Passenger's Emergency Bag for a Cruise Ship

I'll be going a cruise in a couple months and with the news lately, I'm thinking that it might be smart to bring along a few items to deal with emergencies like fire or getting stranded on a foreign island waiting on a plane to go home. The cruise line bans weapons, candles, and alcohol and other "dangerous goods" whatever that means. They also limit passengers to two suitcases 16"Hx24"W (no length restriction) and 50 pounds per bag. I plan to have a backpack tucked inside one of my duffel bags and have allotted 25 pounds towards emergency gear for that pack. I can also budget several thousand dollars if necessary for emergency gear.

Is a backpack the right container? Will a backpack work with a life preserver? What would you put in the backpack? Where would you store the backpack during the cruise? Any other suggestions?

in addition to an EDC whistle, key chain LED light, pill fob with aspirin... possibly a couple of 1/10oz gold coins in the bottom

LED headlamp plus LED task light
Cyalume light sticks
Nomex gloves and balaclava,jacket
smoke, dangerous gases escape hood
wonder bar pry tool
FAK with burn gel

copy of up to date shot records
proof of American citizenship
hardcopy of important phone numbers

I don't know about lines(ropes) on a cruise ship... possibly a Wilderness Instructor belt and locking carabiner

The recent incidents of disabled cruise ships make me think that you'd need to be to pay particular attention to hygiene and infectious diseases: sanitizer, latex gloves, face mask, and antibiotics. (Of course, if you get a norovirus infection, there is no treatment for it.) A supply of plastic bags might be a good idea.

You might also want to bring some survival ration like Datrex. I don't think people starved in the recent incidents, but maybe the next one will be worse.

Some light source with a long battery life, and some spare batteries, would be necessary if there is a blackout. Carry it in a small bag, along with a map of the ship.

I think there are some threads discussing this issue, so you might want to look them up.

Caveat: I've never been on a cruise, so I have no idea what I'm talking about. But I do think I'm right in offering the following advice: be alert, but enjoy your trip! Take some pictures for us!

I would recommend not bothering with the Wilderness belt or biner. This is a perfect situation for a Dulfersitz (body)rappel. You can be finished with your body rappel before the person next to you has rigged up in a belt. Neither one is a particularly pleasant experience, but we are talking life threatening emergency, right?

There are lots of small,light backpacks (REI Flash 18, for one) that will be good containers for your stuff. You could carry it routinely as a small bag - my equivalent backpack has served for years as my carry on piece. A many-pocketed vest either fisherman's type or the more expensive Scott Evest, could prove useful, also a collapsible drinking container, about one liter in size. This being ETS, by all means throw in a signal mirror to make Rafowell (and me) happy....

Have a good time!

Gadget heaven!




Irridium Satellite Phone. (to call your Lawyer)



Scuba Pony Bottle. (for your own Poseidon adventure)


Desalination Reverse Osmosis Pump (for when you need to quench you thirst)


Flexible solar PV panel (keeps your electronic charged)

Other items include things such as a solar shower etc.

I've recently started using a day pack that can be stuffed into its own lid pocket that may fit the bill for you. It's light & takes up very little space in a larger pack or suitcase and then can be un-stuffed when you are ready to use it. The one I have is a MEC Travel Light Top Loader, but that's a Canadian source.

Sea to Summit has something similar which you may want to look at, the Ultra-Sil Day Pack.

Use a good plastic bag to line the pack and it will float very well if you close it well enough. Pack everything in plastic and your bag will float almost too well.

All of the basic necessities are the same, shelter, water, warmth, light, signaling, etc.

The desalinator is a good idea, but they are expensive.

One primary problem from most of the latest incidents is sanitation. Hand sanitizer, wipes, etc.

Satellite phone is also a good idea.

I would highly recommend using a regular dry bag for the survival basics and extra food. Then THAT could go into a backpack. Would provide better and longer lasting floatation. Worst case you could remove the drybag and use the packpack for other items if deemed needed.

There are companies that make dry bags that are day packs.Used by canoe and kayak fans for day trips.I can tell you for sure that if you have to life boats the crew will not let you bring luggage or bags of any kind.It has to be in your pockets or worn on the body if you want it with you.Life rafts only have room for people.Extra layer of clothes and fill your pockets would be my plan.Disembarking in a port grab the day pack and AM/Ex card........


BOATMAN
John

How cold will the waters be where you are cruising? -specifically, water temps,not air. In cold water, a PFD is just a convenient way of retrieving corpses unless the person in the PFD is wearing some sort of wetsuit insulation. Since you mention that you have a generous budget you might consider some sort of light wet suit...

I would think that ready cash in small bills would be your most important item.

