You know when you go off on a cruise and the day before you go sailing into a port the ship's theater has a "Destination Lecture?" Have you ever learned anything really worth while at one of these? Now true, half the people going ashore aren't interested in anything but the "Three B's:" booze, beaches, and bargains, but some of us are interested in culture, history and keeping our wallets intact - not for deals and bargains but from pick pockets. And then there are shore excursions, which to take?
Well, usually, I have been disappointed. Now, full disclosure here, I'm a former Naval Intelligence Officer and a former civilian Defense Intelligence Analyst and have worked with all sorts of US and international law enforcement operations to keep out of harm's way. So, I'm pretty demanding, curious and critical about knowing about my destination. To be honest some rah-rah cruise social director's talk and hint about going to Joe the Beach Bum's Bargain Boutique and telling Joe that you (and 2,000 others...duh?) that you deserve a bargain because Bob on the M.S. Gargantua doesn't cut the mustard with moi. As for bargains...let me repeat the old intelligence officer's adage: "If it is too good to be true it is." On my last Mediterranean Cruise I was appalled at both the delivery technique or lack thereof and the content and lack thereof of the so-called port lecturer who did little more than hand out maps - rather inadequate ones at that - and "recommend" jewelry shops and the like.
I was so moved that I wrote various people on the fine cruise line (really the cruise line is a class act and I sailed with them again) volunteering my services after my then approaching retirement, but was pretty well rebuffed. In my view here the problem is similar to that we find in the airline industry - Customer Service and Security never meet. As airlines have made avoidance of real customer contact an art form in the era of automatic check-in and ancillary fees to "experience" speaking with a reservations sales agent (good luck with that) it seems to me that cruise lines have excellent and competent law enforcement staff on board and fleet security offices but that there is little interplay with the ashore passenger experience (other than screening passengers for booze when they return to the ship.)
One cruise line about a year or so ago dispatched a bus load of turistas, carrying valuables and passports, into bandit and insurgent infested countryside and was appalled when they got ambushed and robbed. That incident was, in my opinion, beyond the pale. Fleet security officers must in the course of their duties have liaison and cooperation with local law enforcement. Of course, not the subject of this article, but related, your ship's security department is also responsible for the safety of the crew when they are ashore.
My advice: Do your own due diligence. Quiz your travel agent (as in the cruise specialty on line agency you deal with) and if they b.s. you or don't know demand answers. Check State Department warnings and use on-line reviews such as Trip Advisor (Full Disclosure: Under a nomme de plume I'm a Senior Reviewer) and do your advance reading. Some lines such as Holland America have excellent destination lecturers - if other lines don't have real historians and the like delivering let it be known to your travel agent and on board officers. Most importantly, if you have concerns about a destination, request advice from the Ship's Security Officer. And again, do your research before going --- you don't have to be trained as an intelligence analyst to prepare yourself.
