Cruising...
The Safest Way to Travel

During the past two decades, North American cruise lines have compiled the best safety record in the travel industry while transporting, entertaining and pampering more than 60 million people throughout the world.  To preserve that exemplary performance, the cruise industry has established its own standards that go beyond  the stringent international and U.S. laws and regulations that apply to cruise ships.

• All cruise ships must meet standards set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Convention for Safe of Life at Sea (SOLAS).  Ship operating from U.S. ports also are subject to U.S. federal and state regulations as well as annually safety inspections by the U.S. Coast Guard and periodic health inspections conducted by the U.S. Center for Disease Control.
   

• The U.S. Coast Guard has declared cruise ships to be one of the safest forms of transportation.
   

• The average cruise ship has more than 4,000 smoke alarms.  The average response time to a potential emergency is a matter of minutes, as fire teams and emergency crews are stationed onboard only a few hundred feet away from any possible location.
   

• A cruise shop is comparable to secure building with a 24-hour security guard.
   

• A cruise ship is controlled environment with limited access.  All crew members and guests appear on an official manifest.
   

• Passengers and crew may embark and disembark only after passing through security.   Once a ship is underway, only documented employees and fare-paying passengers are on board.
   

• Cruise lines conduct background checks on prospective employees.  In addition, U.S. embassy personnel conduct background checks before issuing work visas to non-U.S. citizens.
   

• Highly trained security personnel are employed onboard every vessel.  At U.S. cruise terminals, port security includes passenger screening procedures similar to those found at airports, including inspection of all carry-on baggage and the use of metal detectors for embarking passengers.
   

• The majority of all cruise lines adhere to a unified industry standard - zero tolerance - for crime onboard cruise ships.  The lines operate within a very strict legal framework that give both federal and state authorities the right to investigate crimes aboard ships.
   

• According to FBI statistics, being on a cruise ship is safe than being virtually anywhere in the U.S. in terms of crimes of any type.