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Does anyone who travels on cruises worry about pirates? I was watching something on the Travel Channel (I think) about piracy on the open water, and how they are getting more sophisticated in what they go after and how. Rather spooky stuff.

To be honest, I had never thought about this at all. The only time I have been on cruises, it was on fairly large ships. But I can see that some of the yacht cruises would be far more vulnerable.

Still - I had not realised that piracey was a problem.

 

It's funny, because you don't really think about pirates anymore.  I guess the pirates these days aren't really the "yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum" type characters we see in movies.

:-)  No, they're not like that anymore, but it has been becoming more and more of a problem within the last year or so.  I'd have to assume that the cruise lines are more than prepared for things like this happening and would know how to handle it.  It's not really so easy to "sneak up" like they used to do.

There are still many pirates, esp. in the Caribbean and parts of Asia.

Pirates are like everything else, they change with the times.

But surely they would only be able to go for smallish ships such as yachts? Aren't most cruises on fairly large ships?

I suppose pirates would be more of a threat to "yachties", as one of my friends in the navy charmingly called them.

Wow, what a fascinating topic. I feel kind of stupid now, as I never thought about pirates ever and I spend a lot of time on the water. I can't believe that I actually thought your posting was a joke about peter pan or something until i read and saw everyone was serious. Really interesting that piracy is such a remarkable problem, i definitely am now inspired to do some investigative research work on that. thanks!

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I've read a number of news stories about pirates down in some of the Carribean islands ...if not pirates, then thieves.

A friend of mine who is a yacht captain has told me some horror stories about Bimini in particular.  One night, he locked up the boat and went to bed.  The next morning, some of the cabins had been pretty ramshacked even though he heard nothing.  He said that dealing with local police authorities is pretty much of a joke too. 

Yeah, I don't see a band of pirates taking over some huge cruise ship, but Vicki's post about the pirates slipping in and ramsacking some of the cabins makes sense...just like a house being burgularized, but on the water.

My friend's Dad worked on yachts in the Caribbean for some time - I must ask him next time I see him about pirates! He mentioned ways of getting rid of cockroaches, but nothing of pirates!

 

Yo ho ho, and a bottle of rum!

If I'd be closer to actually leaving for a cruise, I may think of this a bit more seriously,

but for now I can only picture Jack Sparrow walking aboard.

Wow, I'd never thought that pirates still existed in any form really.

How much of a threat are they these days to people in smaller boats? Do they steal the boats, harm people, or....?

I've been told that it's quite a threat in Asia and nothing to be concerned about in Caribbean and Bahamas.  I spoke to a few boat owners lately and none mentioned it as a concern.  But it doesn't mean that you should be careless

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Piracy is more an issue for small boats not cruises.  It was pirates that murdered the America's Cup winning skipper Peter Blake which was a real tragedy.  I don;t think your average tourist has much to worry about.