Anyone concerned?

[UKstages]

52 minutes ago, UKstages said:

it's a failure of imagination to think that a cruise departing far from a USA port is somehow immune to a terrorist act related to a conflict half a world away.

 

correcting my own typo...

 

that should say: it's a failure of imagination to think that a cruise departing from a USA port is somehow immune to a terrorist act related to a conflict half a world away.

[Panhandle Couple]

And to lay to rest any speculation, here is a story from the local Buffalo papaer.

 

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/accident-and-incident/httpsbuffalonewscomnewslocalaccident-and-incidentrainbow-bridge-explosion-niagara-falls/article_a891ea34-895a-11ee-9f03-8bf12b0ede79.html

 

Normally I would not copy text, but for those who may not be able to open the link, some important verbiage:

"A source with knowledge of the situation said the couple was traveling in a luxury vehicle and had purchased two tickets to a concert Wednesday night in Toronto, suggesting that the crash may have been accidental.  "

 

"According to two local law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation, the vehicle involved was a relatively new Bentley, and the two occupants of the car were from Western New York. Earlier in the day, the pair were at the Seneca Niagara Casino, the sources said. They were traveling at a high speed as they approached the bridge. Investigators are looking at the possibility that the driver had a medical incident or there was a malfunction with the vehicle."

 

Some notes:  It is very typical for people in the Buffalo area to travel to Toronto (90 minutes) for a concert vs NYC (7 hours). 

Seneca Niagara Casino is actually part of a small reservation just 4 blocks from the US side of the falls. 

 

There is also video of the car going airborne as it approach the bridge area.  The weather was wet and cold, but not freezing.

 

 

[uneamie]

On 11/21/2023 at 10:31 PM, CookieShip said:

I haven't read all the pages of comments, but how old is this kid? Maybe he rather just be alone with his girlfriend rather than tagging along with his parents? The "terrorism concern" was just their polite way of dodging being stuck with the kid's parents on a ship for a week. 

This kid is 54 years old and he was the one who ask us to go.........so there goes that theory. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

27 minutes ago, uneamie said:

This kid is 54 years old and he was the one who ask us to go.........so there goes that theory. 

All 54 year olds "want" to be stuck on a ship with their parents?  Really?

 

Based upon everything else you've told us, I'm finding it hard to believe that the kid was that one who "asked to go."

[ontheweb]

10 hours ago, UKstages said:

 

yes, absolutely. and i am confident that every weapon disguised as a coffee maker and a bottle of jim beam will be discovered. most terrorists are smarter than that. they won't be disguising weapons as listerine bottles and it is likely that parts of weapons would be in the luggage of different passengers, to be assembled later once onboard. some components could be brought onboard in ports enroute. and some could be made of plastic.

 

what we have throughout this thread is a failure of imagination. post after post of folks who say it couldn't possibly happen. it's true that it's unlikely to happen, just as it was extremely unlikely that airplanes would ever be commandeered and used as weapons and flown into buildings.

 

and then it actually happened.

 

i keep reading dismissive comments in this thread about paranoia and how this couldn't possibly be a serious concern. it seems to me, however, that one of the few who actually has a true awareness of the potential risks of cruise ship travel is the one asking the questions. these are legitimate questions and the OP and her son have a right to ask them. 

 

we can dismiss these questions, if we choose,  as being about events that are unlikely to happen, but we should not dismiss the folks asking the questions.

 

 

the conflict is worldwide. and antisemitic incidents in the USA have risen 400% year over year since the october 7th  israel-hamas war began. and many of those incidents have taken place in or near new york and miami, which just happen to be two of NCL's most popular departure ports.

 

once again, it's a failure of imagination to think that a cruise departng far from a USA port is somehow immune to a terrorist act related to a conflict half a world away. time after time, we have seen terrorists - and domestic sympathizers - target gatherings where they presume those they hate are likely to be.

 

so, again, is a terrorist act likely? no.

 

are cruise ships safe? generally speaking, yes.

 

are these questions legitimate?

 

you betcha.

 

terrorists thrive in environments of indifference and laxity in which people have let their guard down and fail to consider all possibilities and dismiss reasonable precautions as being foolish or unnecessary.

 

And right there is the purpose of terrorism--to scare people and make them live in fear and not be able to do things they would normally do. Yes, be vigilant, but do not live your life in total paranoia.