Physical items to carry:

PERSONAL SANITATION/HYGIENE:
2 rolls of toilet paper in ziplock bags
2 traveller's packs of antibacterial wipes
A package or roll of small garbage bags

FOOD/WATER:
4 Mre's or 2 bx of your favorite Poptarts
1 package of "Fun Size" candy bars
Bottles of water stashed AFTER you get onboard (from ship'is stores)

MISCELLANEOUS:
50-60 ft of 550 Paracord
Multi tool
Sturdy metal soup spoon
A ball or boonie hat
A Doug Ritter PSK
Road Maps of the Ports of Call of your itenarary
Flashlight w/ spare set of batteries

INTEL/RECOMMENDATIONS:
Attend & be serious at the Lifeboat drill(s)
Know where lifejackets are stored in your cabin, lifeboat assigned, & in between
Designate a meeting place onboard in case of emergency, near your assigned lifeboat.
DO NOT get too familiar with crew members, maintain an invisible wall between you.
Research your Ports of Call. Know the Political and Economic situation in each. Know what the local Corruption Levels are. Know where the "Bad Areas" are and stay away from them. Know what can and CANNOT be photographed. Do NOT try to buy illegal items on the street.
Always practice the Buddy Plan. Stay with your group.

That's what comes to my mind. Good Luck and enjoy yourself.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. The cruise is for 7 nights in August and goes from Ft Lauderdale to several Caribbean islands which means it will be warm water. We are driving to Ft Lauderdale so no airline restrictions to worry about. We will have a room with a balcony which will allow us to dispose of biodegradable waste bags if forced to plus it provides light and fresh air and hopefully we won't have to sleep on deck if there's a power failure which I hear is miserable and wet.

I think I'm going to go with a small duffel bag with a shoulder strap instead of a backpack because that won't interfere with a life preserver and I can access the bag without dismounting it like I would have to do with a backpack. I think I definitely want to have everything in dry sacks inside the duffel bag for both flotation and water resistance as well as organization. Perhaps a small red dry sack for first aid, a small yellow dry sack for electronics, etc.

I already own a waterproof sat phone with GPS and ResQLink+ PLB. I am going to get the Katadyn desalinator and then gift it to my Dad who has a small saltwater fishing boat.

I've broken down things into the following areas:

sanitation - biodegradable toilet bags, wet wipes, hand sanitizer, rubbing alcohol, nitrile gloves
health - first aid kit, common meds, zinc oxide, sunscreen, small amount of toiletries (in case we are dumped on an island without luggage), Vick's for under the nose smell prevention if the toilets backup
smoke - Safe Escape ASE60 60 minute smoke evac hood
signaling/comms - sat phone, extra minutes, roll-up solar panel, power cords, PLB, mirror, whistle, strobe, two GMRS radios for talking around the ship, charger base, Radio Shack scanner (to monitor ship's crew comms), am/fm radio, cell phone, list of ship's frequencies
water - Katadyn Survivor desalinator, 32oz stainless water bottle, plastic water bottle, collapsible bucket, 100' paracord, Aquamira filter, chlorine dioxide tablets
clothing - Merino wool long johns tops and bottoms, lightweight shoes, hat with strap, lightweight windbreaker/rain jacket, mylar blanket
lighting - waterproof headlamp and small waterproof flashlight, extra batteries
food - Datrex 2400 calorie bars 4 bars per person, snacks, nuts, candy, drink mixes
money - several 1/10oz gold coins, $800 emergency cash, extra credit cards
papers - passport, list of phone numbers, travel insurance docs, map of islands
miscellaneous - lighter, boat matches, duct tape, ziplock bags, deck of cards, pipe tobacco, SAK with can opener, multi-tool, notebook, pen
fishing - hobo hand fishing rig with 1,000ft of line and a few hooks and lures. Might as well go fishing if the ship goes adrift with no power

Most items above with be x2 since it will be my girlfriend and I. We will each have a duffel bag and split up some of the expensive items like the sat phone, scanner, and desalinator between us. Some items like cash and sat phone we'll carry all the time but some items we'll dump in the room so we're not lugging a ton of stuff around the ship all day.

I still haven't figured out what to do about coffee. If they don't have hot coffee on the ship - now that would be a real disaster.

Any more suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Pretty comprehensive.

Maybe think more about meds; ask around and find a doctor who specializes in infectious medicine/travel medicine and see if there are some prescription meds that you can take along. Even you local primary care Doc may be able to prescribe some meds that are more effective for potential medical problems than the standard OTC meds.

Also, make sure your immunizations are up to date, especially Tetanus, Typhoid and Cholera.

