In December it was Royal Caribbean in the news when crew members got caught smuggling drugs in Baltimore. In January, US Customs and Border patrol went back and found more. Earlier this month, a drug dealer was busted on shiny new Allure of the Seas dealing to the World’s Largest Gay Cruise. It seems Royal Caribbean is the cruise line of choice for drug dealers in spite of the line’s “zero tolerance” for drugs on board.
Now we have yet another incident with the Associated Press reporting two crew members busted in Jamaica with nearly 75 pounds of cocaine.
“On February 23, Jamaican authorities detained a crew member and found that he was in possession of 18 kilos of cocaine. Authorities then boarded [Grandeur of the Seas] and found an additional 15 kilos in the cabin of a different crew member.” Royal Caribbean said in a statement to CruiseCritic.com.
But yet John Doe and his lovely wife Sally get the bottle of champagne they wanted to bring on board to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary confiscated upon embarkation. That, the cruise line has under control.
Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinz also told Cruise Critic in January that drug busts onboard ships are very rare and have occurred “only a handful of times.”
Well, we count four since December. How many is a handful?
Maybe Royal Caribbean should approach drug smuggling by its own crew with the same intensity they do bringing liquids on board by passengers, going so far as to say on their website:
“Please Note: All guests must comply with TSA guidelines for transporting liquids.”
Really? Forget the Tequilla. Mom can’t bring a full bottle of Clairol Herbal Essence shampoo but somehow your crew members bring enough party drugs on board to to fire Manhattan?
Something is not quite right here. No mon, something very bad dis place.