Thread: Common Sense Cruise Safety Tips

At today's CruiseChat on Twitter - we talked about Cruise Safety and basic tips people can employ to stay safe while in port and onshore.

I wanted to share them with the community here and allow you to suggest some more to add to this list. Feel free to fire back if you'd like to see any changes made to these.


Memorize the quickest route from your cabin to open decks and your muster station

Jumping from the ship is the last resort in an emergency. Explore every other alternative first

In the event of an evacuation, don’t delay your exit to get valuables, passports or luggage. Just go

Never accompany a crew member into a crew-only area

Be aware of your surroundings when you’re on a ship, just as you would on land

Avoid bringing unnecessary valuables onboard, and use your cabin safe

Don’t hang clothing or laundry on your balcony. It’s a fire hazard

Don’t throw cigarette butts over the side of the ship. They can blow back onboard and start a fire

Make sure your cabin door closes completely when you leave the room

Protect your drink at nightclubs and in bars to avoid being drugged

Never drink so much you become unconscious. Keep your wits about you

Don’t flash cash or carry valuables ashore, You don’t know who is watching

Don’t bring more than 1 credit card ashore and just the cash you need for the day’s purchases

Carry a “mugger’s wallet” – old wallet with a few dollars & and old credit card or two

Research your ports of call in advance and be familiar with the layout and areas you’ll visit

Don’t get into a vehicle or go anywhere with an unknown local, for any reason

Book excursions only through the ship or a well-known independent vendor (like Shore Trips)

Don’t buy drugs ashore, and don’t bring them with you on the ship

Relax and have fun – after all, you’re on vacation! Just use common sense and keep your wits about you



I'll post some of the participants best tips and advice as well, but you can read the transcripts here: January 17: Cruise Safety 101 Transcript | Cruise Chat

Don’t flash cash or carry valuables ashore, You don’t know who is watching

To this one you can add a caution about wearing jewelry ashore.....especially diamonds and expensive watches. I always wear a plain gold wedding band and leave the diamonds in the safe. In fact, my "real" wedding ring is the only piece of fine jewelry that I travel with...the rest stays at home in the safe.

I heard a great tip yesterday that I had never considered before.

1. Scan and print our a copy of your Passport, ID and any other document you plan to carry with you.

2. Email a digital copy of these documents to your web email account. You can access these images anywhere. Take it a step further and use the free and easy Google Docs to store these documents as secure images able to be downloaded as needed.

I have a cheap watch which I wear when I am ashore.

I only have a cheap watch!

I like to use a wallet to keep all my documents in!

Originally Posted by nealberk

I only have a cheap watch!

That's so true for me -- Target bought watches. Mostly the same for jewelry aside from my wedding ring.

Those are great tips above. One thing I did before my last cruise is to go through my computer and put all photos and important docs onto a flash drive and then mailed it to myself (the day before our cruise). Just in case something happened to our computers while we were gone. the day we got back, our mail carrier brought our vacation mail to us, including the jiffy bag with my flash drive.

Now, that is a great idea. I knew of a company that did that in the 80's. With the speed of the post office, they mailed a copy of their data back to themselves every week. It was two weeks in transit so they always had a backup coming back to them in case there was a major disaster.

Don't get into a vehicle or go anywhere with an unknown local, for any reason

Don't you know there is an exception to the rule?

It is called taxi drivers. You certainly don't know who they are but can count on them to take you from here to there real quick.

I also need to add something: Learn local body language. I read, if you can believe this, in one country (Greece?) a nod means no and in some places, a thumbs-up sign is like extending a middle finger. If you see someone extend his middle finger in France do not assume he or she is insulting someone else. Here are more:

http://www.cruiselinefans.com/safety...-language.html (Dangerous body language)

Different cultures, different meanings. No wonder so many people accidentally screw up.