I'm with BoatMan. Consider a 1st line/2nd line/3rd line approach to your gear.

A cruise ship is a big, complex 3D maze where you have likely never been before. What are the odds that if something major-league bad happens, you will be in your room or close enough to it to have timely access to your emergency bag? Will you be able to wade through the panicked passengers to get there? We hope so, of course, but in addition to (reasonably) filled pockets I think you and your companion should seriously consider wearing a waistpack/fannypack with the most compact essentials like your PLB/satphone, knife, passport, a few days of critical medications, etc. That way if you can't access the emergency bag you at least have some critical essentials. If you can access the bag then that's gravy. Wherever you go on ship wear your hat and keep your sunglasses on you (preferably on a neck cord), along with a light jacket.

And whatever you do, do not I repeat DO NOT watch this movie before you go!



Can you elaborate on this? I don't get it.

Very comprehensive Kit.



Handpresso Wild Outdoor Kit

1/10oz gold coins go for approx $140 plus premium at today's spot. If things go so far south that you need to spend gold you'll probably need more than a few 1/10th oz gold Eagles; you'll need a bunch for a ride home. A couple 1 oz gold AE's should cover air fair back to FL and a roll of silver AE's might be more practical for small incidentals should the need arise.

Just my $.02 -- if all you have is 1/10oz gold coins, I wish I had your problem.

I've never understood the "carry gold" mentality. If the situation is so bad that you have to use gold, who is going to take it? Besides, nothing says that you will get market price. You will be hostage to local "market forces".

Nothing will raise flags like buying an airline ticket to the U.S. with gold.


What am I missing?

Things can be very useful, but don't forget knowledge and skill. Get to know where the corridors lead to, know were the exits and lifeboats are.

A maritime survival course can be useful, but i think a little overkill for a cruise... It´s fun though.

OT re gold -- Gold has been money for approx 5000 years. Other than that we'd need to start a new topic.

As for this Caribbean cruise, I don't see gold or silver being anywhere near necessary to get by, the US dollar is good just about anywhere. If the US dollar was close to collapse due to hyperinflation I'd put off the cruise entirely even if it meant losing the money already spent, but we're not there yet... maybe by August

I have hundreds of 1/10oz gold eagles and I paid $40 each for them. They are the size of a dime. I can easily stash away a couple thousand dollars of emergency money using these. Unlike people in the US who don't really know anything about gold, I've found that people in other countries are completely familiar with it and comfortable using it for barter in good times and bad. I hope I never have to use it but I am completely confident that I can successfully use it if necessary. I have no qualms about "raising flags" if I needed to convert some gold into cash to buy airline tickets.

I really like Glock-A-Roo's tip about 1st/2nd/3rd line of gear. Very compelling. I'm going to incorporate this philosophy.

The handpresso looks very cool too. I found out today that we have no baggage limits - I was reading a list from Carnival Cruise lines but we're on Royal Caribbean so carrying a coffee kit is now a possibility.

As for the "don't become friends with the crew" - I've been on a a few cruises and I've always done the complete opposite. I severely over-tip the cabin steward/housekeeper for my room and go out of my way to make their job easier and I try to be as friendly as possible to every crew member and make friends with them and it's fun listening to how they ended up working on a cruise ship and getting to know them. This has paid off in countless ways on many trips. Royal Caribbean does not automatically add gratuities to your room or food bills so tipping can go a long way towards getting the staff on your side especially if there are a lot of European and South American passengers who aren't used to tipping and don't tip at all. But perhaps the original comment about the crew is digging at something deeper. I'm not a big drinker so I would never go down into the bowels of the ship to some wild drinking/drugs party with the crew. Now that would be putting yourself in a dangerous spot of vulnerability in my opinion.

I came up with three of your four items: (1) a satellite phone, (2) a desalination water purifier, and (3), a way to charge your electronics - either solar or dyno.

David Enoch

One more thing, a large bottle of Sun Screen to use on a life raft or on the deck if forced to stay on the deck for extended periods.

David Enoch

Do you know what kind of retail shopping is available on board?

Think one of my first tasks upon boarding would be to hoard some bottled water and food items for a couple days and see what else is available for free and purchase. Since you're willing to burn through some money, buying overpriced (and heavy) batteries on board may make more sense than using your 50lb luggage allotment to carry a bunch.

I'd be more worried about some mechanical failure or virus that makes life on board unpleasant than I would be getting marooned on an island or the ship sinking.

But thanks to ETS I'll hardly walk around the block anymore without three means of making fire (Bic lighter, matches, firesteel), knife, whistle, button compass, flashlight/Petzl Zipka, cash.

Fortunately those items can fit in a single jacket pocket.

