alcohol

A passenger reportedly drowned on the Caribbean Princess during the last cruise, according to a crew member and a passenger who wish to remain anonymous.

The man, believed to be in his 30’s, was found in the bottom of the Neptune pool on deck 15 of the Caribbean Princess around 5:00 a.m. on the morning

KHOU 11 reports that alcohol and cigarettes purchased by cruise passengers, represented by cruise lines as "duty-free products," are being taxed by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) once the ships return to Galveston.

The state of Texas will start collecting similar taxes from cruise passengers at the Port of Houston by in October.

The

Former cruise ship performer and soon-to-be-lawyer Danielle Gauer returns for another inside look at the cruise industry. You can read Danielle’s prior articles about life as a cruise ship dancer here and what Canadians should know about cruising here.  Thanks Danielle for another great blog:

Many cruise ship passengers wonder where the crew lives

Royal Caribbean Cruises, which I believe is one of the leaders in irresponsible alcohol practices in the cruise industry, is adding to its already controversial beverage policies with an offer of free booze when two passengers book balcony rooms or higher levels on trans-Atlantic re-positioning cruises this spring to Europe.

South Florida Business Journal covers

A lawsuit recently filed here in Miami illustrates the danger of cruise ship rape which most families who cruise do not realize.

The lawsuit filed last week alleges that Carnival served a young woman two margaritas, a Mojito and three double vodka drinks. Weighing only 118 pounds, the passenger was visibly intoxicated but the Carnival bartenders kept

ABC News reports that Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) has adopted an all-inclusive drink package on three of its cruise ships (Norwegian Sun, Norwegian Gem & Norwegian Jade) at $49 per person per day plus tips.

NCL is following Carnival Cruise Line, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean which all offer all-you-can-drink plans on their cruise ships. 

ABC states that

Lyndsey O'Brien - Costa Coffin Cruise ShipsIn March of 2006 I attended the second of seven cruise ship hearings in Washington D.C. regarding cruise ship crimes and missing passengers.

The most compelling cruise story featured at the hearing was the case of Lynsey O’Brien, a fifteen year old Irish girl traveling with her family aboard the Costa Magica cruise ship. During

A federal grand jury indicted a Florida man arrested for participating in and encouraging the gang rape of a 15 year old girl on a Carnival cruise ship last month. The grand jury indicted Casey Dickerson on sexual abuse charges Wednesday for engaging in the rape of a girl in a cabin on the Carnival Sensation

Its amusing to watch a cruise line caught in a scandal pretend to be outraged over “unfair” media scrutiny.

Royal Caribbean’s response to Inside Edition’s out-of-control cruise booze expose’ reminds me of the the quotation from Shakespeare’s Hamlet “The lady doth protest too much, methinks,” spoken by Queen Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother.

Last week, InsideEdition

A newspaper in Australia is reporting that 16 cruise passengers, with ages between 18 and 23, were booted off the P & O Cruises’ Pacific Dawn cruise ship for fighting.  

The incident occurred late at night, with some newspaper accounts suggesting that the men were intoxicated and fighting over a woman. 

The Observer reports that one of the

ABC Film Crew at Port of Miami - ABC 20/20 - Cruise Ship Drinking and ViolenceLast night ABC News aired a cruise ship special on its 20/20 program about the Costa Concordia disaster.  Narrated by Chris Cuomo from Italy, the one hour program contains an inside look at this latest cruise ship disaster based on interviews with surviving passengers.

You can watch the first segment of the show, which focuses on details of the cruise