98 Indvidiuals Have Gone Overbaord Since 2000 Yet Cruise Lines Profit Again from Murders at Sea but Offer No Protection from Rape or Death

http://www.cruisejunkie.com/Overboard.html
A common element of each disappearance and in other cruise ship crimes and safety incidents is the lack of good evidence and/or successful investigations. Few if any crimes have been prosecuted. While on a cruise vacation, American citizens have a right to have an independent law enforcement person on each ship that they can immediately report crimes and safety problems. It has been suggested that cruise ships are small floating cities. They should have law enforcement available just the same. Is Royal Caribbean and Carnival profiting from George Smith's murder and other disappearances?
How insensitive can they be? They let amateurs investigate a fake crime scene for 168 hours (7-day cruise). They only gave Dr. Henry Lee 4 hours to investigate a real murder. Maybe they should have bought him a ticket for the Murder theme cruise. The theme cruises would not be in such bad taste if it wasn't for the fact that real deaths and disappearances are not investigated properly and the families cannot know whether the cruise line did everything humanly possible to save their loved ones and they may never know exactly what happened. Mysteries may be good for books, movies, and television shows but they offer no comfort or closure to those who have lost loved ones. We offer our support and prayers to all families as they struggle to resolve the tragedies of the past.

Posted on Sun, Jan. 29, 2006 CRUISE LINES
Tragedy changes game plan
Murder mystery cruises aboard Royal Caribbean ships were replaced in the wake of the honeymooner George Smith's disappearance.
BY AMY MARTINEZ aemartinez@MiamiHerald.com
The advertisement promised a cruise adventure ''to die for'' -- until the case of missing cruise-ship passenger George Smith. Now, the advertisement promotes a ''hilarious pirate'' mystery on the high seas. Whodunit Productions of Santa Clarita, Calif., recently pulled its ''murder mystery'' cruises with Royal Caribbean amid publicity surrounding the Smith case. Miami-based Royal Caribbean says it didn't ask for the switch -- it merely asked Whodunit ''to be as sensitive as possible'' given the case, according to spokeswoman Lynn Martenstein. Smith, 26, of Connecticut, was on his honeymoon aboard Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas in July when he disappeared in the Aegean Sea. His disappearance has become daily fodder for TV talk shows, from MSNBC's Rita Cosby Live & Direct to the Oprah Winfrey Show. The Smith family believes he was murdered and his body thrown overboard; the FBI is investigating. Whodunit Productions for the past several years has staged murder mysteries aboard Royal Caribbean ships for passengers who pay extra to play a game much like ''Clue,'' only with hired actors and elaborate props, including "notes slid under your cabin door, and secret phone calls made to your cabin." In the new ''pirate'' mysteries, there is no "murder mayhem.'' Instead, passengers search for the lost map of the Brethren of the Main on their way to discovering "all the riches of the legendary Santa Margarita!'' A voice mail message at Whodunit's California offices said the staff was away on a cruise and unavailable for comment.

Carnival Cruise Lines, Whodunit Productions Team Up for Series of 'Whodunit Mystery Cruises' in 2008-2009=
MIAMI, March 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Carnival Cruise Lines, (News) the world's largest cruise operator, and Whodunit Productions, the leading organizer of mystery cruises at sea, have teamed up for a series of 'Whodunit Cruises' aboard the 2,052-passenger ... [03/27/2008 - FinanzNachrichten.de]
http://whodunitcruises.com/

WHODUNIT PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS
THE MOST DIABOLICAL MURDER MYSTERY ON THE HIGH SEAS!!!!!!