I think the notion of a manbag/duffel is wise since something could happen when you're away from your room. Being female I'm accustomed to lugging a purse or other shoulder bag everywhere and I surely would on a ship even if I were not crisis survival-minded.

This link below is to REI's lightweight (134 cu in.) "Flash 22" backpack. I have several of the smaller/lighter Flash 18s but for the ship would want the 22 for the water bottle holders. Think I'd keep something like this in my room for the Gilligan's Island gear (minus the fire/knife/button compass which will be in my shoulder bag).

http://www.rei.com/product/844631/rei-flash-22-pack

I'd also be looking at clothing options for pockets. I have some tropical-weight button-shirts (with SPF protection) that have great pockets.

You might also look at Tilley hats because they are great and all I have include a pocket at the top where I stash cash:

http://www.tilley.com/Hats-Men.aspx

Good luck. Be sure to also plan for the 98% likelihood that the ship will sail smoothly, the toilets will flush and the a/c will hum throughout.

Meanwhile, I do enjoy these logistical planning exercises.

.


.

Anyone know if they limit what you can bring onto a lifeboat?

I'd expect they would allow purses and a modest man bag but wouldn't want people crowding a boat with luggage - survival gear or not.

Argues for a jacket with zip pockets.


.

Great point. I went back today and looked through several videos of the Costa Concordia evacuation and there are no backpacks, purses, or any other bags being carried by any of the passengers as they cue up to the lifeboats with their life preservers on. Just about everyone is wearing a coat though.

So if you go with the "1st/2nd/3rd line of gear" concept, would a utility vest worn under your flotation vest be considered 1st or 2nd line? I'm a firm believer in pocket carry for critical items.

On another related topic, I really like RailRiders VersaTac Ultra-Light Pants. The thigh pocket has inner organizers and closes with both velcro and buttons on top as well as having a zipper on the front so you can access while sitting. These pants can carry a lot of gear if necessary. The ultra light version is ripstop nylon that breathes well and I have no doubt I could swim in them if necessary. Belt loops are well built and easily take a 1.5" nylon belt.

For survival pants, I want full length legs rather than shorts even in a tropical cruise ship environment.

GMRS is a licensed radio service in the United States, so make sure you have a GMRS license and follow the rules. As far as I can tell only the US and Canada allow GMRS at all, so unless I'm missing something anywhere else you go their use would be illegal.

Amateur radio can sometimes be used abroad depending on where you are going and what the law is there; some countries have reciprocity and some do not.

I'm thinking the backpack concept is good for keeping items organized while not in code red, but once the ship starts to sink, the mindset has got to be ultralight and concealed. I would expect any obvious extra bag would meet strong vocal opposition from not only the life boat captain but also everybody else on the life boat. We're talking about a ship sinking to cause certain death, not an optional small boat ride off the side of the ship.

Provided there is room, why would anyone object to additional resources being brought aboard? Bear in mind that lifeboats are required to stock food, water, solar stills, etc. for their anticipated capacity.

Perhaps it would be worthwhile to inquire of the cruise company as to the equipment that is carried aboard their lifeboats. This would be of great help in deciding what you might bring aboard. A fine Merlot or Chablis would be wonderful after a few days of nothing but bread and water.

They sell GMRS radios in the gift shops on Royal Caribbean ships so they are definitely not banned on the ship. I intend to leave them onboard when we go ashore.

But in a crisis atmosphere resulting in the launching of lifeboats, the time pressure will be intense, there won't be time to screen packages to ensure that the contents are for the common good and not someone's panicked urge to grab their personal unedible, undrinkable, unusable valuables such as a laptop, jewelry, etc..

The person making the decisions for that lifeboat is some worker on the boat who may or may not have the latitude and capacity to make judgment calls on the spot.

I would not count on them letting any bag on board the lifeboat. Have a jacket of some sort whose pockets are stuffed with essentials. Be ready to sacrifice the bag to the dictates of the lifeboat manager.

.

Regarding whether or not a personal bag would be allowed on the lifeboat, I think that's another reason to adopt the 1st/2nd/3rd line principle. Keep the absolute essentials (that will fit) in your pockets and in your small waistpack. If you've retrieved the emergency backpack try to bring it on the lifeboat. But if the mob overrules you and the bag is taken, you've at least got the essentials on your person along with the hat, sunglasses, and light jacket you should have with you at the time.

Regarding GMRS, I doubt anyone's going to be checking the freqs/bands on your dinky walkie talkies...

All of this highlights the significance of an earlier comment -pay attention during the lifeboat drills The information might come in handy during an actual emergency.

