Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Bad things can happen anywhere, but when people are on a cruise, they often try things they would not ordinarily have the opportunity to do, such as snorkeling or diving in the ocean. Most people enjoy the beauty of the underwater worlds they discover. However, between 2000 and 2008, CruiseBruise.com reports 19 dive-related deaths in the Caribbean region alone.
We hear about distant epidemics and food poisoning outbreaks on the news, but on a cruise ship, illness can strike hard and fast, and infect hundreds of people in a confined space. In 2009, CruiseBruise.com reported a total of 1,513 people who contracted a norovirus on cruise ships. Other reported problems range from salmonella to infestation by parasites, bedbugs, as well as serious conditions like Legionnaires' disease.
Cruise ships have weathered some unique problems during the past decade, including piracy. Fortunately, for those of us in the U.S., most of those incidents have happened in other areas of the world.
Although there have been a significant number of terrorist incidents over the years, perhaps the most notorious terrorist attack on a cruise ship happened to the Achille Lauro, off the coast of Italy on October 7, 1985. Palestinian hijackers/terrorists shot and killed a man from New Jersey named Leon Klinghoffer, purportedly because he was Jewish.