[All-ready2cruise]

The incident at the border near me is considered an accident now. 

And from out local newspaper:  The thing about the hours immediately after an incident where a car explodes at a border crossing, sparking an FBI investigation and closing all crossings between Ontario and Western New York, is that at that point you just don’t know anything.

 

[trivia addict]

9 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

All 54 year olds "want" to be stuck on a ship with their parents?  Really?

 

Based upon everything else you've told us, I'm finding it hard to believe that the kid was that one who "asked to go."

Actually there are some of us who do actually enjoy multigenerational vacations.We did when my own parents were alive, and now with my own adult children and grandchildren.

[BirdTravels]

9 hours ago, uneamie said:

This kid is 54 years old and he was the one who ask us to go.........so there goes that theory. 

FWIW

 

To put things in perspective,,,, do you remember cruising after 9/11? When cruise ships were a perceived target for terrorism?

 

Cruise ships were escorted out of NY Harbor by multiple NYPD helicopters with automatic weapons in the open doors. NYPD had "SWAT" teams (don't know what the latest term for tactical teams) on the bridge of cruise ships and up patrolling on deck. Similar, less dramatic security measure were in place at some Caribbean ports. 

 

There is no longer that perceived threat. 

 

To put things in perspective,,,, do you remember the Paris terrorist attacks (around 2015)? NCL immediately implemented enhanced security on their ships which included restricting access to the bridge and engine control room. It was only this year when NCL lowered its security posture and started to allow passengers back into those areas. 

 

There is no longer that perceived threat. 

[psuboater]

2 hours ago, trivia addict said:

Actually there are some of us who do actually enjoy multigenerational vacations.We did when my own parents were alive, and now with my own adult children and grandchildren.

(Raises hand) 🙂 I'm her daughter and I can attest our mother daughter cruise is always a highlight of my year, I'm 38 and we started this tradition when I was 21. 

Edited November 23, 2023 by psuboater

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, trivia addict said:

Actually there are some of us who do actually enjoy multigenerational vacations.We did when my own parents were alive, and now with my own adult children and grandchildren.

Sure.  But, you are not "all."  If you review a handful of my posts you'll see that we frequently cruise with DD, but in many situations like ours it wouldn't be enjoyable for some or all of the parties involved.  Thanks for the education though.

[uneamie]

50 minutes ago, psuboater said:

(Raises hand) 🙂 I'm her daughter and I can attest our mother daughter cruise is always a highlight of my year, I'm 38 and we started this tradition when I was 21. 

Yep...we do summer vacations with my son and his girlfriend all the time. We happen to all enjoy each others company....we do lots of things together. Not sure why many assume that my son might be trying to get out of going with us, especially since he suggested this cruise in the first place. That's not how we roll in this family and on this Thanksgiving day I am very proud and grateful for that. 

[uneamie]

3 hours ago, trivia addict said:

Actually there are some of us who do actually enjoy multigenerational vacations.We did when my own parents were alive, and now with my own adult children and grandchildren.

I just posted this to another's response...."Yep...we do summer vacations with my son and his girlfriend all the time. We happen to all enjoy each others company....we do lots of things together. Not sure why many assume that my son might be trying to get out of going with us, especially since he suggested this cruise in the first place. That's not how we roll in this family and on this Thanksgiving day I am very proud and grateful for that."

[uneamie]

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

FWIW

 

To put things in perspective,,,, do you remember cruising after 9/11? When cruise ships were a perceived target for terrorism?

 

Cruise ships were escorted out of NY Harbor by multiple NYPD helicopters with automatic weapons in the open doors. NYPD had "SWAT" teams (don't know what the latest term for tactical teams) on the bridge of cruise ships and up patrolling on deck. Similar, less dramatic security measure were in place at some Caribbean ports. 

 

There is no longer that perceived threat. 

 

To put things in perspective,,,, do you remember the Paris terrorist attacks (around 2015)? NCL immediately implemented enhanced security on their ships which included restricting access to the bridge and engine control room. It was only this year when NCL lowered its security posture and started to allow passengers back into those areas. 

 

There is no longer that perceived threat. 

Thanks Bird...I  am going to rely all this to my son who may not really know all these important details. Perhaps it will ease his mind knowing that the cruise ship industry takes threats very seriousely. I also hope who ever is watching for any signs of it that they are on the ball and their intel. It's something we all count on. 