The design of most of the these sea going floating hotel barges would indicate that if they get into distress they will begin to list quite badly and quite rapidly. It might be better to do a little research into the list angle before they capsize (could rotate fully and capsize within seconds to minutes i.e. going..going...gone) and consequently getting to the lifeboat muster station in time could prove problematic. Also the list angle will dictate whether the main lifeboats could even be deployed. A compass with a clinometer might be useful to take with you.

Please note the number of Cruise Liners from European and American Ports that have capsized over the last decade or so. That one took several hours and probably some poor seamanship to turn over. Capsize is at the bottom of the list of probable difficulties in a relatively safe technology. The biggest problems are discomfort and, way on top, poor sanitation. These are the problems you should be worrying about. What help would a Sat Phone have given (other that 15 min on CNN) on any of the recent at sea problems (even the Concordia)? I may be wrong in my evaluation, and it certainly is your hide, but I think the availability of sunscreen and hand sanitizer, as well as some private stores of food, are the most important parts of your at survival kit. I have been on only one cruise, but I have spent lots of time at sea. I carry some signaling devices in my flotation coat in case I fall overboard (working on a low deck at night and in foul weather introduces that possibility) and I carried those on the cruise. Not that it was a high probablilty, but because I had them and the coat was ideal for SE Alaska in the summer.

Respectfully,

Jerry

Less bag and more planning. Look at your ships registry, captain and recent inspections. Some cruise lines have good safety records...others not so much

I have heard some cruise lines do not allow onboard walkie talkie use, so best to check. But many do sell the bubblepack FRS/GMRS radios in their gift shops. Legally, unlicensed people should stick to the Family Radio Service channels (channels 1-14) but I doubt one out of a hundred people even realize that the other channels require a license.

But if you get dumped in some foreign port, I would hesitate to use the radio (actually, it would be illegal in most cases) because those frequencies could be allocated to, for example, police or military use in other countries. Wouldn't want to annoy those folks with radio chatter about how you're running out of diapers.

Depending on how many other passengers or crew are using similar radios, the airwaves could be so busy that they are basically unusable in some incident, so plan accordingly. At least pick a meeting point--maybe one near your assigned lifeboat in case of evacuation, and for all other situations that prevent you from going back to your particular cabin, pick another meeting place someplace comfortable, like your favorite bar, or the cabin of friends, fi they are away from yours.

Sounds like a very comprehensive kit. I don't know practical it would be to carry all that around, all the time.

It doesn't sound like you need any prescription meds, but I'd add that to the list since it doesn't seem to fall under your "common meds" term.

For your drink mix, you might consider getting an electrolyte mix instead of something like Kool-aid, in case you're ill and need to stay hydrated.

I don't know if I'd bother with the Datrex bars. If you're going to go to the trouble of packing normal food, I'd much rather munch on that, unless you actually LIKE Daterex bars. A lot of folks don't have healthy diets and they suffer blood sugar crashes if they don't eat sugar every few hours and become lightheaded or ravenous. Those are the types that really need to pack some snacks, since the recent cruise ship incidents demonstrated that food service can be painfully slow during some of these incidents, like when main power is knocked out. Otherwise, I would classify food as more of a comfort item in such a kit.

Under documents, I would put aside a credit card just for the kit, separate from whatever is in your wallet. Just some redundancy in case you don't have your wallet or your kit with you. You're going to the Caribbean, not behind enemy lines, so using plastic should not be an issue for important things like buying your own plane tickets home in case the cruise ship line leaves you in the lurch, so to speak. Also pen and notepad, maybe with waterproof paper.

Personally, for a cruise ship emergency kit that is small enough to comfortably keep on me all the time, I think I would stick with the most urgent basics. A long-lasting, waterproof light, preferably with some spare batteries. A headlamp would be most practical but a handheld light is fine. You don't need much light in the pitch dark hallways of a cruise ship without power. If you're a situation with dense smoke, I'm not sure how much more useful a bigger, more powerful light will be than your headlamp.

Then smoke protection. The Safe Escape is an excellent choice, but on the bulky side. The Xcaper mask would be a more compact option that still provides good respiratory protection against stuff like carbon monoxide. Enough to get you to safety.

Maybe a whistle for good measure. That would be my absolute minimum, I think, for a true emergency kit.

I'm thinking of getting the Scottevest Pack Windbreaker as the jacket to carry stuff in. Light enough for summer use and it has a ton of pockets and it comes in light colors other than black. http://www.scottevest.com/v3_store/nylon-windbreaker-packable-jacket.shtml

Each of us will have our main kit stored in a simple 18"x10" barrel duffel bag that we'll keep in the room and each sub-kit like first aid, food, etc will be in separate dry sacks. I can store valuables in the room safe.

