Don’t go overboard

It’s been more than a week since Tammy Grogan, a West Toledo, Ohio, passenger on a Carnival cruise was reported missing. There’s still no sign of her.

Time for another indignant blog post about cruise lines negligence? Yeah, maybe. But that can wait.

With 62 people having gone overboard in the last six years, isn’t it time we asked if something can be done to prevent this from happening again? Last week, I put that question to my readers (and thanks to my friends over at the Navigator Cruise blog for the assist).

Here’s how you would keep passengers from taking the plunge:

1. Pay attention to the drunks. By closely monitoring passengers who have had one too many — and perhaps even limiting their consumption — cruise lines could prevent their customers from taking a tumble into the drink. “Prevention could be beefed up with better orientation and roving drunk monitors to detect and escort or guide persons who have obviously had too much,” suggests Tony Fiore of Miami.

2. Build higher rails. Several readers thought that either adding taller rails or installing safety nets would prevent passengers from diving into the ocean. “Build railings so high that people can’t lean over them,” says Richard Wong of Washington. “In cabins, encase the entire balcony from floor to ceiling. This may block views, but hey, at least nobody’s falling over the side.”

3. Install an RFID system. Why not track the guests? “What if everyone was issued a bracelet with a RFID chip to track the person the entire time on the ship?” asks Larry Lemon of Charlotte, NC. “Or being able to know when they are not on the ship.” At the very least, he suggested, people who are drinking should wear the bracelets.

4. Just let ‘em go. After all, shouldn’t cruise passengers be responsible for their own safety? “My suggestion is to let adults be adults and be responsible for themselves,” says Lisa McIntyre of Northampton, UK. “The vast majority of cruise passengers manage to stay on the ship. Why should we have to nerf the world to protect people from their own stupidity?”

McIntyre’s sentiment was shared by a lot of readers. “Chalk it up to the Darwin’s theory of evolution,” quipped another reader. “As harsh as it sounds, perhaps this is nature’s way of weeding out the weak.”

Each of these ideas has some merits. I should also mention another suggestion that is making the rounds and is being promoted by my blogging colleague Alan Albright over at Safecruise: deploying sea marshals on ships the keep the peace, and presumably, to keep passengers from going overboard.

But I can think of several reasons why these ideas wouldn’t float. First, there’s the expense. It’s much cheaper to settle with the family of a “missing” passenger than to pay for a private army of security guards. Likewise, monitoring the drunks, taking away the alcohol (which for some is the primary reason to cruise) or tagging cruisers with microchips would meet with resistance from many travelers.

And building higher rails? That would deprive the cruise lines of millions of dollars in revenue, since they would no longer be able to call an outside cabin an upgrade.

Still, I think these ideas are good enough that the cruise lines should at least consider them. And so far, there is little evidence that they are.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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