Loved Cruising!
 

Okay fodorites! You got me hooked on travel last year when you coached me thru my fear of flight and I went to Europe (AU) for the first time and loved it!
Now - I have returned from a Cruise over the Christmas holiday and love that form of travel as well - it was lovely.
I was a bit fearful on the "At Sea" days with no site of land but kept busy as there was plenty to do and EAT!
Upon return I must say it was a bit distressing as our boat ported nearby the one that the woman had been found missing on....
But all in all I would do a Carribean Cruise again in a heartbeat!
Our friends that went with us are long time cruisers and WON a 12 day cruise while on this one! They leave tomorrow on an 8 port Eastern Carribean cruise about the Azamara.
They are quite excited as this will be their 11 cruise and it will be porting at many of the smaller islands they have never been too!
I had a question however - I have been reading about transatlantic cruises and just wondering do any of you have reservations about that at these times we are hearing of "pirating" and all - I mean I had read one report that the pirates were in fact looking for hostages - but thankfully on that ship they were kept safe by a skillfull captain who was able to outrun them...
Maybe I am paranoid - and I guess it could happen anywhewre - but the chances for help seem a little less remote nearer to land and not in the middle of the ocean?

Uh, the pirates operate off the Horn of Africa. Long way from the Atlantic! Unless you're worried about those dastardly Icelandic pirates!

Hey...which ship did you do? I just got back last week from an 8 day cruise and am leaving in 2 days for another!I love escaping the cold weather to the aqua seas!

I was referring to the pirating in general -
Yes - it does seem like it is far from the Atlantic - but the prospect of it AT ALL is what makes me leery of the isolation at sea in the middle of the puddle...just paranoid I guess LOL
We were on the Celebrity Century and did Jamaica and Grand Cayman.
It was delightful!

You really don't have to worry anywhere but the east coast off Africa and maybe the South China Sea, and even that's a long shot. But these guys are mostly career pirates looking for money, not hostages. They're after oil tankers and such because the shipping tycoons pay big bucks to get their ships and cargo back. They'd have a hard time boarding cruise ships, which sit high in the water as opposed to tankers, which sit low and can be boarded with ladders. The Atlantic is totally safe.

Actually, the middle of the ocean is safe from pirates. It's close to problem areas that is the most concern.

Yes you are probably right about being in the middle of the ocean and all - here is the article that had me thinking about the hostage thing - and not just that they want tankers and such - if you read on in the article it describes why their motives may have been to have cruise ship hostages -

http://www.sunjournal.com/story/2940..._Somali_coast/

I won't let this all stop me in planning for another cruise but I am going to keep a definate ear to the ground as to it's location and frequency though

bdjtbenson is right, the closer to land you are is probably the least safe. That ship is the very one we're going to be on in April, in the exact same area. If there was a real danger the ship would probaly re-route, as some have done. I'm not a bit worried.
The Gulf of Aden place is swarming with international navies right now, and I doubt those little rubber skiffs they use have a chance against a cruise ship. If you worry about that one tiny area, jyst don't go. The rest of the big wide world is still safe.