We like to swim and lay out in the sun and participate in a lot of activities on the ship. We're not going to lug the entire kits around the ship all day and night. Half the time we'll be in bathing suits and there will probably be a few dinners where we wear coat and tie / dinner dress.

Most of our planning is for comfort if the ship loses power and to have money resources if we get dumped on an island. If it goes beyond that, and we have to get in lifeboats, we'll load up our jackets with as much gear as possible. The underlying philosophy we're adopting is that we'll have enough time to go to the room no matter the emergency. This may be a flawed philosophy but the main idea is to have fun and we're willing to risk it. If I have clothing with pockets on I may EDC a pocket knife, keychain flashlight, and money/credit cards but beyond that, everything will stay in the duffel bag in the room or in the room safe.

Wow, didn't realize Scottevest came in other than black. The flourescent yellow would definitely get some attention at sea, but I'll probably order the olive.

I'm thinking though that even the Scottevest windbreaker might be a tad warm for the Caribbean even at night. It would be a good place to stash those yellow dimes, but I'd still go with the RailRiders VersaTac Ultra Light pants .

The roomy pockets in the RailRider pants would make a great tier-1 and the Scottevest windbreaker would be a great tier-2 (referring to the "1st/2nd/3rd line of gear" concept).
For the drills and any possible incidents involving lifeboats, I'd leave the bag with your tier-3 in your room. It will get in your way and there are better ways to carry stuff for those occasions.

Lifeboat drills and things going exactly as planned aside, I always looked at abandon ship evolutions with the possibility of having to swim -- YMMV

$.02

I wonder if they'd let me bring my own flotation vest...

IMO after several Cruises:
Small Flashlight.
Your Favorite energy Bars, a few to eat a few to save.
A pk or two of gum.
A water bottle of your own.
A sharp thing in your toilet bag.
Sewing kit.
A small waterproof neck safe stocked with some sort of ID, CC, Cash.

Truth is a Cruise Ship will provide most anything you need if you know
where to find it.
In a real emergency the mini bar or any bar I am near will be raided for water and snacks.
A light will be handy for the dark passageways, a headlamp more so
but that will not fit in your pocket for daily carry.
I will not carry my PassPort in Port unless I am required to, I do have my
D/L, Ship ID, and CC.
I use the neck safe when ashore, normally not while on board.
My Cell Phone remains on board in the safe with PassPort.

Unless you are a ditz if you miss the boat its your fault.
If the company puts you ashore you will have an opportunity
to pack and take at least one bag.
In your normal carry on you should always have basics.
Note book, wallet & ID, Swim Shorts, sandals or shores.
Meds and script, toothbrush. IE basics in case your bags are
late. I was on a cruise last year to Alaska and over 60 people
never Got there bags, the bags were never loaded on the boat.

I believe Jerry has it right. See the article "Taking a hard look at cruise-ship problems" for a discussion of how likely various emergency scenarios are.

The problem is that it is hard to get reliable information. From the article linked above:

"Is what happened to the Triumph normal? Obtaining answers is not easy.

“No one is systemically collecting data of collisions, fires, evacuations, groundings, sinkings,” said Jim Walker, a maritime lawyer in Miami who has attended more than half a dozen congressional hearings about cruise ship crime and passenger safety. The reason for the lack of data is that cruise lines, while based in the United States, typically incorporate and register their ships overseas. Industry experts say the only place cruise lines are obligated to report anything is to the state under whose laws the ship operates. “The whole industry is essentially outsourced abroad,” Walker said. Or, as Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement after the Triumph debacle: “Cruise ships, in large part operating outside the bounds of United States enforcement, have become the wild west of the travel industry.”
--------------snip--------------
Yet for the industry overall, there remains no comprehensive public database of events at sea like fires, power failures and evacuations. Neither the International Maritime Organization nor the U.S. Coast Guard track everything. But there is one unlikely man who does.

“It’s a Canadian professor of sociology,” Walker said, “who testifies in front of the senate.”

Ross A. Klein, an American with dual citizenship who is a professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada, was a longtime cruise enthusiast, spending more than 300 days at sea between 1992 and 2002. During that time, he saw that there were differences between what the cruise industry was saying about environmental and labor issues, and what he was observing.

Today, Klein is an authority on the cruise industry, having testified at hearings before the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate about onboard crimes, disappearances and industry oversights. His website, www.cruisejunkie.com, is a record of fires, sunken ships, collisions and other events at sea over the last few decades that have been culled from news reports and sources like crew members and passengers."

Mr Klein's webpage (www.cruisejunkie.com) seems to be the go to source for info on cruise ship safety issues.