[WindinmySails]

Having been a teacher.  I was more worried about being in school than on a cruise ship.  I taught close to Columbine.  I keep telling myself, there is more good in the world than bad.  Believe me, there were times that it was difficult to go to work, after every school shooting, after every mass shooting drill we had in school (once a month....yes, if you have kids, they go through this too)  I try to keep perspective.  Things are dangerous, travel is dangerous, life is dangerous.  I can choose to live in a glass bubble, or I can enjoy life and what it has to offer. 

[Middleager]

Wow this thread is still going.

 

The universe is probably going to self destruct in 7 billion years.  Some people should be concerned.

[mugtech]

7 hours ago, WindinmySails said:

Having been a teacher.  I was more worried about being in school than on a cruise ship.  I taught close to Columbine.  I keep telling myself, there is more good in the world than bad.  Believe me, there were times that it was difficult to go to work, after every school shooting, after every mass shooting drill we had in school (once a month....yes, if you have kids, they go through this too)  I try to keep perspective.  Things are dangerous, travel is dangerous, life is dangerous.  I can choose to live in a glass bubble, or I can enjoy life and what it has to offer. 

In the 50's we did drills, like hiding under our desks in response to a nuclear attack.  Even I knew it was silly, but it made someone happy to say we were prepared.

[ontheweb]

11 hours ago, mugtech said:

In the 50's we did drills, like hiding under our desks in response to a nuclear attack.  Even I knew it was silly, but it made someone happy to say we were prepared.

I remember those. Go to the small gym, hide under the desk putting your head down. And then kiss your ass goodbye!

 

Later on in the early 60s during the Cuban Missile Crisis, I had a Spanish teacher who told us all the world was about to end. I knew he was such a fool, that I felt much safer than I would have otherwise.

[graphicguy]

And here we are…still debating this.

 

If the kid wants to go….GO!  If the kid doesn’t want to go, is afraid to go, hand wringing over going, go without him/her and have a good time.  No need to justify his/her participation.

 

My son is in his mid-30s.  We’ve taken many vacations together, including 3 cruises.  He loves and relishes those vacations together.  If we were to cruise together again (I hope we do), and he starts worrying and hesitating about any part of it, I don’t want him to go, and will tell him as much.

 

OP…..your child is an adult….capable of making up her or his own mind.  Let them be an adult.  Trying to “convince” them one way or the other is an insult to their “adulthood”.

[tcrandal]

Echoing the overwhelming majority of response, it's silly to worry about things out of your control and impacting your trip over "worries" that you hear about on the news. 

 

Humans used to get up every day and needed to face dangers to merely survive, but in today's world, we manufacture issues, because we have so few REAL issues that personally impact those of us living in the 1st world reality. We all will move on from this world one day, and my approach to it is to see and do as much as I possibly can, not cower in fear of the unknown and do so in the name of trying to protect a life that wouldn't be worth living if we considered all of the dangers we face on a daily basis. 

 

One of my favorite quotes... One day your life will flash before your eyes, make sure it's worth watching.

 

[schmoopie17]

15 hours ago, mugtech said:

In the 50's we did drills, like hiding under our desks in response to a nuclear attack.  Even I knew it was silly, but it made someone happy to say we were prepared.

And they had those black and yellow radioactivity signs everywhere. 

[schmoopie17]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

And here we are…still debating this.

 

I think I heard the dead horse cry "uncle" several pages earlier...

[Pav]

In regards to your son's anxiety, his feelings are his own and shouldn't be downplayed by others. I might just suggest that since the cruise isn't until June, that he sees how he feels by February and at that point he can cancel if still uneasy. Whatever his decision is, it should be respected.

[RocketMan275]

5 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

And they had those black and yellow radioactivity signs everywhere. 

IIRC, those signs indicated Fall Out Shelters.  

[uneamie]

I tried to delete this post that I originally created since I think I got the picture of how people feel about it. I just do not know how to remove it. So to all those who responded...thank you for your input. FYI to some.....I am going on this cruise. My son may or may not. He asked us to go and is not trying to avoid being on vacation with us. He is generally not a paronoid person so he does not need any therapy...he is just like you and I who may or may not be seeing some of the misleading media news that makes you wonder if the world is ending but it really is not.  We all know how that goes. I have a feeling my son will still cruise with us and if not we will all survive it. 

[puppycanducruise]

Since you can't delete this thread, ask a moderator to close it.

Enjoy your cruise.