conviviality aboard, with more people getting out of their suites socializing. It's this open, intimate spirit of camaraderie we wish to foster on all Regent voyages."
http://www.rssc.com/about/newsdetail.jsp?newsorigin=news&newsid=RSSCliquorpolicy2007
P&O Cruises has been forced to apologise for an advertising campaign that featured bikini-clad women with the catchphrase "Seamen wanted", which ran the year following Dianne Brimble's death.
Mrs Brimble was on board the P&O-owned Pacific Sky in September 2002 when she died from toxic levels of gammahydroxybutyrate, otherwise known as the party drug 'G'. It is also known as a drug used in date rapes.
The Sidney Morning Herald - June 14, 2006
Cruise Ships: The Perfect Place To Commit A Crime? internationalcruisevictims.org
Was a passenger on Carnival Cruise Lines Celebration the victim of a spiked drink?
Tim Sears offers a rare but still mysterious look at what can happen when a passenger goes overboard. While taking a five-day cruise on the Carnival Celebration on April 13, 2003, the 33-year-old Michigan man went overboard at night in pitch-black sea as the ship was heading to Cozumel, Mexico. He swam for 17 hours before being saved by a cargo ship. He was exhausted, badly sunburned and sick from consuming salt water during the ordeal.
http://cruisebruise.com/Tim_Sears.html
Mr Dobjeckie yesterday told The Daily Telegraph that – even three years after Mrs Brimble died – the Pacific Sky was a "drunken shemozzle" after dark.
"You had bar tenders depending on everyone at the Legends Bar and the Starlight Disco getting blind drunk so they could claim commissions," Mr Dobjeckie (pictured) said.
"They would call last drinks at 5am and you would have four blokes buying 20 tequilas between them," he said.
The former security specialist, who left the cruise ship in March after an altercation with a colleague, also said drugs and drink spiking were a regular occurrence.
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/nation/
*****
dailytelegraph.news.com June 15, 2006
ONE of the men implicated in the death of Dianne Brimble on the cruise ship Pacific Sky offered to pay a 15-year-old female passenger to dance for him in his cabin, a court heard yesterday.
The Sidney Morning Herald - June 24, 2006
WITHIN two hours of the humiliating death of Dianne Brimble, 42-year-old mother of three, officers of the cruise liner Pacific Sky made two crucial decisions. One requested a police investigation, the second crippled it before it began, despite the objections of the ship's security chief.
Two former Pacific Sky security officers told the Herald of violent incidents. In those, they believed the officers' decisions were influenced by a culture that seeks to protect passengers' expectations of sun-drenched luxury, a pleasure cruise on the Pacific beyond the cares and dangers of everyday existence.
"They're [the passengers] paying for a good time, we're not supposed to spoil the image," the other security officer said. "In February, we had a situation of violent assault, a woman and her husband fighting in their cabin. She was choked, he was badly slashed by a broken bottle, there was blood everywhere. They both needed medical attention.
"We were told to clean the cabin. My partner, who had more than 20 years' experience as a policeman, protested it was a crime scene. We were told: 'You're not paid to think. You're paid to obey orders.' The cabin was cleaned, they were allowed to re-occupy it, nothing was done."
He gave two other instances in which the ship's commanders had rejected recommendations by the security staff that passengers who had assaulted security officers be disembarked at the next port.
So what, if anything, went missing when D182 was evacuated? One female passenger told the inquest that Mr Silvestri, who had oral sex with Mrs Brimble, told her he had brought cocaine and ecstasy on board. "They were obviously drug dealers," she said.
Mr Kuchel, another occupant of D182 allegedly offered a liquid he said was fantasy to four women. They gave evidence they refused, Mr Kuchel drank the liquid and passed out. Mr Wilhelm was photographed naked in the corridor, wearing only a lifejacket.
But neither former security guards found this surprising. "It's not just men who wander naked - it's women, too," one said. "The problem is too much alcohol. If the nightclub is jumping, they'll keep the bar open to 5am.
"By then, they're making love all over the place, not actually in front of people, but in public places … What can we do? Ask them politely to get dressed and do it in their cabins, not on the deck."
http://www.lipcon.com/safety.shtml
Maritime attorney Charles Lipcon Warns:
The use of alcohol on cruise ships can get out of hand. There are no authorities to enforce rules about under age drinking. The bartenders and waiters work mostly for tips so they want you to buy as many drinks as possible. Many sexual assaults and other crimes are alcohol involved. It is a good idea to make sure that you and your children know proper drinking guidelines including no drinking for minors.
Recently ABC News reported on a 15 year old that was served 9 drinks in 90 minutes on a cruise ship operated by Costa Cruise Lines. The minor then fell overboard and the ship delayed in searching for her.
Charles Lipcon of Lipcon, Margulies and Alsina, P.A. was recently featured on CBS's The Morning Show and Inside Edition shows covering drinking on cruise ships.
Despite such warnings and the fact that hundreds of assaults, rapes, accidents, and deaths have occured on cuise ships, the industry contiues to encourage an environment that contributes to such tragedies:
Regent Seven Seas Cruise Lines based in Ft. Lauderdale, was formed in 1992 as a result of the merger between two one-ship lines -- Radisson Cruises and Seven Seas Cruises. Mark Conroy, president of Regent, recently made this announcement:
"As part of our re-branding to Regent in March, we're instituting an inclusive liquor policy across the fleet for all 2007 cruises," "Our World Cruises already have this inclusive liquor policy, and our guests have told us how much they like it. In fact, we've noticed how the policy has contributed to the air of conviviality aboard, with more people getting out of their suites socializing. It's this open, intimate spirit of camaraderie we wish to foster on all Regent voyages."
http://www.rssc.com/about/newsdetail.jsp?newsorigin=news&newsid=RSSCliquorpolicy2007
P&O Cruises has been forced to apologise for an advertising campaign that featured bikini-clad women with the catchphrase "Seamen wanted", which ran the year following Dianne Brimble's death.
Mrs Brimble was on board the P&O-owned Pacific Sky in September 2002 when she died from toxic levels of gammahydroxybutyrate, otherwise known as the party drug 'G'. It is also known as a drug used in date rapes.
The Sidney Morning Herald - June 14, 2006
Cruise Ships: The Perfect Place To Commit A Crime? internationalcruisevictims.org
Was a passenger on Carnival Cruise Lines Celebration the victim of a spiked drink?
Tim Sears offers a rare but still mysterious look at what can happen when a passenger goes overboard. While taking a five-day cruise on the Carnival Celebration on April 13, 2003, the 33-year-old Michigan man went overboard at night in pitch-black sea as the ship was heading to Cozumel, Mexico. He swam for 17 hours before being saved by a cargo ship. He was exhausted, badly sunburned and sick from consuming salt water during the ordeal.
http://cruisebruise.com/Tim_Sears.html
posted by Timalantoo | 6/24/2006 10:41:00 AM
1 Comments:
In my opinion.. I would never go on a cruise.. These ships are floating havens for criminals who are able to payoff the staff and do whatever they want to while you are captive on board. Where are you to go? the only place is overboard. These are NOT the cruises of the 70's and 80's and certianly NOT the LOVE boat. By going on these cruises you put your life in the hands of some not so upstanding folks.
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