You may be right, but I get an email every week about FCC enforcement actions and believe me when I tell you that you don't want to be on the business end of one of those.

To be clear, FRS and GMRS radios are only legal to use in the US and Canada. GMRS requires a license. Some channels exist on both FRS and GMRS; you may use those channels legally without a license in the US as long as you stay at or under 500W ERP.

Using these radios in other countries -- including in their territorial waters -- is illegal. I don't know whether it's legal to use them aboard ship in international waters, and I wouldn't rely upon their presence in the gift shop as an indicator.

giving this more thought - I'd go with a shoulder bag ( beach bag looking?)
Easy to carry and looks normal. Skip the sat phone and sub a rescue beacon (spot?)

Passpost, cash, cc and # in pouch.

Spare phone battery and charger

Also, boat emergencies are far different from dumped in a port emergencies.

There is a lot more crime occurring on cruise ships than most people have a clue about.

Do research on "missing cruise ship passengers". There are about 49 missing passengers per year, if memory serves me correctly. The "causes" are largely officially man overboard or unknown. There's more going on there, do the research.

As a followup I thought I would recap what our final plan is.

I was on the phone with my Dad and dropped some hints about desalinators and his boat and he was less than enthusiastic about them. I was going to get the desalinator and gift it to him after the cruise for his birthday but now I'm going to skip the desalinator. When we get onboard we'll just squirrel away some water bottles from the ship in our room. We have no baggage limit so I might throw in a case of water with my luggage - not sure about that yet though.

Of all the items listed in our gear list, the only items we have to buy are the biodegradable toilet bags, the smoke hoods, the tubes of zinc oxide, and the Vick's Vapo Rub. I also ordered two Scottevest Pack Windbreakers yesterday. We already have everything else in the list so this entire affair has turned out to be fairly cheap in our case - a little over $300 worth of additional gear for two people and that cost is mainly for the jackets and smoke hoods.

So our final list of gear has now been set at:

(Note most items will be x2 - one for me and one for my girlfried. For expensive items like the sat phone we'll only carry one between us and share.)

containers - Two Scottevest Pack Windbreakers, Two 18"x10" barrel duffel bags, Two hidden money belt/travel wallets
sanitation - biodegradable toilet bags, wet wipes, hand sanitizer, rubbing alcohol, nitrile gloves
health - first aid kit, common meds, zinc oxide, sunscreen, small amount of toiletries (in case we are dumped on an island without luggage), Vick's for under the nose smell prevention if the toilets backup
smoke - Safe Escape ASE60 60 minute smoke evac hood - one for each person
signaling/comms - sat phone, extra minutes, roll-up solar panel, power cords, PLB, mirror, whistle, strobe, two GMRS radios for talking around the ship, charger base, Radio Shack scanner (to monitor ship's crew comms), am/fm radio, cell phone, list of ship's frequencies
water - 32oz stainless water bottle, 32oz nalgene water bottle, collapsible bucket, 100' paracord, Aquamira water filter, chlorine dioxide tablets
clothing - Merino wool long johns tops and bottoms, lightweight shoes, hat with strap, mylar blanket
lighting - waterproof headlamp and small waterproof flashlight, extra batteries
food - Datrex 2400 calorie bars 4 bars per person, snacks, nuts, candy, drink mixes
money - several 1/10oz gold coins, $800 emergency cash, extra credit cards, money belt/travel wallet
papers - passport, list of phone numbers, travel insurance docs, map of islands
miscellaneous - lighter, boat matches, duct tape, ziplock bags, deck of cards, pipe tobacco, SAK with can opener, multi-tool, notebook, pen
fishing - hobo hand fishing rig with 1,000ft of line and a few hooks and lures. Might as well go fishing if the ship goes adrift with no power


Thanks everybody, and I hope this thread can serve as a good starting point for other cruise ship passengers.

There may well be a good deal of crime on cruise ships, but your statistics on alleged "overboard" cases seems a bit exagerated.

Cruisejunkie dot com has a rather comprehensive list and only shows 200 cases between 2000 to 2013, which averages out to about 15 overboard cases per year. See their list of "overboard" cases at http://www.cruisejunkie.com/Overboard.html

According to the US Maritime Administration in 2011 there were 71.8 million passenger nights booked on north american cruises alone. So 15 passengers per year missing and presumed overboard doesn't sound like too bad of odds.

Yesterday's news reminded me of Wildman's statement, which I had found a bit surprising at the time.

