I returned from a New Year’s party last night feeling euphoric to be with my family at the start of 2014. Before heading to sleep, I turned on my laptop and clicked on Google news, only to read the dreadful account of a cruise passenger disappearing from the Independence of the Seas.
This
This was a historic week in the world of cruising.
Congress passed the Cruise Vessel and Safety Act, which will help make cruising safer for U.S. families. Cruise lines will be required to install peepholes in cabin doors, maintain anti-retroviral medications and rape kits for victims, improve crime evidence handling procedures and – for the first time in
The Paradise Valley United Methodist Church in Arizona dedicated a bronze statue in remembrance of Merrian Carver, the daughter of Carol Carver and International Cruise Victims president Ken Carver.
We have written about Merrian’s "disappearance" in 2004 during a cruise to Alaska, and Mr. Carver’s five year battle to reform the cruise industry:
In a previous article "Congress Passes Cruise Crime Bill," I thanked the International Cruise Victims (ICV) organization for their efforts in enacting the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2009. I also thanked Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA) for her leadership in enacting this ground breaking bill. Congresswoman Matsui has been working on this legislation for the past
Today, the House of Representatives passed the Cruise Vessel Safety and Security Act of 2009. This is a remarkable event. For the first time in the history of the cruise industry, cruise lines are now required to report crimes which occur on cruise ships to the U.S. Coast Guard and the FBI. There has been an epidemic of