Atlantis Events ALLURE drug abuse

[CruisinMaterial]

Not the first time it's happened on an Atlantis/RSVP charter....won't be the last...

That being said, I heard rumours of those things happening on our trips, but never witnessed anything....

 

It goes on during every Atlantis voyage since the first one I took in 2003. I noticed it then. It's with more people and capacity, of course, the numbers will go up in people who are booted off. The percentage is about the same probably as it is on smaller ships but it's just the numbers are larger (in total number of people booted off and now this arrest) so it makes it seems worse. I agree.. it's on every Atlantis sailing.

[johhnnyt]

I've done 3 Atlantis charters, and last one was a similar scenario,. On a ship of about 2000 people there were about a dozen guys onboard that were either selling or using on a very routine basis during the cruise, and kind of soured me to the experience.

It may sound silly but you (Atlantis) have to have a zero tolerance policy towards illegal drugs onboard, instead of Atlantis' tolerate, pretend not to notice, and it will all be over in a week policy.

You know they make a literal ton of money on the charter, I only wish they gave passenger safety more of a priority

[sej67]

anyone have any details on the death by falling, as mentioned in this link?

 

http://www.cruiselawnews.com/2011/02/articles/drugs/passenger-busted-for-selling-drugs-on-royal-caribbeans-allure-of-the-seas/

[hiker1944]

The Allure sailing is in the news still - more drugs. And Atlantis is silent?

 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fn%2Fa%2F2011%2F02%2F11%2Finternational%2Fi114641S52.DTL

[CruisinMaterial]

The only new development out of all of this was a person who had died by falling. The other news story is a repeat of the story published earlier on the MSNBC link. Either way, since the CEO of Atlantis is on the charters then I'm sure they'll be no comment about this any time soon. RSVP will be sailing out tomorrow on the Neuiw Amsterdam out of FLL as well. Not sure if Rich is going on that one too. Either way, I don't expect any sort of formal announcement or press release from Atlantis to address any of this.

 

The medical team onboard surely does have their hands full. This is totally uncalled for!! :mad:

[RMS Olympic]

Reading about overdoses did not surprise me, but to read about the passenger selling drugs onboard did. Since the authorities caught customers while they watched the cabin of the "seller", I wonder if security tapes will be used to identify other customers.

I sure hope that nothing like this happens on the RSVP cruise. Cant begin to imagine the screening passengers will face boarding the NieuwAmsterdam. It could dampen what should be an exciting and fun filled moment for everyone.

Curious...wonder if this drug merchant was booked on the RSVP cruise as a back to back.....????

Right now the Altantis team must be in a living hell......lets hope the passengers had a good time......and no further medical issues transpire.

Just a sad state of affairs......:(

[sej67]

As far as the added screening everyone is talking about, would it really be all that more than what goes on at the airport? Even if you don't see a dog sniff your bag at the airport, it probably happens quite often.

[johhnnyt]

Be curious to see how it all plays out. Since Atlantis chartered the entire ship, I would think the legal liabilities would shift quite a bit away from RCCL directly to Atlantis. It also puts a black eye on gay charters to the general public. Damn shame on all counts.

[Schplinky]

As far as the added screening everyone is talking about, would it really be all that more than what goes on at the airport? Even if you don't see a dog sniff your bag at the airport, it probably happens quite often.

 

 

Sorry,, I wasn't clear. Our friends who were on Liberty last year said that the authorities were very, very obvious with the drug sniffing dogs as a deterrent.

[CruisinMaterial]

Be curious to see how it all plays out. Since Atlantis chartered the entire ship, I would think the legal liabilities would shift quite a bit away from RCCL directly to Atlantis. It also puts a black eye on gay charters to the general public. Damn shame on all counts.

 

Yes it is a damn shame on all accounts. Now Cruise Critic has posted an article about it so I'm sure these forums are just going to come alive with all sorts of nice comments. The situation has already put a black eye on Atlantis but this will only make the "public" (usually uneducated) think that we're ALL (notice how we get lumped together) drugged out dancing machines. Truly a sad state of affairs.

 

As for the drug sniffing dogs... those work on luggage but if they're not sniffing the people boarding the ship then it doesn't do any good.

[Schplinky]

 

As for the drug sniffing dogs... those work on luggage but if they're not sniffing the people boarding the ship then it doesn't do any good.

 

 

We were talking about this at supper. Would dogs be able to smell X? It's a pill, no? I'm afraid I don't even know what form meth is taken in (pill? smoked? injection?) so maybe it's not something a dog can smell.

 

The guy that was arrested will have to explain the cash. Whenever we come to the U.S., one of the questions you have to answer on your customs forms is whether you're carrying more than $10 grand, and why.

 

Sadly, we never are! :)

[ChasRyder]

Hi. My two cents:

I've done 4 Atlantis cruises and 2 RSVP cruises, but always in the Caribbean in Feb/March. I have never witnessed any drug use on any of these cruises. I've seen passengers act a little funny, but I wasn't sure if they were high on alcohol or other substances. Ironically, my very first cruise 10 years ago on a Carnival cruise (not a gay charter), the cabin next to us was smoking a lot of pot and offered my cabinmate and me some over the balcony. We declined.

 

That said, Atlantis does seem to have a problem with the reputations of its mega Caribbean cruise (Jan or Feb, usually on RCCL's biggest ships) as well as its west coast Mexican cruise (Oct). I have had many many friends who have complained about the excessive and dangerous levels of drug use on these itineraries. These friends are big "party" people themselves, and this was the first I ever heard them complain about there being "too many" drugs.

 

Hope this helps.