Cruise Lines Admit to Polluting Alaskan Waters & Use Stalling Tactics & Whining so They Can Continue to Make Profits Now & Death Later (for Wildlife)

the Anchorage Daily News
Cruise lines call discharge rules unrealistic
BIG SNAGS: The necessary treatment technology isn't yet available, they say.
By ELIZABETH BLUEMINK
ebluemink@adn.com
Published: March 28th, 2008 03:39 AMLast Modified: March 28th, 2008 03:46 AM
Starting this year, large cruise ships transiting Alaska waters will be the first in the country required to obtain a permit to discharge their waste in state waters. A spokesman for the cruise lines that bring nearly 1 million tourists to Alaska each year say the ships are unable to comply with the new rule. About 30 large ships owned by a handful of major companies, including Holland America Line and Royal Caribbean International, are scheduled to tour Alaska waters in Southeast and Southcentral this summer. An easier solution for the cruise lines is simply not to apply for a permit. The ships could instead discharge their treated wastewater in federal waters. One cruise line -- Royal Caribbean -- already does that to avoid any possible concerns with its dumping in state waters, Binkley said. But other ships do not have enough tank capacity to store treated wastewater for their entire run through Southeast Alaska, and might need to detour out to the ocean and spend less time in ports, he said...

British Columbia Man Arrested on Miami Cruise

Updated Wed. Mar. 26 2008 9:27 AM ET
ctvbc.ca
A Vancouver man was arrested on a cruise ship in Miami on several counts of conspiring to traffic marijuana and cocaine, in a case that has also resulted in charges against a Canadian border guard. Charles Lai, 42, is facing up to life in prison and a $4-million fine after his arrest in Miami this week... When his cruise ship pulled into a Miami harbour over the weekend, investigators arrested him. Lai is now being taken to Washington for arraignment on the indictment.
Conspiracy to export cocaine is punishable by 10 years to life in prison and a $4-million fine, while conspiracy to import marijuana is punishable by five to 40 years in prison and a $2-million fine. Possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime is punishable by an additional consecutive five-year sentence on top of any other sentence, and a $250,000 fine.

Coast Guard searches for cruise ship passenger off Florida Keys

Jacksonville.com
Jacksonville.com - Sunday, March 9, 2008
MIAMI - The Coast Guard is searching for a 39-year-old woman who may have jumped from a cruise ship off the Florida Keys. The woman had been traveling on the Costa Mediterranea with her boyfriend, who told officials she had become angry and agitated and then unexpectedly jumped overboard. A news release from the Coast Guard says the ship was about 20 miles southeast of Key Largo when the woman went overboard early Sunday. The Coast Guard dispatched two ships, a helicopter and a plane to conduct the search.
http://www.cruisejunkie.com/Overboard.html
98 individuals have gone overboard since the year 2000.

Unsafe on the High Seas - Your Guide to a Safer Cruise

Unsafe on the High Seas - Your Guide to a Safer Cruise (Paperback)
by Charles R. Lipcon (Author)

http://www.amazon.com/Unsafe-High-Seas-Guide-Cruise/dp/0979780705/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

Ailing 89-Year-Old Birthday Boy Booted From Cruise

wcsh6.com

(NBC) -- Jack Clevenger didn't feel that bad. But Carnival Cruise Lines put the 89-year-old Florida man ashore on a Honduran island anyway, saying he'd be better able to get medical care there than on the ship Legend. Clevenger was on a birthday cruise out of Tampa with his family. He never did seek medical care on the island, saying he heard from a ship's nurse that the hospital might not be up to his standards. Instead, he and his son, Roy, 63, scrambled to find a cab, a motel and then a way off the tourist island of Roatan. They learned expensive lessons: Be careful what you complain about to the ship's doctor. And buy travel insurance...The father and son spent $2,500 and two days hopping three flights to get back to Tampa.Clevenger, who so enjoyed cruising for his birthday he did it six times in a row, said he has had a change of heart after his shortened Caribbean adventure."That was probably the last one," he said. "Forever."Clevenger said he feels fine and the minor bleeding that took him to the ship's infirmary had stopped... "We regret that the family's vacation was interrupted and we do hope Mr. Clevenger is doing well," de la Cruz said. "However, he was asked to disembark the vessel for his own well-being."Clevenger disagreed."It's a dirty, lousy trick to put us off like that," he said.
-NBC-