Crimes on cruises profoundly underreported

Trip followup -

The cruise was very nice and we didn't encounter any big problems. Some takeaways:

• The Scottevest Pack Windbreakers worked great. We used them a lot more than we thought we would.
• We purchased a "water package" from the ship and they delivered a whole case of 16 oz bottles to our room. We also bought the soda package for unlimited soft drinks.
• There was a power outage in the hallway outside our cabin and I think some cabins lost power too (not ours). We turned on the scanner to listen and they were talking about a circuit breaker and the power was back on in about 10 minutes. So the scanner was very nice to have to hear the real truth almost instantly. Otherwise, we would have been grabbing our stuff like a big emergency was happening. Besides that one event, we didn't listen to the scanner much at all but it's amazing all the stuff that is going on in the background that you can hear over the scanner.
• We didn't have any problems talking throughout the ship on the two-way radios and at one point we were pretty far away from each other - almost the entire length of the ship. We didn't take the two-way radios ashore in case they were illegal and we wouldn't have needed them anyway.
• We ended up needing the long johns because our cabin A/C wouldn't shut off and it was about 60F one night. It turns out that too much wine will seriously impair your ability to operate a thermostat - lol. The next day we realized it was our own fault. We might add a thermometer to our list because I don't think the thermostat temp was correct.
• Bringing snacks and candy was a good move. That stuff is super expensive on the boat. There is food available somewhere on the ship at all times but sometimes you just want a little bag of chips or a candy bar in your room.
• The sat phone would not work in our room. It did work on the balcony but it would cut off the second you got about a foot away from the rail because of all the metal overhead. Gotta have a clear view of the sky.
• The room safe was adequate in size to store all of our valuables for two people including electronics like cell phones, radios, sat phone.
• We burned through most of the cash we were carrying. We had $1,000x2 spending cash plus $800x2 emergency cash. Between tips and trying to avoid international credit card fees, and hiring a fishing boat and guide, and then another day hiring a dive boat and guide - it got used up. Should have brought more cash. if there had been an emergency on the way back to Ft. Lauderdale we would have been caught short of cash.
• Having a GPS with street maps was very handy when we were in port. This wasn't on our list but we brought our Garmin Nuvi in case we rented scooters or a car but it turned out that we used it for walking around town and finding places on foot more than anything else and we ended up not renting scooters.
• Having a small first aid kit came in handy. We used a lot of items from it. Advil, band-aids, sunburn cream, zinc oxide to name a few.
• We took the batteries out of our cell phones and locked them up in the safe. Royal Caribbean has wireless cellphone roaming on the ship and if your phone automatically gets email and other data like weather reports then it will find the ship's signal and then you get charged international roaming fees. We got this tip from our next door neighbor on the ship right after we checked in. Even if you turn off the phone it may still be connecting to the tower - you have to take the battery out. We took our phones with us onshore, but kept the batteries separate while onshore too - only wanted them with us in case of an emergency.
• There are no irons in the cabins. There was no self serve laundry either. To have one outfit washed (pants, socks underwear, tshirt, shirt) costs about $15. We washed some small things in the sink like socks and underwear and hung them in the room using paracord for a clothesline. We used shampoo for laundry soap. We will add a tiny bottle of laundry soap to our list. Luckily we brought enough shirts and pants to last the whole trip and it wasn't too bad washing socks and underwear a couple times.
• Some of the little miscellaneous items we brought came in very handy - deck of cards, duct tape, ziplock bags. We will add safety pins to our list of items that we needed to make clothing repairs. Ended up getting some safety pins from another passenger.

Great report!



There may be a phone model out there for which this is true, but for most phones it is not. Also, you can put a smartphone into airplane mode to avoid this issue.

Thanks for the feedback, NuggetHoarder. Some interesting observations.

The revelation the other day that the new Android 4.3 will continue scanning for Wifi nodes by default even when Wifi is turned off reminds me that "features" are not always what they seem to be. Google seems like it is sacrificing battery life (your battery life) with this default setting but I guess they feel like they are gaining something in return by gathering location and metadata about Wifi hotspots from "everyone"

At over $4 a minute, I wasn't willing to risk it. The battery came out and stayed out.

I'm no expert on Android but in Airplane Mode the radios are supposed to be turned completely off for FAA regulatory compliance.

I'd be pretty steamed, though, if I turned WiFi off and it didn't turn off.

That's a good point about airplane mode and I don't know if this "feature" applies when airplane mode is turned on, but if wifi is turned off, it's actually still secretly on by default unless you go in and change a sub-setting. I believe these guys were the first to report on this behavior of version 4.3 here.

From Arney's link:
Hmmm, WiFi transceiver uses less battery power than a GPS receiver? I'm thinking that transmitting and receiving is a bigger battery drain than just receiving, but maybe the GPS chip is a power hog relative to a low powered WiFi -- dunno. Anybody know the answer?

BTW, another option is to turn location services OFF.