[HI-C's]

I have never had a desire to do a gay cruise and don't think I ever will. I've met many gay folks on non-gay cruises and travel with a great group of drug free friends and have always had a great time. I've viewed photos of some of the gay chartered sailings, and it looks a bit overwhelming to me. That many gay men on a ship for 7 days I think would put me over the edge. Maybe i'm just getting old. heh heh

[RMS Olympic]

Funny...I can remember when gay charters were referred to as floating bath houses......sex sex sex.

Now I guess they will be referred to as floating drug dens.

Is amazing how the actions of a few can paint a negative picture.

Lets hope future charters are not impacted by this latest issue.

[CruisinMaterial]

We were talking about this at supper. Would dogs be able to smell X? It's a pill, no? I'm afraid I don't even know what form meth is taken in (pill? smoked? injection?) so maybe it's not something a dog can smell.

 

The drug sniffing dogs are smelling luggage and generally not in the terminal smelling the person. I said that because on my first ever plane trip to FL for a school trip back in the day (I'm not that old but compared to when I took that trip... I've aged a bit)... lol... anyway, two of my idiot classmates who were sharing a hotel room with me used duck tape and strapped huge bags of marijuana to their thighs and brought it down on their person. It wasn't in their checked luggage. Safe to say during the trip they got caught and the school never sponsored a trip to Disney again or for that matter any other trip that required more than one overnight (our trip was for five days).

 

Thanks to the schooling I'm doing for my degree I've learned of other crafty ways people who are desparate to have drugs will go to avoid being caught with them. I am not grossing people out through here explaining those methods because I also don't want to give people ideas either. Anyway, there are ways it is on the person and unless people are being body scanned going onto charters or any regular cruise for that matter... drugs will always be onboard. :(

[CruisinMaterial]

Have to love Miss Ritchfield for posting a status on Facebook saying she's staying onboard to earn some extra money to help clean up the deck after the Incontinence Party. :D

[GXmanDC]

I am sitting at my hotel in Ft. Lauderdale, we were onboard Allure this week. Overall it was a fantastic cruise, my fourth Atlantis January/February cruise.

 

On Tuesday evening Captain Johnny read a statement that he and Rich Campbell drafted about the 5 Alpha-Alpha calls the night before. They threw 6-7 people off the ship in Nassau who were caught with GHB. He said that they would not tolerate the drug use. I did not know about the arrest until today, I was googling to find out what happened to those put off the ship in Nassau.

 

We only had the one stern warning from the Captain. Though there were numerous Alpha Alpha calls. I assume most, but not all, of those calls were drugs. I know of one guy who has epilepsy and he had an emergency.

 

I never heard about anyone falling and dying. I hope no one died.

 

The drug use wasn't really visible. I only saw two guys acting funny. I assume that people who stay up all night, not drinking, are on something. It is probably an overly broad generalization on my part. I do not attend the late night (post 2AM) parties. I only stop by the big parties to see some of the costumes, maybe dance a little. The hard core addicts probably come out later.

 

Most guys I spoke with were angry or disgusted by those doing drugs. Drug use is everywhere in our society. I think the Atlantis experience attracts some of the addicts because they have the super-late parties. Though we have friends who are sailing on RSVP cruise today, they always complain about drug use there, though it is less obvious I guess.

 

We booked for 2012. I made it known on my guest survey that I really dislike the drug presence. I'm following up with a letter to Rich.

 

In past years people get really upset about the presence of drug dogs when we embark. I did not see any dogs this year. Maybe they should bring them back. I'm not sure what Rich can really do. I don't hold Atlantis or RCI responsible for the addicts on board.

[RMS Olympic]

Did Atlantis provide their 2012 line up during your cruise? Their Alumni email made mention of a new ship with a new cruise line......any info?

[GXmanDC]

Only announcement was Allure 2012. Jan 29 to Feb 5 (FLL-Costa Maya-Cozumel-Labadee-FLL). Unlike previous trips, they only allowed us to rebook our same cabin. If one wants a different cabin, that will happen in the next few weeks.

 

There was no "Ask Atlantis" session, or I did not see it in the Compass. I remember that Rich would often talk about the new schedule during that event. And he made no mention of it during the final comedy show.

 

This was a very different experience, I will work on my review.

[MiamiSpartan]

I think Atlantis has a reputation for this sort of thing happening and RSVP (for example) does not. Two years ago there was on (or was it two) deaths on their Mexican Riviera cruise and I have heard of their disembarkations being delayed because of drug searches. I have not heard anything liek this about RSVP so I don't think it will cause major issues for RSVP cruisers. I guess what happens on Sunday will be telling: RSVP embarks the same day the Allure disembarks in Port Everglades.

 

We've been on both Atlantis and RSVP, and we've had people kicked off of both...

Not sure why people think it doesn't happen on RSVP, too....

[Boytjie]

Wonder how they got past the drug dogs? It was my understanding that port security usually has lots of dogs in Miami sniffing the luggage.

 

They boarded in Port Everglades, Ft. Lauderdale. :)

[Boytjie]

Be curious to see how it all plays out. Since Atlantis chartered the entire ship, I would think the legal liabilities would shift quite a bit away from RCCL directly to Atlantis. It also puts a black eye on gay charters to the general public. Damn shame on all counts.

 

Atlantis may have some say over entertainment and other minor stuff but RC and captain is still in charge of the ship.

[Boytjie]

This was a very different experience, I will work on my review.

 

Looking forward to reading more about the experience.

[GXmanDC]

Atlantis may have some say over entertainment and other minor stuff but RC and captain is still in charge of the ship.

 

I agree. And I'm not sure what kind of liabilities there would be. Passengers are responsible for their own behavior.

[Boytjie]

This was a very different experience, I will work on my review.

 

No saying it hasn't happened, but I haven't heard of anyone thrown off any of the 6 RSVP cruises I have been on since 2007. And I have some pretty good sources. :)