# Cruise ship security **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 1, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cruise-ship-security/620522 "2012-05-01T16:08:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cruise-ship-security/620522/21 "2012-05-02T14:19:56Z")
Wouldn’t another route onto the ship be by joining the crew? What kind of background checks are run on cruise employees when hired? ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cruise-ship-security/620522/22 "2012-05-02T14:39:23Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I, for one, would pay good money to see a _Die Hard_-style movie about Gurkhas taking a cruise liner back from a bunch of hijacking terrorists. Woohoo! The first Call of Duty had a level on the German battleship _Tirpitz_ and Counter Strike had a level about a hostage situation on an airplane, so you get to work on the movie and I’ll get to work on the video game spin off! ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cruise-ship-security/620522/23 "2012-05-02T14:52:07Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > A related question: what happens when a passenger is a victim of a crime, while on board? Suppose a passenger is robbed or assaulted by an employee of the line. Does the captain ( admiralty law) take charge? The law of the country the vessel is flagged is applied and courts of the same have jurisdiction for crimes on board in international waters and home nation has jurisdiction if within territorial waters. ---
**Author:** ![TimToyGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@TimToyGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimToyGeek)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cruise-ship-security/620522/24 "2012-05-02T20:45:52Z")
To answer one of the questions posed above, it was a Princess ship, which like most cruise ships has an international crew including the Gurkha guards. They weren’t really incognito, they were the official ships’ security guards. Even if you didn’t know they were Gurkha, they tended to radiate an air of cool competency. People just tended to behave themselves when the ships’ guards were around. Besides checking luggage, passengers’ IDs on and off the ships, etc. they also were in charge of securing all of the properties of the ships, and policing the crew as well. Most ships, in addition to all of the valuables carried by passengers, usually carry a good amount of cash and the stores onboard carry fine jewelry. There is definitely a call for policing both of unruly passengers (done with a very polite but firm hand) and of the crew (done less politely), and it was usually done by the Purser’s staff backed up by the security guards. Most of the bigger ships have both a ship’s jail and a ship’s morgue in the ‘unseen’ areas belowdecks. Tim ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cruise-ship-security/620522/25 "2012-05-02T22:11:52Z")
The FBI on cruise line security, as of 2007: [FBI — Cruise Ship Crime and Security](http://www.fbi.gov/news/testimony/cruise-ship-crime-and-security) A maritime lawyer critical of current cruise line security measures: [Cruise Industry Accountability Back in the Spotlight: U.S. House and Senate to Hold Hearings on Cruise Ship Safety | Cruise Law News](http://www.cruiselawnews.com/2012/02/articles/passenger-rights/cruise-industry-accountability-back-in-the-spotlight-us-house-and-senate-to-hold-hearings-on-cruise-ship-safety/) RAINN’s views, and tips on safety: [Crime on Cruise Ships | RAINN](http://www.rainn.org/public-policy/sexual-assault-issues/cruise-ship-safety) ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cruise-ship-security/620522/26 "2012-05-04T20:16:52Z")
Seems to me like terrorists would have a big problem with crowd control if they tried to hijack a cruise ship. Even ignoring the actual security forces, there are _thousands_ of people on cruise ships, and most of them are no longer inclined to go along with terrorists since 9/11. Yes, I realize you can’t easily crash a cruise ship into a building, but I can’t think of a good reason for terrorists to attack my cruise ship besides making a huge spectacle by killing a bunch of people, so I wouldn’t be inclined to cooperate. Even with 100 terrorists, which is an absurdly large number for one attack, are each of them going to be able to control 20+ passengers, including rooting them out from hundreds of tiny rooms and cramped passageways? ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cruise-ship-security/620522/27 "2012-05-04T22:06:52Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I keep saying it - time to bring back the Q-ships!: [Q-ship - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q-ships) Yea and Verily! Also the Coast Guard should pop a cap in the hull of the smuggler’s boat. Just for warning, of course! ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cruise-ship-security/620522/28 "2012-05-05T00:37:56Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > they X-Ray’ed my carry-on when I first bored the ship. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > A cordless drill, I presume? No, I think he launched into a long-winded re-telling of a dream he had last night. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cruise-ship-security/620522/29 "2012-05-05T01:02:39Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > No, I think he launched into a long-winded re-telling of a dream he had last night. > mmm Hey! My dreams are interesting! I’m going with the drill thing. -D/a [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cruise-ship-security/620522.md?page=1)